AFRICAN DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS
(FREEDOM AND JUSTICE)
ROUND THE PEOPLE ROUND THE COUNTRY
BANJUL THE GAMBIA                                         E-mail:gambiafaso@yahoo.fr, E-mail:gainde114@yahoo.fr

Building Consensus – Our National Agenda, Thought provoking ideas

In the Holy Name of Allah, The Most High, the Beneficent, the Merciful, and the Compassionate the Gracious Creator of the Heavens and Earth. I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I bear witness that Mohammed (PBUH) is His Messenger our Holy Prophet.

My dear fellow Gambian citizens I greet you with the words of Peace and Love “ASALAAM” and may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon you all and may He protect you and guide you in this New Year 2O10 giving us victory over evil.

Fellow Gambian citizens may the birth of the Holy Prophet of Allah (ISSA) Jesus Christ (PBUH) the Prince of Divine Peace who is the word of God made manifest in the Blessed Virgin Mary and was made man and whose birth day was celebrated the world over on the 25th of December 2009 be upon all Gambians and I wish you all a happy prosperous new year 2010 praying that freedom, peace, justice and unity finally comes to our dear country.

I urge all Gambians to be thankful to Allah for seeing the nation through another difficult year as we continue the journey of a bitter and uncompromising struggle towards building “a better Gambia’’ for all.

With deep love and concern as a political leader and a Panafricanist revolutionary freedom fighter who watches events from the touchline, even though I realized the deep insight analysis of intellectual freedom fighters refreshing, I felt a worrying thought that the problems and the solutions of our Gambian nation as they were presented by all the respectful political analysts are issues well-known to those who care to be aware of and are aware of them. For this reason I have chosen the topic information as a veritable tool for national awareness and development as my New Year 2010 message to you all.

No doubt and with pride I can rightly say that all the intellectual writers and analysts are concern Gambian citizens who are seriously engaged in the struggle to free our dear country from ignorance, evil and backwardness. But the truth of the matter is that we are far from reality and victory. Why are we still talking about the same problems and same solutions such as our inability to wean ourselves from our neo-colonial way of thinking when we should be talking about something new, of great importance i.e. how to unite and fight a just cause to genuinely gain freedom and justice for our dear people? Why do we lack the necessary will-power to do the right things which will lift us out of this unacceptable quagmire of oppression, brutality, murder, poverty and ignorance?

Why should we continue to remain the appendage of Jammeh’s oppression, exploitation criminality and dictatorship? Why for Heaven’s sake should we accept blindly and without forethought about  His Exc. President Yaya Jammeh’s idea and believe that the old Adamic nature should not simply die, and instead of seeking first the Kingdom of God and all its righteousness, he has allowed his world to be poisoned and controlled by all kinds of evil vices, not to mention the abuse of power and brute authority murdering his own people in the name of state security with impunity. It is the end and the beginning of a new year that we have to pause and examine the forces and events that shepherded us through the expiring year i.e. the clean unbiased balance sheet.

As everyone knows well the exercise usually ends with a determination to identify and correct the shortfalls of the past and chart a new course for the future as without looking backwards we cannot see ahead. To look backwards and objectively identifying the peaks and troughs of the concluding year calls for a dispassionate sincerity that is not typical of ordinary men and women and is certainly a spiritual activity. Let us not have the habit of pleading as beggars and cowards for those who behave negatively and brutally but we must deal firmly with them and uproot evil. We should stop going on our knees to beg for mercy from dictator Jammeh and for what we need which is our birthright for our survival. I request that the year 2010 be a year of great desires to see the end of problems militating against the helpless old aged and the development of our women and children.

Fellow Gambians the answer is not hard to find if one considers the hullabaloo which has followed the inter-political dialogue between Gambians over the newspapers and the internet concerning the history of our heroic struggle for freedom and justice and what next to be done to save our nation. The way things are going shows clearly that we are light years away from achieving any salvation. It shows that we have lost this country if we do not wake up to the reality. The exchange of ideas amongst Gambian intellectuals and writers provided a slot for comments and questions.

Anyhow, I regard the exchange of ideas as part of consensus building a hope for the future; the nation must develop zero tolerance for oppression, murder, corruption, indiscipline, incompetence, mediocrity, complacency and ostentatious lifestyle of all those who rely on the consolidated fund for their living. For Gambians to meaningfully combat the evil vices I think that our nation must solve the riddle of the forbidden fruit, with reference to the Adam and Eve story found in the holy books.

As a nation do the people in leadership positions have the right intellect to lead the nation and in reverse, do the followers have the right intellect to allow themselves to be wrongly led and oppressed? We should not make big mistakes for we are wrongly misled embarking on a journey of no certainty because of the lack of proper education. Since everyone knows that education is the gateway to consciousness, freedom and human decency has education been of any value to the educated African Gambian, especially those in leadership positions? Do we have the intellect to set priorities for ourselves? I have painfully witnessed and observed that when it comes to misleading the Gambian masses to allow president Yaya Jammeh continue riding on the backs of Gambians the so-called press that should have been free and independent educating the popular masses but working for and on behalf of President Yaya Jammeh shows clearly the level of illiteracy and lack of appreciation of the developmental needs of the country of many of the persons who have access to the pen connected to the print media and the microphone tied to the electronic media.

It makes complete nonsense of the claim by the Gambian media to be the fourth estate of the realm. We should see and accept information as a veritable tool for national awareness and development. We have to acknowledge that of all aspect of empowerment which our society has been grappling with, the social dimension seems to be most downplayed. Even so often, we have tended to place more emphasis on such factors as economic empowerment, political empowerment, educational empowerment or even the gender-specific need for women empowerment. Oh yes, all these are critical empowerment indices towards which we must aspire if we ever hope to uplift our parlours circumstances. However, a priceless and crucial necessity, which we seem to have largely overlooked, is the imperative of empowering our ranks through the information super highway.

Taken for granted that information dissemination is an everyday dynamism, many have averted attention to the dreary grinds of survival and tension-soaked competition in a world that keeps pawning up new and ever-changing realities. We seem to so easily forget that, of all the benefits of a modern globalize world, information technology remains perhaps the most remarkable, not only in its astonishing scientific developments but more importantly in its effective spread and impact. It is true that the benefits of information may not be immediate or even tangible in their outcomes, but the cumulative advantages are more than salutary. Experience has already indicated that a people who are well informed on a wide range of issues generally occupy a higher ground of advantage over matters of development and survival.

For sure, information will help to periscope areas of our weakness as well as our collective strength as a nation. It will afford us insightful vistas of our resilience and the limitless bounds our intellectual and mental capacities can gravitate, given the enabling environment. Contemporary information keeps revealing that the Black man is no less resourceful or even less endowed than the white man, given the auspicious atmosphere. As individuals and separate communities, credible information will enable us concentrate more on those areas and endeavours for which we have comparative natural advantage. Graphic information appropriately situates the prevailing circumstances of any nation on the global scale of sustainable human development. Importantly also, information will enable us to master, dominate and ultimately conquer our environment. In short, well-digested information will help to underscore our common humanity in consummation our existence through the universal brotherhood of mankind.

For our dear Gambia, specific project, valuable pieces of sundry information will keep updating us to the fact that the sky is truly our limits just if we can put in a little more effort in getting our acts together. On the socio-economic horizon, statistical information will establish the sources and damaging effects of corruption on our polity, while it will highlight the degrading proclivity of our endemic poverty. Current information teaches us that the world is fast becoming some kind of a global village where the primordial sentiments of ethnicity, religious bigotry, indigenship and settlership are steadily being eroded. Information is also teaching us that politics ought to be an exceedingly noble profession which should be devoid of rancor, violence, bitterness and acrimony. In this and other regards historical information will help us learn from our own and other people’s past experience in consciously sidestepping avoidable mistakes of nationhood. On our educational horizon, structured information will give us useful insights into the liberation influence of literacy and numeracy. On its part, medical and demographic information will sensitize us on the damaging effects of fake drugs and the need to take our health concerns more seriously rather than rely on the Jammeh’s belief and witchcraft practice to eradicate diseases. It will also highlight the benefits of good nutrition and the strategic imperative of food security. Climate information teaches us to always preserve the natural environment and maintain the balance in our eco-system. Quite instructively, civic information not only counsels us that there is no viable alternative to democracy, it also moderates our patience in the learning process for building our yet to be a nascent genuine democracy as well as to mobilize the citizenry for mass participation in nation-building.

In struggling to unite all Gambians and in upholding the beauty of our unity in diversity, when our compatriots will be enlightened on the verity those tribes, different religious denominations will co-exist side-by-side and peacefully even in the volatile Jammeh democracy and evil reign; this realization will no doubt moderate our tendency for political, ethnic and religious extremism. For, authentic information would, for sure, reveal that the prolonged crisis in the Gambia since Jammeh’s coming to power is not necessarily ethnic or tribalism, but the unrelenting struggle for self-determination, freedom and justice. Information therefore, will illuminate the mind for clarity and refinement of the thought process.

Suffice it to say that we can afford to be mere spectators on the turf of real politics. We can even elect to be passive when it comes to tangible involvement in the other antiguous sectors of our polity. But contemporary realities keep nudging us that we can remain indifferent to the dynamic of the fourth estate of the realm only at our own enormous peril.

Therefore, apart from the need for our print media outfits, radio and TV stations to disseminate credible and authentic information, it is also important that the National Broadcasting Commission if it is independent and other agencies in this regard should strengthen their capacities in affording Gambians easy access to valuable correct information not fabricated lies and Jammeh setup theories. In our peculiar circumstance, efforts must be consolidated not only in liberalizing the space for the print and electronic media, but also expanding the existing network in order to bring information right to the door-steps of every Gambian citizen. The current commitment of progressive newspapers and all intellectual freedom fighters in this regard is a step in the right direction. This is great achievements and a victory.

On our part as individuals, we must deliberately strive to elevate our reading culture which has waned drastically over the years. We should also endeavour to always take those opportunities that afford us linkage amongst ourselves and to the Internet and exploring exciting websites of varying texture of information. This is because without comparative information, we would not be in a position to isolate the paradigms of a better life, talk less striving to attain such loftier pedestal. We must therefore, make it a point of abiding duty a keen abreast of current happenings within and around us. This is not only because information is a valuable asset in shaping our lives for the better, but most importantly because information is real power. We have to know that information opens a whole new world of knowledge and interesting vistas of new realism. This is why we should fight the evil divisive defective confusing communication.

Defective Communication: It is not enough to share the vision with the people; you have to communicate the vision such that you earn the people’s support. In addition, this is not as simple as it seems. For communication is not just saying what you want to say but also ensuring that you are understood and given expected feedback. In addition, that cannot be done in a one-way-traffic flow of words. Development communication is interactive. A channel for feedback should be created in the system or you will not be able to tell if you are heard. Communication is an exchange not a monologue, not just give, as all parties must participate to complete the information exchange.” Doing this does not mean you are pandering to people’s whims. But it does mean that you understand that you can’t handle the challenges of your visions alone; and those that might help out need to buy the vision and make it their own to give maximum dose of their commitment to the efforts needed to realize the vision’s goals. Communication, especially for persuasion, carries the air of deceptive simplicity. However, a complex human activity thrives on the intricacy of the spoken and written word.

Meanwhile when you communicate your vision to your people and workers, are forthcoming, honest, passionate, humble, and firm and open to counter-opinions. Speak so the people may buy. In matters concerning helping President Jammeh continue to wickedly rule over Gambians the press massively displays the depth of corruption which has afflicted the media landscape in our country.

The way and manner the press deals with issues of national liberation for freedom and justice is clear reflection of the deep division of our country into sharp partisan political lines. The writers who display their intellectual craftsmanship with obscure motives do so for purely selfish narrow parochial partisan political interest devoid of national interest. The press also therefore seeks to tilt their reportage with an eye for scoring political points. Not even some of the so-called respected dailies which are expected to establish a high standard of media practice could avoid the marauding and disparaging influence of damaging effect of partisan politics. Worst still most of the discussions have been devoid of intellectual independence and objectivity but rather driven by selfish parochial interest with no belief in the contributions made. The only fact which has never been doubt and which has provided the common ground is the accepted fact that oppression, murder with impunity, unlawful arrests and detention, corruption has become so pervasive in the society that the good people of the Gambia have come to accept the fact that the seat of government in the Gambia has always been and is still the epicenter of criminality and corruption industry. The entire leadership is criminal, it has been corrupted and rendered incompetent to function.It should be quite obvious to any Gambian patriotic observer with the nation at heart that unless there should be a drastic meaningful, radical, positive and qualitative change in the way the Gambia is governed we are a vanishing nation. The fact is that in less than fifty years, the Gambia stands the great risk of being a failed state. Seen all these dangers looming around the Gambia, Gambians cannot afford the luxury to entertain self-styled masterful rhetoric radicals and charismatic figures to once again mislead them to total failure. Enough is enough we Gambians cannot entertain any more intrigues and false political prophets. Oh it is a pity for men and women of action have become a scarce commodity in Gambian political marketplace to match the few criminal and unpatriotic political heavyweights and contending cruiserweights in the highly volatile political minefields. We need people of candor who can say things as they are and at the right time. We need patriots with astronomical intelligence quotient who have the capacity for intellectual pursuits. Remember fellow Gambians that many like President Yaya Jammeh are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal. Of course, for the total liberation of the Gambia we don’t need politicians who will be appealing to the people’s emotion by empty meaningless speeches and resolutions. We don’t need people who can rap like a rapping machine. We need freedom fighters, people’s leaders and redeemers. We need patriotic Panafricanist freedom fighters who at all times will say no or refuse to do something rather than betray the cause. We should all resolve to build a great country together. We must mercilessly fight without compromise the invisible mind of division. We must all work hard to unite our people.

We should all pledge to do everything we can in our individual corners to bring inclusiveness into the Gambian society so that the best people can serve the country in all areas of society. What most Gambians needed was the opportunity to be the best that they could be, saying, ‘’We all need to promote an open, transparent nation that will attack corruption and indiscipline with a sense of urgency so that we can build a just and caring society that will be prosperous’’. The dearer a thing is, the cheaper as a general rule we sell it. We should all remember that there is only one Gambia and whatever happens, good or bad, will affect all of us without regard to party affiliation or ethnic origin. I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year 2010.                                             

KOUKOIE SAMBA SANYANG