F Camara, Always good to hear from you. By the way, I got a surprise phone call the other day, from the Mr........and Cherno Baba Jallow in Michigan, US. I didn't expect to get a call from him in Michigan. I hope you are not already crying or missing him. (laugh) F, actually, I have always spoken and written good French whenever I have had cause to use the language. In fact, I deliberately used French on the L, to the demystify it, and also to surprise people like you. Language, to borrow a phrase from Halifa Sallah, is not the property of any race or people. It can be studied and mastered by anybody. An assignment for you: Find out where I was between 1986 to 1989. I remember in 1992, I was with Pap Saine of The Point newspaper covering the African Cup of Nations in Dakar, Senegal, and he too was taken aback when he heard me ask questions in impeccable French at a CAF Press Conference, conducted entirely in French. If you were to ask Pap Saine, or Sheihk Muktarr Kanuteh of the Daily Observer, they would tell you that 'Coach has always spoken French'. And, in fact, be now informed that there are so many Gambians who speak excellent French, but because they do not use it often, people do not know about them. In 1991, when I was working for the then Gambia Weekly newspaper, with the cooperation of Alliance Francais in Banjul, I worked on a piece on the number of Gambians that were speaking French at the time; and, believe me, the number was enormous. If I remember very well, I divided them into three groups. You have those who studied in France - the Blaise Jagnes, the Musa Sillahs, Dr Sedat Jobes, the Cherno Jallows, the Eta Baldehs, the Therese Drammehs, the Hassan Gibrils, the Amie Dibba, the Amie Nyanko Njies etc - and for some reasons those who studied in France are the ones who are most known when it comes to speaking French. Then you have those who attended French Primary schools, Secondary Schools and Universities. And these are the Deyda Hydaras, the Mbye Sohnas, the Sabelle Badjan-Jagnes (now Head of News at Radio Gambia), the Bekai Keitas now in Atlanta, the Neneh Fayes, the Sheikh Muktarr Kanutehs etc. And, finally, you have those who studied or hold degrees in French from Universities in English speaking countries. These include the Mam Sillah Chams, the Ebou Mannehs, the Momodou Senghores of Shell, the Abdoulie Sallahs who is the present Secretary of State for Health, the lawyer Musa Bittayes, the B.B Dabos, the Ebou Dibbas (the author), the late Njie-Bahs, the Bola Carrols etc. So, F, take it from me, that there are SO MANY Gambians who speak articulate French, but, for some reasons, they are not as known as the Ebou Khans, the Kebba Jarjues, the Njogou Bahs, the Lamin Mannehs, the Alagie Ceesays, the Sedat Jobes, and the Bolong Sonkos. By the way, in the Gambian Media itself, a reasonable number of them speak French. Would you be surprised to be told that your former boss, Baboucarr Gaye, speaks and write very good French? So does Nana Grey Johnson. I do not have to mention Sidia Jatta of Foroyaa, Deyda of The Point, Sabelle Badjan-Jagne of Radio Gambia, Mariama Darboe, formerly of the Department of Information and UNIFEM, Fatou Jobe of Gambia TV, Kanuteh of the Daily Observer, because everybody knows that these people speak excellent French. Anyway, enough about French!! Omar Drammeh: Great to hear from you!! I'll give you my thoughts on the African Cup Nations, one of these days. Yes, it was sad to see Kanu and Ikpeba miss their penalties. Actually, Victor Ikpeba's penalty was definitely a goal, but, unfortunately, the ball was too fast for the naked eye of the referee to catch or see. But camera replays confirmed that the penalty was indeed a goal. In fact, presently, in England, there is intense debate as to whether or not, referees should now be allowed to consult touch line cameras if they have any doubt about a foul or a goal. African Football, in my view, has progressed quite healthily and soon it would be our turn to win the world cup. In 1992, I had interviewed Stephen Keshi, then captain of Nigeria, in Senegal, and he said to me, among other things, that while it was true to say that African football was progressing, it was equally true to say that the standard of African refereeing was declining. Well, Omar Drammeh, what Keshi told me in 1992, still holds some water. I am afraid to say this, but if the recent African Cup of Nations is anything to go by, then I must say that the standard of African refereeing is still poor, and it definitely needs improvement. Yes! yes! Aghahova is already a talent. I don't know his agent, but if he has a good one, he, the agent, can work a very lucrative deal for him. I am also happy for Tijani Babangida. He has now regained his lost form, and I hope Ajax would retain him, if not I'll buy him for Arsenal. (laugh). Sidi Sanneh: Good to have you back on the L. Your perspective is always appreciated. Keep it up!! By the way, I know you were one of those "Kotos" who went to the USA so early, but when I read - in one of your articles the other day on the L - that you attended a programme or whatever, at Harvard in 1967, I said to myself "wow"!!!! By the way, I've noticed that Jeffrey Sachs, of all people, who himself was the architect of the disastrous programme of "Shock Therapy" which was forced through Russia and Eastern Europe in the early 1990s, has been constantly taking issue with the IMF. If I also remember well, during the Asian financial crisis, he, Sachs, had attacked the IMF for what he called the "harsh deflationary measures" it demanded of South Korea and other tiger economies in exchange for lending them enough money to keep afloat and repay their Western creditors. He was also quoted in London Financial Times as having said at the time, that:..."the IMF has decided to impose a severe macroeconomic contraction on top of the market panic that is already roiling (sic) these (tiger) economies. Consider the Korea programme...The Fund argues that these draconian monetary measures are 'to restore and sustain calm in the markets' and to demonstrate the government's resolve to confront the present crisis'. It is hard to see how recessionary monetary measures will restore calm. Indeed the panic has so intensified since the signing of the agreement that Korean banks may now be on the verge of outright default"... Interesting and very frank quotations coming from Sachs at the time. Sidi, maybe after you and others have exhausted the useful topic of Privatisation, we should then debate/discuss the present state of the World economy and Africa's role in it. I read a piece written by Alex Callinicos (who is a leftist) on a similar topic as the one being proposed by me, and it certainly makes interesting reading and frightening revelations/predictions at the same time. Amadou Kabir Njie: I saw your reply the other day, and thanks a lot for it. Many of us are definitely enjoying reading the postings you and Madiba are forwarding to the L, and certainly you guys deserve to be commended. Ebrima Ceesay, Birmingham, UK. >From: fatou camara <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Where are you? >Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 12:21:37 PST > >Hi Ebrima Ceesay, >Since when did you start writing in french,anyway am impressed and i >hope you will give me hints as to how it all started. >I really want to learn french. >Fatou Camara. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------