My Fellow Gambians – and friends of The Gambia,
This is not my 33rd Message to All Gambians: that will be coming soon!
You will have read on the mighty Post and Gambia-L that I have successfully submitted my Doctoral Thesis, and that the Doctorate will be formally awarded at a Degree Conference (or a Graduation Ceremony) on December 8th at Birmingham University, UK.
I had hoped that news of this would reach you via a report in the Independent Newspaper in The Gambia. I had given an initial brief interview to Alieu Badara Sowe, and he had kindly posted it on to the Independent. It seemed appropriate that news of my Doctorate should be announced in the Independent – my fellow professionals, those brave and talented Journalists in The Gambia, are in my thoughts at all times, and I am full of admiration for the wonderful job they are doing to promote true democracy in our beloved nation. They risk their lives to tell the truth and to alert the public to the real state of affairs in our country.
However, a fellow Gambian brother, Abdou Karim Sanneh, beat us to the post! A journalistic scoop in fact!!
I will be putting details of my Research and conclusions onto the Gambia Post and Gambia-L after the Degree Ceremony, and I shall also post a variety of articles based on my Thesis, which I hope will stimulate discussion and discourse.
I shall take this opportunity however, to thank all those people – Gambians and non-Gambians alike – who have given freely of their time and expertise throughout the course of my studies. Too many to mention all of them, but the late Professor John Wiseman, Professor Arnold Hughes, Professor Tom McCaskie, Professor Karin Barber, Dr Elizabeth Vidler, Dr Stewart Brown, Dr Reginald Cline-Cole, Dr Paulo Farias, Dr Fatma Denton, Dr Keith Shear, Dr Ebrima Sall, Brother Halifa Sallah, Dr Muhammed Faal and Dr Abdoulaye Saine have been of great help to me.
Many Gambians who gave me research assistance have asked to remain anonymous for obvious reasons – the NIA and the APRC regime are not too well disposed to people who speak against the regime. I also thank my examiners, particularly my external examiner, Professor Christopher Clapham, one of Britain’s leading Political Scientists on Africa, for giving me a challenging but fair viva voce (oral examination). My thanks also go to Dr Lynne Brydon, who moderated my viva (oral examination) and made sure that I had a fair viva.
I owe a great debt to a European couple – Anne and Bill Clague – who have given wonderful support. They, like me, work tirelessly to promote democracy and democratic ideals throughout the world.
I end this short message with a prayer that The Gambia will soon be free of the terrible regime which has brought disgrace and abject poverty to our nation.
Ebrima Ceesay,
Birmingham, UK