Lang Conteh, the former foreign exchange manager of the Central Bank of The Gambia and a resident of Lamin Sanchaba in the West Coast Region has extended a message of felicitation to the Gambian leader for his achievements in national development and generosity to humanity.

Below is the full text of the message:
Your Excellency, the President, please kindly accept this expression of gratitude and thanksgiving from my family and humble self as a mark of our profound appreciation of your benevolence and graciousness in accepting our solicitations of forgiveness from your High Office, which you have unreserved and assuredly granted us hitherto. It therefore, behoves me to not only inform you that I have returned home, but to also join my family and the many multitude of Gambians at home and abroad in thanking you for the wonderful job you continue to perform for the people of The Gambia over the years, which is transforming this once impoverished nation, to a twenty-first century novelty, a beacon of hope and inspiration to all the peoples of the world, and a thriving locomotive of development and prosperity, of tranquility and safety, and a stable society of tolerance that transcends all faiths, languages and ethnicity, under a just and unfettered democratic dispensation.

Indeed, you have ushered in a great and monumental historic moment for our country as a result of your strategic visionary leadership, the relentlessness of your determination, effort and confidence that, yes, we must succeed, and that, indeed, we must lift up ourselves from economic quagmire by our own bootstraps. Above all else, you consistently put your love and faith for God and country, as the guiding principles in all affairs. In truth, we are obliged to offer our endless thanks to you and your government, on our own behalf and for the sake of posterity, for this enduring legacy that makes the very purpose of our existence as a people more worthy to be engendered.

Mr. President, Dear Brother, the accomplishments for which you merit the commendations and gratitude of the collective Gambian conscience and polity touches on all spheres of our common heritage and socio-economic lives, and more importantly, on dimensions of our own spirituality as a God-loving nation and a people that serve God on earth as perfect representation of His creation. Allah (SWT) loves you for your service to humanity and the Gambian people adore you for the enlightenment of our hearts in our strive to become the best vicegerent beholden to our Creator.

Your Excellency, the vision you articulated for a progressive and pragmatic development agenda is an all encompassing one that encapsulates the transformation of the entire human condition of the Gambian people. In the beginning, it appeared to be too daunting for many to believe and embrace, and for some it was but just a dream. Yet some were even scared because of he grandeur and boldness of your ambitions giving the resource constraints faced at the time. One of the greatest marks of your leadership is your overwhelming rational self-confidence and teaching the rest of us to believe in ourselves too, and that together, we can take this country to greater heights. Thank you Sir, Mr. President.

Your Excellency, we are all too glad to join all patriotic Gambians in thanking you for the efficient management of the Gambian economy over the years, and for achieving a sustained and robust record of economic performance in all sectors of the economy that has virtually placed The Gambia on the pedestal to become an emerging economy. Taking the exponential growth of the economy by itself as a measurable indicator of progress, at the average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 7.22 percent, if such a level is sustained for the next decade, the multiplier effects will be such that all economically viable land space will be 70 percent fully employed, real house-hold incomes will quadruple, new real estates development will amazingly change the sky-line, youth unemployment will be less than 10 percent, whilst developments in the tourism, health and the environmental sectors will become the new challenges of governance because of the very massive influx of immigrants to a highly developed real economy with a disproportionate land space.

Such is the dynamics and under-currents of your socio-economic strategy which is already trending in creating a new development phenomenon i.e. the urbanization of rural Gambia because your government continues to make enormous investments and commitments in providing rural access to excellent institutions of higher learning and technical education, modern highways, electricity and water facilities, and a robust and modern telecommunications network. In this connection, I remember very vividly when in the early years you warned Gambians not to sell their land because if they do so, they will regret it in ten years time. This is worth recalling for its prophetic vision and far-sightedness that has always characterized the genius of your thinking which bears on your leadership style. As a people and country we are indeed blessed by your foresightedness and wisdom.

In the agricultural sector, your goal for mechanization and modernization which is aimed at achieving food self-sufficiency has heralded a new approach to governance and a new development paradigm which are: leading by direct example and direct engagement, culminating in the much heralded back to the land policy of your government. The resulting growth in agricultural activity has undergone a generational shift with modern tractors and power tillers replacing obsolete bull-and-mull-drawn plows in the prairie plains and wetlands of The Gambia thus expanding and diversifying the agricultural base. The impact on house hold incomes in the farm-lands has tremendously increased standards of living and a whole new class of wealthy agri-businessmen is emerging. At the personal level, your direct engagement in farming ventures and the success achieve therein, serves as a great motivation and a harbinger for self-reliance on our own capacity to feed ourselves and export surplus produce.

Your Excellency, in the same vein, you have made the most personal contributions in the health sector. Apart from your government’s over-arching record in providing modern health facilities all over the country, you have made an incredible personal commitment and effort to utilize your special God-given talent and gift to heal the hopelessly sick people ranging from HIV infected patients, asthma, infertility, to name but a few, and you give them solace and comfort where once it was despondency and despair. The sheer amount of time and pecuniary resources spent on the treatment program, and your own passion to offer all treatment on a gratuitous basis is a great personal sacrifice and love for we the Gambian people in particular, and for humanity in general.

Only Almighty Allah (SWT) can reward you for this humanitarian endeavor, but believe me Sir, many well meaning people around the world are also deeply touched by your service to humanity and appreciate what you are doing at great personal cost to yourself and your family and they pray for you a solemn, and genuine supplication. We join this well meaning majority Sir, in praising Allah (SWT) for availing us the Gambian people with an honest, forward-looking, competent, inspiring and intelligent leader because the whole point of leadership, after all, is figuring out where to go from where we are now. Your roadmap for development as enshrined in your Vision 2020 blue print is only a precursor to the New Gambia Project which will, God willing, catapult The Gambia to the Ivy League of Nations and allow you Mr. President to provide much needed leadership to an already beleaguered and troubled region and world.

Your Excellency, my family and my humble self hereby unequivocally pledge our firm allegiance, loyalty and unflinching support to your Emminent High Office as President, and to The Gambia and its flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, in your continuing endeavor to lead and move this nation forward unto a glorious shining path in realizing the higher aspirations of the people of The Gambia. 

Your Excellency, in conclusion we join you to offer our thanks to Allah who has enable me to finally return home to my dear motherland, with your blessings and forgiveness, after many years of absence, and to find my people and country in perfect conditions of peace, safety and prosperity under the distinguished and dynamic leadership of Your Excellency, Shiekh Professor Dr. Alh. Yahya AJJ Jammeh, President of the Republic of The Gambia.

May Allah (SWT) continue to shower you and your family His abundant and abiding grace and mercy, and strengthen your hands on the mantle of leadership in this country for as long as you desire, in perfect health and longevity of life, Amen!!

Lang Conteh
Lamin Sanchaba
West Coast Region