Yus,
You are right to remind us, especially blind supporters of this medieval and ghastly regime we have back home, the old maxim that patriotism or love for one's country comes in different forms. Just because you object to a child murderer and kleptomaniac like Jammeh doesn't mean, ergo, you are opposed to the development of the Gambia. Rather, this is a good case for that old form of noble patriotism wherein principled dissension and criticality of the powers that be, especially if they are idiots, should be encouraged in every society that hopes to achieve any semblance of a pluralist democratic polity. For useful idiots like Jallow-Bojang, the only way to display patriotism is to kotow to mediocrity and wrap hypocrisy around the flag. Contrary to his antics, we have no better patriots today in the Gambia than the genuine Opposition that continue to realise that Jammeh is a menace to our society, and, unlike Jamfa-Conteh, continues to believe that "Dictator Yaya Jammeh is the worst thing to happen to the Gambia", and that he "should let our people go free".
Yus, we will always have hypocrites and parasitic elements like Jallow-Bojang, who prey on tribal differences in the Gambia but ludicrously proseltising tribal tolerance, and even inter-tribal relationships when they practise the very opposite. As i reliably learnt of Jallow-Bojang, not only is he up to his neck in APRC politics, but has been through out his "fence-sitting" period when he claimed to be in favour of none. The moron like an ostrich being chased in the desert, imagined that by burying his head in a heap of sand in the desert and exposing his butt to be fried or baked in the sun, he is doing a good job in hiding his true allegiances. What the useful idiot failed to understand is that the Gambia is a tiny village, and everyone literally knows the other. Had he borne that at the back of his thickhead, he would have realised that he is no longer in the closet but out in the open.
We all know for a fact that he openly supported the AFPRC and campaigned for them in their early days, especially before his childhood buddy, Sana Sabally - the butcher of 11 November 1994 - was kicked out and locked up by Jammeh. We also know for a fact that his mother is Jammeh's Yai Compin in Farrafenni and was rewarded with an air ticket to Mecca to perform the Hajj by Jammeh. We know for a fact that his sister, Jainaba Bah, is married to that opportunistic former so-called MOJA(G) militant, Sarjo Jallow. So, Jallow-Bjoang should spare us the patriotic bullshits that he said motivates him. We happen to know for a fact that Jallow-Bojang is also buddies with the likes of the gaffe-prone Major Bojang, Essa Bokarr Sey, Kaba Bajo, Tomboy Said, and a host of other APRC operatives. This is not some guilt-by-association argument, as it may appear to the less profound. This is a clear manifestation of the quintessential and old self-regard in matters of public life, and even politics manifesting itself in the form of the affinities friendship and family motivating Jallow-Bojang to support a child murderer. Let the moron declare his his vested interest in the APRC, and we'll ignore him as we did the likes of Tomboy Said, erstwhile MD of GRTS.
Yus, my old friend, none will ever dream of the day when the likes you, who have achieved stellar credentials in your young life to aspire to be part of a nasty and brutish profiteering outfit like the APRC. Genuine Gambian patriots like you and Kebba Dampha are comfortable in life and have worked for every darned dime you proudly call yours. You don't need to support child murderers to survive in this world unlike the Essa Bokarr Sey's of this world. Rest assured that your call for objective evaluations of the toadying, scheming and celebration of mecdiocrity in Gambian public life would be heeded to by noble citizens of that country, who refuse to yield to the medieval regime we have down there. Idiots, as i intimated earlier to that brain dead bacterium and crass imbecile, Malick Kah, have their uses: they will always remind us first hand why there is a need for critical minds; critical of crass and opportunitic patriotism; critical of dull conformism; and, above all, critical of sell-outs.
Once again, many thanks for a very brilliantly argued and well-timed article. Hopefully, this week will have more mercy on me, and i should be able to engage in serious writings.