Thank you Sariang. On Jan 16, 2018 2:39 PM, "sariang marong" < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hello Brother Baba, > A very insightful piece thank you. > Best regards, > Sariang > > > Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone > <https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/?.src=iOS> > > On Tuesday, January 16, 2018, 4:14 AM, Baba Jallow <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > > *Talk, Talk, Talk* > > > By Baba Galleh Jallow > > > We have argued elsewhere that the fall of a dictator does not mark the end > of the fight against dictatorship. Rather, it marks the beginning of the > fight against the many negative legacies of dictatorship. Our capacity to > succeed in transforming our country into a better place is contingent upon > our capacity to neutralize the many negative legacies of dictatorship. > These range from social disorder to institutional corruption not only of > the monetary sort, but also of the moral sort. And we can neutralize many > of these negative legacies by honestly, truthfully, and respectfully > talking about them at the national level. Only then can we take our country > and our society to the next level. > > > The failure of Africa’s independence era leaders to transform our > countries into viable nation states was a direct result of their failure to > neutralize the dictatorial culture of the colonial state. As a child of > colonialism, the African nation state was born out of social disorder and > institutional corruption. Colonial rule was a physical manifestation of > social disorder and institutional corruption, and an inventor of moral > corruption. The colonial state existed not for the development of the > people it ruled, but for the power and enrichment of the crown it served. > Its reason for being was to pursue the twin goals of political imperialism > and material exploitation of the colonized. Its mode of operation was > essentially coercive and it had little interest in the lives of the > colonized except as an alien and backward species of Homo sapiens deserving > little respect and firm control. It rattled the mandate of the civilizing > mission and cast itself in the role of a benevolent dictatorship for which > the colonized should be grateful. Unfortunately, the essential character of > this malevolent colonial state survived the cheers of independence and > continues to stunt the advancement of societies in Africa 2018. Our > independence era leaders’ failure to recognize and neutralize the > dictatorial character of the colonial state explains why Africa is still > called a dark continent and why it is subject to jaundiced imagination as > an uncomplimentary part of the human anatomy. In Africa 2018, every day > brings new challenges and new crises, and everyday magnifies old challenges > and old crises. Every day too, the African state remains prostrate and > seemingly helpless against the relentless onslaught of national crises that > grow bigger by the day but that can be easily managed and neutralized with > little cost to the state and abundant dividends for the nation. > > > The fall of the colonial state called for a radical transformation of > African societies. A radical transformation from societies ruled by an > exploitative colonial dictatorship to societies intelligently governing > themselves. Since good self-governance is a mark of social intelligence, > our independence leaders should have enhanced the intelligence of our > national societies. They should have placed maximum premium on the value of > the human person and vigorously exploited the intelligence of the human > person for the common good. Rather, they simply stepped into the shoes of > the departed colonial rulers and continued doing business as usual. They > failed to direct their energies at transforming our societies into truly > free and empowered peoples by promoting everything positive about the > institutional framework of the nation-state system they just adopted while > neutralizing the negative legacies of the colonial state that just > departed. They failed to initiate and promote a healthy national > conversation about the challenges of nationhood. And more seriously, they > muzzled all aspects of the national conversation that did not explicitly > serve their individual selfish interests. Consequently, African societies > remain mired in the crippling contradictions of free bondage to hostile > politics, poverty, stagnation and even degeneration in many vital aspects > of our national life. Things always seem to be getting worse in Africa > because the social conditions that made them bad in the first place are > themselves always getting worse. > > > In Gambia 2018, we have not only some vestiges of colonial dictatorship to > deal with, but also the legacies of recent postcolonial dictatorship, what > we might term the green crisis. Even where the political intolerances of > the colonial state and the ousted dictatorship are reasonably neutralized, > there remains a culture of popular intolerance propagated by the ousted > dictatorship. Many Gambians have a we-versus-them mentality that > characterized colonial rule and was magnified under the Jammeh > dictatorship. Ultimately, the crisis boils down to our incapacity to > imagine and actualize a collective national identity that can overshadow > our political and increasingly, our ethnic differences. Of course, no one > is calling for people to abandon their political affiliations or shun their > ethnic identities. What we need to do is imagine, actualize and manifest a > national identity premised on our collective spirituality as human beings, > as national relatives and as friendly neighbors who will not insult or > demean each other over political and ethnic differences. > > > Yes we should be proud of our political affiliations and our ethnic > identities. And yes, we should be free to promote the interests of the > collectivities to which we belong. We certainly should all be proud to be > Gambians, as we are. But neither political nor ethnic or national identity > has succeeded in creating the kind of peaceful and progressive society we > are meant to be. While we are all proud of our national identity as > Gambians, we still fight over political affiliations and ethnic identities > that, paradoxically are inimical to our collective wellbeing as Gambians. > Wishing ill, speaking ill and acting ill towards each other is wishing ill, > speaking ill and acting ill against ourselves. These unhealthy habits > cripple our collective capacity to rise up to the challenges that erupt > around us every day. They prevent us from taking the practical actions > necessary to address and neutralize many common crises that plague our > society from day to day, year to year. This has been an abiding crisis of > African independence; but it doesn’t have to be the crisis of the New > Gambia. We know what the problems are and we have the capacity to tackle > them head on if only we take the necessary action. > > > The tricky part is that crises of the sort that continues to cripple > African societies are best addressed by African governments simply because > they are the best-equipped directors of collective social action. In the > case of hostile political and ethnic divisions, our government needs to > initiate as a matter of urgency a protracted process of active national > dialogue. Our government needs to dedicate some resources – institutional, > personal, and monetary – with the mandate to carry out a national and > sustained campaign against political and ethnic hostilities in our society. > Issuing an occasional press release is certainly better than doing nothing. > But it is not enough to effectively address and neutralize the politics of > hostility in our society. And the longer we fail to do something concrete > that yields noticeable levels of political and cultural civility in our > society, the larger our national political and ethnic crises will grow. If > we fail to take practical measures to neutralize the simmering political > and ethnic tensions in our society, we will be repeating the costly > mistakes of the past and setting ourselves up for disastrous failure. And > all we need to do is talk, talk, talk. Deliberately talk to each other in > an open, honest, respectful and edifying manner about what, above > everything else, unites us as Gambians and as human beings. A sustained > process of healthy national conversation about these issues on radio, on > television, on social media, in the press and at public gatherings across > the country is indispensable in our quest for proper national advancement. > And we can keep talking to each other in this manner into a bright future. > > > > > > > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To > unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web > interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/ > SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please > send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To > unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web > interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/ > SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please > send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤