That was a well written piece about D.A. Jawo. I wonder what has happened to
the petition to reinstate him that was signed by most of the Observer
employees.
God Bless and peace Be Upon All
Alasana Bah
>From: chernob jallow <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Tribute to D.A.Jawo
>Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 11:54:48 PDT
>
> D.A.Jawo: A man,a mission
>
> by Cherno Baba Jallow
> in Detroit,USA
>
> "You can't run tanks on hopes. You can't riddle people's yearnings
>with bullets."
> --- Pres. Ronald Reagan to Chinese leaders on
>Tiananmen
>Square massacre.
>
>Such was the toughness and outspokeness enshrined in the writings of
>D.A.Jawo. A journalist of calibre and timbre,a man of unassuming character
>and moral uprightness,Jawo recently became the first casualty of the change
>of ownership of the Daily Observer Company. He was fired without good
>reasons but apparently for his acerbic opinions and beliefs and ideas,on
>the
>fossilization of his society. If you're looking for a prisoner of
>conscience,Jawo is one.
>
>Well,actually,he's no prisoner,but a victim - not of his own designs - but
>those of the privileged few,luxuriating in covetous courtship with the
>powerful,and hell-bent on stifling intellectual growth and freedom. Jawo
>may
>have been driven to the edges of intellectual frustration, but the
>ebullience and resilience in him,larger than imaginable,will rekindle his
>hopes,put him once again,on the cusp of his mission: to speak the
>unvarnished truth without fear or favour,in these days of Gambian political
>insanity. And incivility.
>
>While at the Observer,Jawo unwittingly earned himself the custodianship of
>the newspaper's traditions and precepts. He infused responsibility and
>accountability in all of us - young writers,occasionally prone to youthful
>immaturities and peccadilloes yet working for a credibly serious newspaper.
>He knew us all by our personae,typescripts,writing styles and work ethics.
>And he would dutifully point out our errors and proffer solutions,and then
>leave you to defend your position.
>
>Jawo's writings as a reporter and columnist at the Observer had the cutting
>edge of truth. He never shied away from speaking his mind even if the
>scales
>of public opinion were against him. That's one of the traits of a good
>columnist: readiness to grapple with any issues whether controversial or
>inflammatory of majoritarian tyranny.
>
>And Jawo was such good columnist. He wrote with verve and
>enthuasism,profundity and clarity,honesty and objectivity. He combined
>toughness and civility,which made his acerbic writings painfully
>irresistible,instructively unputdownable. Read this:
>
>"The AFPRC also promised us that openness,transparency and accountability
>will be the hallmarks of the regime, but it appears that there is quite a
>lot left to be desired in that regard. We have witnessed the summary
>dismissal of senior civil servants and other republic servants,and others
>have been arrested and detained without anyone caring to tell us the
>reasons
>for such drastic actions." Jawo was doing a stocktaking of the AFPRC'S 100
>days in power in 1994. Five years later,his words still have a ring of
>truth
>about current political realities in our nation.
>
>But Jawo had one skill that many columnists do not have: he had ways of
>telling you 'go to hell' and still have you come back to him looking for
>friendship. Do you want a proof of that? Just see how he single-handedly
>challenged State House Imam Abdoulie Fatty on his fanatical
>rabble-rousings,which Jawo considered to be inimical to Islamic
>sanity,secular unity and societal progress. In return,the Imam "threatened"
>Jawo,but later denied he ever did so. He said he would be happy to meet
>Jawo
>and even shake hands with him.
>
>Imam Fatty's overt change of heart was not because he wittingly submitted
>himself to self-scrutiny,but because he discovered his threats could not
>frighten Jawo into silence;that Jawo was a mountain that didn't move. He
>was
>rock-solid in his opinions on the actions of the Imam. Jawo was not the
>type
>of reporter or columnist easily brow-beaten into reticence. Speak his mind
>he must!
>
>I recall with great nostalgia my days at the Observer with Jawo. If he was
>not editing news reports,he was always busy scribbling notes which he
>would
>later develop into a thought-provoking essay or commentary. His eyes gazing
>above the rims of his lenses,adorned with his grizzled hair,Jawo would
>always engage us in journalistic dialogue on issues of the day. He would
>ask
>probing questions and then a proliferation of ideas would follow. We never
>always agreed with him,but oftentimes we listened with painstaking
>attention,as he argued his points.
>
>My respect for Jawo increased when, out of sheer ethica values,he stood by
>me during my confrontation with the then Acting Nigerian High Commissioner
>Goffrey Teneilabe. The High Commissioner was incensed by an article I wrote
>in my column in 1995 lambasting his propagandist diplomacy at the behest of
>Sani Abacha,Nigeria's most brutal military dictator since Ironsi in 1966.
>
>I wrote: "Time after time,the Acting Nigerian High Commissioner,more
>loquacious than profound,has put up a spirited defence in favour of the
>Abacha regime. The Abuja administration is constantly proffered panegyric
>stakes. And anything critical of it is viewed disdainfully." The High
>Commisioner went bonkers! He threatened to sue me and the Daily Observer
>Company,for libel? We wondered.
>
>Granted,facts and Almighty God were on my side,and I had received
>tremendous
>support from Nigerians in the streets,I still was visibly shaken by the
>threat of a suit. Here was a young columnist taking to task a high
>commissioner of the most powerful country in West Africa. I didn't want to
>go through all the rigmarole of court proceedings;it was going to waste my
>time and delay my efforts to pursue university education abroad,I lamented.
>And I was concerned that my family,which was always opposed to my
>journalism
>career,would have had more genuine reasons why I needed to quit the
>profession.
>
>But Jawo determinedly pep talked me out of my emotional distress. "You have
>nothing to fear," he reassured me. "Your opinions are your opinions," he
>added. He reasoned that to put me on trial for my opinions,expressed within
>the ambits of the law,would be a travesty, and that the Nigerian High
>Commission was simply fighting a rearguard situation.
>
>Up till I left The Gambia in 1996,nobody would tell me anything more about
>a
>lawsuit from the Nigerian High Commission. An informed source would later
>tell me the suit-threat had been dropped,and the High Commissioner had
>simply lodged a complaint against me at the Foreign Affairs Ministry on
>Marina Parade.
>
>Jawo's moral support was very instrumental. It energized my zeal to pen
>down
>yet more groundbreaking articles. He dusted off old copies of the AfricaNow
>and New African magazines from his drawers and handed them to me. His wish
>was to open up my mind to the didactic writings of Peter Enahoro,Abdu
>Rahman
>Babu and Phillip Ochieng,three great African columnists who made great
>strides on Africa's journalistic scene in the 1970s and 80s. In those
>days,Jawo was already writing in the opinion pages of these magazines. His
>interest in journalism is as old as the hills.
>
>Dismissal from the Observer will make not break Jawo. Always determined and
>perceptive, he will bounce back and carry on with his mission. He is
>undaunted. In the pursuit of truth he shall continue to persevere. And
>survive. I think the world of Jawo.
>
>
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