GPU Celebrates Dixon Colley’s Life

By Musa Barrow

The Gambia Press Union on Saturday celebrated the life of the late veteran journalist William Dixon Colley who was proprietor and editor of ‘Africa Nyato’ and later the ‘Nation Newspaper’.The celebration took the form of a symposium held at the TANGO Conference hall situated in Bakau.

In his introduction as chair of the symposium, Mr. Cherno A. Jallow, another veteran journalist, spoke at length on the character of the personality of Dixon Colley. He noted his humility and generosity, especially towards the then fledgling Gambia Press Union. He said they started without funds to support their activities but that it was Dixon who would give his wife a cheque at the end of every month for the Union and that he never wanted anybody to know. He said Dixon was always determined to publish the truth regardless of the peril or the cost. He said that he would not call a person like Dixon a radical. He said Dixon was among those people in society who do not accept to be put in a box. They always do things beyond the ordinary and the status quo sees them in a different light. He saw Dixon as a gentleman.

On his part, the proprietor and Editor of the News and Report Magazine, Swaebou Conateh, also heralded the late Dixon Colley as a paragon. He revealed that the late Dixon did play a crucial role in his quest to become a journalist. A visibly moved Mr. Conateh gave a passionate history of his contact with Dixon Colley who encouraged him to study journalism and helped to connect him to Kansas University in the United States from Nigeria. He said after his return from studies he was writing stories for The Nation Newspaper and was the initiator of the column ‘Banku Saidu’. He said even after he was absorbed in Government service the Column continued to thrive. He said Dixon has contributed immensely to the development of many Gambian Journalists, in one way or the other and has never faltered in upholding the Independence of the Press.

Mrs Lisong Bah also indicated the humanist side of Dixon Colley as an ever willing counsellor of the young. She revealed that Dixon cared for people and stood by them for better or worse. She mentioned that she has received a posthumous award in the name of Dixon which she would like to present to the GPU for safe custody.

In his tribute to the late William Dixon Colley, Mr. Demba Ali Jawo, a veteran Gambian journalist who worked with Dixon at the ‘Nation newspaper’, said he is an example to Gambian journalists. His Speech was read by Mr Madi Jobarteh. He said even though it was his childhood dream to become a journalist, it was the late Dixon who was the catalyst in the realisation of that dream. Apart from giving him the necessary encouragement and support, Jawo revealed that Dixon also instilled in him the courage and inclination to call ‘a spade a spade’.

Mr. Jawo said his first encounter with Dixon was in February 1979 after publishing his first article in the Nation Newspaper which was critical of the Police Force on the issue of corruption. He said this first article led him to be detained at the Banjul Police Station for seven days and all throughout this period Dixon was visiting him at the station on a daily basis to give him courage. This, according to D.A, is a clear demonstration of the care Dixon had for human beings who stood for justice. He said that it was after his release that he started to spend most of his time at the Nation Newspaper office at 3 Box Bar Road in Banjul .

According to Jawo, the following quotation of Dixon sums up the principle of late veteran journalist;
“If what one is saying is right and one strongly believes it is, one should go on saying it up to the grave”.

He indicated that he had no doubt that if Dixon had been alive and still active in writing in this current atmosphere, he would have been among the first journalist to be sent to jail.

Mr. Madi Jobarteh, also added his own views and concluded that Fabakary Taal took over The Nation newspaper and the Library associated with it is located in Brikama and should not be allowed to die.        

Speaking on the contribution of Dixon Colley to the socio-economic development of the Gambia, Halifa Sallah said even though Dixon is no longer alive physically, he is alive in spirit. He indicated that each of us is an individual and a social being at the same time. He emphasised that each of us has a social contract to fulfill. If we do so we become an asset to society and if we are in breach of the contract we become a liability to society. He said before the Constitution of The Gambia was written and it is stipulated therein that the media should hold the government responsible and accountable to the people, Dixon Colley had upheld that principle as a foundation stone of his journalism. He said Dixon Colley is therefore an asset to society. 

Halifa observed that some may wonder why it is relevant to explore the contribution Dixon Colley has made to the Socio-Economic Development of the country. He indicated that the media has greater link to the socio economic development of society than it is often believed. He emphasized that the media is the institutional memory of a modern day society; that even though Dixon Colley was never a part of the Executive, the legislature or the Judiciary the Newspaper he published put all institutions on their toes.

He explained that Dixon Colley was writing about the concerns of the people, citing an article in a Nation newspaper publication in 1971, which talked about rice and sugar shortages at frequent intervals. In this article, Halifa said, Dixon did not just write about the problem, but also came up with an alternative by writing that ‘in our view, the regulation is not strictly adhered to, making sure that every consumer is given the opportunity to have a share of the available stock, assisting certain people as a favour and leaving out those who are not favoured, is not executing a policy of fair share to all’.        

He further described Dixon as a practical man in his conception of the society and that he was also an independent person. Halifa said Dixon could not be made openly to support a particular political party; noting that he saw himself as the conscience of a nation. He gave many examples where Dixon exposed shortcomings which are detrimental to socio-economic development.

Halifa added that Dixon further saw it as a duty to point out the errors and show the route which must be taken to address them and that he (Dixon) was ready to do that under any government.
“A society like ours is owned by the people and each Gambian is sovereign,” said Halifa. These, according to him, are the sorts of lessons that Dixon Colley wanted to drive home. He stood for the common person and struggled to reassure that each individual is capable of doing something.
Halifa reminded the gathering that Dixon was a sovereign person defending the interest of the people. This, he said, is the spirit that everybody should imbue in oneself, knowing that no one has authority to rule over them and that each is part owner of the nation.

According to Halifa, this was why The Nation newspaper was established. He said the content of the said paper, together with ‘Africa Nyato’, showed that he was not a narrow nationalist, but also wanted the people to see that they are part of the continent.
Dixon, he added, was also a humanist who was talking about universal justice and prosperity.

The testimonies on the integrity, forthrightness, humility, generosity and humanism of the late Dixon Colley were so inspiring and touching that some contributors from the floor had suggested that a book should be written about this Patriotic Gambian.

The symposium was attended by the members of the media fraternity (including journalists) as well as the general public.




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