Mr.Robinson,

I'm glad you've changed your approach to this debate. Halifa's own comments
and Hamjatta's have clearly exposed your penchant for nursing the egoes of
people you like, and stereotyping those you don't like.

I have no problems with you holding Mr. Sallah in the highest esteem. For
all I care, you can CANONIZE the gentleman if you like. Or build a monument
in honor of his contribution to the Gambia. I have absolutely no problems
with that. I know college graduates who believed Jawara to be a saint. Not
to talk about the many religious leaders who were committing blasphemy by
comparing him to prophets. Today, many of these people are not so sure about
their erstwhile opinion of Jawara. Read German literature from the Thirties
and see what some people were saying about Hitler's virtue at the time. So,
in short Alpha, you are entitled to see Halifa as a Saint as far as I'm
concern.

I'm not saying Halifa Sallah is a devil, but I won't be terribly surprised
if he turns out to be. After all, as Africans, 99% of everyone we've
believed in as a "leader" has deceived us. I have no intention of sitting by
while another impostor gets away. Is Mr Sallah an impostor? You'll have to
follow the debates to find out! The onus for proving that he isn't falls on
Halifa. But then, your mind is already made up. Isn't it?

In any case, what irked me in your piece is your preposterous use of the
pronoun "we" as if you're speaking for many people. I kept asking myself
"who is this man speaking for?" It cannot be Gambians, b/c he doesn't speak
for me and several people I know. Could it be that he is speaking for his
wife and child(ren?) Could it be a group of friends? If so, why not say so.
If not, who appointed him to speak for the "we?" Or Alpha, are you so full
of your own importance that you don't see the need to ask OUR permission to
speak for us? Is your ego so big that you assume we'll all jump up and sing
Hallelujah! b/c Alpha Robinson has spoken for us? If you've been surrounded
by idiots for a long time, I can see why you'll get used to such arrogance.
But do you see "STUPID" written on the face of every Gambian that you meet?
If you do, you need to go see your ophthalmologist! There are many idiotic
Gambians (some of them on this List,) who just jump up w/o thinking b/c a
Alpha Robinson has said something. On the other hand, there are many who can
see through phoniness. You'll be wise to keep that in mind.

And you had the nerve to slight the image of our intellectuals who have left
home to live in the West where they produce tons of "worthless junk" etc
etc. Your point: smart people like Halifa who stayed doing great sacrifice
"on the ground" are the true patriots, and by implication, those who left
are less patriotic. How shallow can anyone be! First of all, people are no
less patriotic b/c they left home. And others are no more patriotic b/c
they've chosen to stay. Equally, I have no love for suits and ties, but
people are no more arrogant b/c they were suits and ties, and others are no
less pompous b/c they wear SambaKuka! There's more to being patriotic or
unpatriotic, humility or arrogance than superficial assessments like that.
You need to start using your brain!

Some of the most productive Africans/Gambians I know live in the West. I've
told you why most of these people had to leave. To stay in Africa and be
de-humanized by tyrants isn't everyone's cup of tea. Why don't you try it,
and see how it feels. If you don't have any self respect/dignity, you won't
know the difference. But if you do, you'll understand why these intellectual
producing "tons of junk" in the West had to leave. For instant, could there
be anything more patriotic than the ideas proposed by some of the Dr.s on
this forum regarding the state of our homeland? No wonder you had to come up
with an independent plan (G-L Members, I've been thinking about this for
...)when a more visionary plan was already being debated. I've wondered what
that was about. But all the pieces of the puzzle are now in place. Not all
of us are slow, Alpha. Just remember that.

Further, regarding these intellectuals (especially those in America b/c I
cannot speak for Europe,) there's a lot more to their stories than meets the
eye. Many of these people came to this country with nothing. Like us who
followed, they work in odd jobs, often two at a time, to pay their way
through college. Cold nights, unsatisfactory diets, extreme time and mental
pressures - name it, they've been through it. They shoulder the indignity of
racism and all, to reach the pinnacle of education. I don't know any
ambititous Primary school boy who doesn't want to be called Dr. in
something. Midway through High school/college, many, like myself realize, we
don't really need to pursue a Phd b/c of the area we want to specialize in.
But the feeling that "I'm not there yet" till I get a Phd is always there.

So, when I hear people like yourself, belittle our brightest on baseless
grounds, it irks the hell out of me. I keep wondering if it's just mere
jealously, or something more sinister. Somehow, you've failed to attain that
level, so someone else attaining it isn't a Big Deal. It is. We keep
throwing ridiculous parties for all types of excuses. A very good reason to
throw a party is when one of us gets a Phd. It's a manifestation of how huge
someone's mental faculties are. Whether he utilizes that brain, is something
else. But the potential is there. Some of us love learning, but our innate
abilities fail us. To get a real Phd, you not only have to have the money to
pay for school, you need to have the brain to do the research. So by
belittling such people, you're only glorifying ignorance, just as every
tyrant on our continent does any time some intelligent Dr. refuses to "tow
the line."

And Alpha -just on a personal note, have you ever achieved anything w/o
someone else's help. Have you had any diploma w/o the help of a scholarship?
Have you ever had to work fifteen/sixteen hour days, wait for a bus for
forty minutes on a cold snowy day/night, and still had to study or do an
assignment for school the next day? If the answer to any of these questions
is in the negative, you may want to reconsider impugning the image of
"intellectuals" on this forum. You won't get away with it! You can save that
type of crap for your Attaya Vous.

On your view of Halifa on the ground, Two things. First: if smart people
like Halifa are doing such a wonderful job "on the ground" in Africa, then
tell me Alpha; why is the place getting even more Fucked Up? Africa (and The
Gambia in particular) is one place that is not progressing. It's not even
stagnant. It's falling further and further behind when you look at the PPI
index that is used to judge countries. They call it RETROGRESSION. So maybe
people on the ground like Halifa are not doing as good a job as people like
yourself think.

Secondly, Halifa Sallah was born and raised in Serrekunda East. He works and
lives in this same place. It's ground Zero for him. Now one hundred and fity
thousand people live in that constituency, about thirty thousand of whom are
registered voters. Halifa has been part of our national consciousness for at
least fifteen years now. He has been writing, and speaking at diverse public
events all this time. All over S/K East. So let's take stock of what has
happened during this time: Mr. Sallah has lost three elections in a row. The
last one, to somebody who was born and bred in Nuimi Albreda. (Nothing wrong
with his origin. I'm just trying to make a point. I happen to know Tombong
Jatta personally. I hope HE remembers me.)
Question: what is about Halifa Sallah that you see from afar that the people
"on the ground" in S/Kunda East don't see? Is something wrong with them, or
is something wrong with Mr Sallah or his approach? You tell me.

You cannot say it's solely b/c of money that he gets defeated. Why? Because
Sheriff Dibba used to hang a symbolic coat in his native Badidu, stay in
Banjul, and defeat the PPP candidate with all the money. Not enough? Dr.
Momodou FK Manneh defeated the PPP candidate in Nuimi after he was kicked
out of the party. PPP money did not stop him either. Neither did it stop
Lamin Waa Juwara from defeating the PPP candidate in Niamina despite PPP
money. So, what's happening in S/K East? Do you want us to believe that the
150K residents of this area are so ignorant that they don't realize how good
Halifa has been to them? You are the one who knows what's good for all these
people. Just keep telling yourself that, Alpha. Keep telling yourself that!

Just b/c you sound so ignorant about PDOIS, get this fact: PDOIS has never
been a Charity show. PDOIS is not a philanthropic organization, and never
has been! The entire PDOIS machinery has always been operated as a business:
Foroyaa -the newspaper, Nyakoi Schools, the Taxi Cab section etc. I don't
fault them for that, b/c they need funds to get their message accross.(I
liked what they were saying, which was why I used to buy their newspaper
regularly and tapes of their seminars/symposia.) But, this image of PDOIS as
a Mother Teresa-like entity is false. In any other country, Forayaa will be
just another newspaper protecting public rights. It's the tragedy of the PPP
era that PDOIS, through Foroyaa has been given this exaggerated
larger-than-live aura. Yes, the party has helped educate the masses about
their political rights, but that has never been for free. In any case, they
deserve credit for what they've been doing in that area, and I'll be the
first to give them credit. But to blindly portray PDOIS, or any member of
PDOIS as an angel amounts to the worst form of sycophancy. I thought the PPP
and APRC had a monolopy on that, but I've taken that back.

Finally, I hope you'll desist from stereotyping groups of people. This
galling slander of the image of our intelelctuals is the second time you've
engaged in this cheap attack on groups. If you have a problem with how some
intellectual or politician is behaving, take him/her on, and demand an
answer/clarification like we're doing with Halifa Sallah. But, you shouldn't
be painting an entire group with one brush as if they're monolithic in
thought and action. There's nothing more liberating than knowing that you're
being true to yourself by telling others exactly what you think of their
actions. There are some few other names for it too: honesty, honor,
integrity. It's too bad some of us mistake these qualities for rudeness or
"questioning people's integrity." We'll just have to keep our fingers
crossed for such people!

So long!

Saul





>From: alpha <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: To Alpha, Hamjatta and Saul
>Date: Sun, 12 Dec 1999 10:26:47 +0100
>
>Halifa,
>
>Your concerns about creating a personality cult have been well noted. To
>be frank I felt rather uncomfortable as well. This can create myths
>around individuals and even instil fear in the minds of people, easily
>leading to tyranny. Our era is one of mental liberation and does not
>call for such.
>
>I did not intervene for the sake of Halifa the person per se. The person
>of Halifa I respect, but it's rather what he represents that I wanted to
>highlight. I didn't do so to suggest that no one should ask Halifa
>questions or doubt his actions, motives etc. I agree totally that
>leaders should be subjected to scrutiny. That's good for both leaders
>and the led. In fact I believe that the more politically mature a people
>are the more will their leaders be subjected to public scrutiny. So I
>hope too that we'll maintain this attitude steadily and fairly as we
>march towards political maturity as a people.
>
>One reason why I intervened was to inject a sense of purpose and respect
>in the debate from a personal point of view. Without going into the past
>let me just mention that my observation went beyond Hamjatta and Saul. I
>was looking back from around 1997. To ask a simple question does not
>require name-calling, blatant attempts of character assassination etc.
>Now, whether we are dealing with each other in a respectful manner is of
>course left to each person's judgement. I personally would like to talk
>to a person whose "guilt" has not been proven yet, in a manner similar
>to that I would enquire from my mother, father, brother or sister.
>That's the standard of respect I wish to achieve personally. Not a "Home
>boy" attitude! This should not be taken as a sermon, it's just a
>personal thought. But perhaps the line between positive provocation and
>derogatory satire with a pinch of disrespect in polemics is very thin.
>
>I have been a bit provocative in my writing because I think all of us
>need to go beyond asking what this or that person has and has not done
>(and this does not mean we should not ask and make objective enquiry!)
>to asking ourselves what have we done and what do we want to do better,
>and not just asking but systematically working towards that within the
>confines of our limitations. So by writing about intellectuals producing
>"junk" I'm not trying to belittle the contributions of all African
>intellectuals outside of Africa. I see myself as part of those "junk"
>producers to some degree. Criticism should start with self if it is to
>genuinely stand the test of time.
>
>But what matters is that the debate goes on. When daylight strikes all
>that hides under the cover of darkness will come to light.
>
>Let me finally make it clear that I have no intention to be dragged into
>Saul's war of name-calling. I have neither the appetite nor the time for
>such a fruitless exercise.
>
>Greetings
>
>Alpha Robinson
>
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