Mariatou:
Thank you for your contribution,what a great observation by you.I agree
with you in total with regards to the ever ending blame game over thr
Gambia-L. Upon reading most of the postings, I get the impression that
almost every Gambian leaving in the West seem to blame the people in the
Gambia for the problems the country is facing today, especially the farmers
for voting into power the people of their choice.
I agree, we have important issues in the Gambia that neeeds to be addressed
seriouly and corrected.But it will take more than just blaming the
Government and the common Gambians back home.I have to say that for things
to change in the Gambia and for us to be able to effectively re-build our
nation,the Gambian intellectual powers leaving in the west would have to be
willing to compromise and sacrifice most of what is enjoyable in the
western societies, to go home and take part in the nation building.We owe
that to our people and to our families.Yes it is going to be hard but the
future outcome will out weigh the risk.
We  should put the past behind us and look into the future. If we can
reform ourselves, there is every reason to believe our best days are still
ahead. A renewed and reinvigorated Gambia that educates all its children
could come back again to become among the best countries to live in Africa.
We should return to teaching Gambians our spiritual and moral dimensions
and emphasize personal responsibility as much as individual rights.Until we
reestablish a legitimate pure African moral cultural standards and stop
trying to be Western our civilization is at risk.We must move to an
opportunity society and stop expecting too much from our Government.

Thanks
Bulli Dibba


On 8 Dec 2001, Mariatou Sonko wrote:
> My fellow Gambians,
> One thing I found out about the Gambia L is that, it is a busy site where
> being absent for a few days requires toiling hard, very I mean, to keep
> up.  I mean the contributors are very dedicated and the topics are
> interesting and pertaining to issues that should interest all concerned
> Gambians.

>
> Upon reading some of the postings, it seems to me that some folks are
> constantly castigating the Gambian people, especially the electorate for
> being unprincipled.  I cannot disagree more with this assumption because
it
> is a fallacious judgement that has no merit(s).  The Gambian people, by
and
> large, are very generous, decent, and sociable regardless of their
tribal,
> religious or political affiliations.  So to assume that all of a sudden
> Gambians are unprincipled because of the outcome of the elections is an
> injustice and a grotesque representation of Gambian values.
>
> I have to agree with you that we have very pressing issues, viz., social,
> economic, domestic, and political issues which need to be highlighted,
> addressed, and corrected.  But for that to happen we have to be willing
to
> compromise, to face each other sincerely and discussed the blemishes of
our
> society.  Whilst it is convenient to play the "Blaming Game" with the
> compass by pointing it at this and that direction as the source of our
> woes, we are wasting useful time by avoiding dialogue and encouraging
> disunity.  We can argue within ourselves as much as we want or rotate the
> presidency amongst ourselves and our friends till the end of time, we
will
> not better our nation if we don't honestly set aside the artificial
> political differences and constructively engage each other.
>
> It is a shame that we are so obsessed with gov't, power, and politics so
> much that we are all willing to tear apart our nation into bits and
> pieces.  It is very disheartening that our people, especially men, are
> always abusing their own people physically, emotionally, and
> psychologically over foolish politics.  I am beginning to wonder if all
> this hoopla is about caring for the nation and the people than whose camp
> controls the resourses - the government.  If the energy and resources
that
> were spent on the campaign and elections by all the political parties and
> their supporters was redirected to our social and economic problems, I
have
> no doubt that we would have fared better.  Apparently there is a problem,
a
> contagious fever the symptoms of which are (excuse my language)
> unreasonableness, pretentiousness, arrogance, and selfishness has
infected
> a lot of us.
>
> Perhaps the men should step aside if they cannot have a meaningful
> dialogue  because of pride and give chance to the womenfolk. My challenge
> to the Gambian people is to be courageous and face reality.  The reality
is
> that we are a poor under developed country very much at the mercy of
> others.  Do we have the guts to meet our problems face on or do we steer
> away from the challenges that our society faces under the pretext of
> politics?  Do the African children (Gambians) have the wisdom to be the
> pride of the world in the coming decades because of our actions today, or
> will our posterity - my children and yours - inherit a
> languish/unprogressive society because of our fatuous acts?
>
> My friends, I hate to get back to that blaming game again, but I beg that
> you excuse me once again to say this: "WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE
> PLIGHT, FAILURE, AND BACKWARDNESS OF OUR NATION."  Whilst some are more
> responsible than others for our backwardness, we are all to some extent
to
> be blamed for our society's failure.  Therefore, to get up and on, we
> should stop the finger pointing and come up with solutions that will make
> our posterity proud of us.  The developments that have happened in other
> societies did not happen by chance, the citizens of those societies made
> the right moves and sacrifices for their offspring to live a better life;
> you and I need to follow suit by putting on our progressive vestures as
> well.  Our society's wheel of progress can only be lubricated with
> dialogue.  The Gambian problem is our problem, and no other people will
> come to rescue us, so we better have a dialogue now and in the future
> before it is too late.  I don't want to blame or be blamed in the future,
> how about you?
>
> Cheers
> Mariatou
>
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