The New Gambia – Nothing but the truth so help me God!

Just to clarify, I don’t have any affiliation with any Gambian political party nor do I have a political hat to throw into the political ring, but what I do have is my Gambian birth certificate, and I can supply an army of witnesses to corroborate these claims. Furthermore, my Gambian pride is in my values, the way I carry myself, my smile and how I interact and treat others.  

I also have a confession to make: I have now lived outside of The Gambia for more than half of my life and have never voted there either, but that’s not the point here. Nonetheless, I am very much passionate about the country and interested in her well-being. My concerns are as legitimate as anyone else’s! 

President Jammeh Claiming AIDS cure

It is no doubt that The Gambia has changed and that’s one thing we can all agree on. You see, I was not there when the military coup happened in 1994, but I’ve heard numerous versions of how it all went down (Radio kang kang). Since then, we’ve witnessed The Gambia become a (paradise) for curing aids and the fundamental rights of Gambians erode like Banjul Cemetery. Journalists are routinely arrested as if they are common criminals. They are now branded as enemies of the state and subjected to detention, imprisonment and even torture. Some just vanish in thin air, like Chief Ebrima Manneh. Oh, and Deyda Hydara was assassinated, how can I forget. The shelve life of a Gambia based journalist has significantly shorten, unless they are writing to sing praises of the powers that be. Judges, lawyers and religious leaders are also randomly arrested, detained and denied the opportunity to perform their legal or social obligations. Those in the Diaspora speaking out are labeled “keyboard warriors” for raising the Athena and sounding the alarm. By the way, I think such a term (keyboard warrior) is more complimentary than it is disparaging. Do you believe in the power of the internet?

The situation reached a crescendo this past August after nine death row prison inmates were executed, despite repeated appeals from the international community for their lives to be spared. The president followed through a threat he made on Eid day (end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and a day of forgiveness), to execute all 47 death row inmates. After nine inmates were executed in one day, outrage ensued around the world and The Gambia immediately became the focus of international media again, since the “Aids cure claim” back in 2007.  The internet was inundated with postings and Gambians in the Diaspora declared a day of outrage. Demonstrations were held in different cities around the world (New York, Washington DC, Atlanta, London and a few others) to express indignation and disapproval. On the other side of the spectrum, The Gambia government initially denied the executions, and then later defiantly defended it. The general Gambian public was paralyzed with fear; they whispered and wept in sadness (woye suma ndey, nyune hamunge lee). But a couple of “Teflon Don” veteran politicians did come out with statements and roundly condemned the act.  

Unless you have been living under a rock, in denial or manufacturing your own truth, you should be aware of the oppression Gambian citizens have been subjected to in recent years. The judicial system (now outsourced to Nigerian judges) has been discounted and The Gambia (a country of 1.7 million) is now divided into a million pieces. Brother against brother, sister against sister, neighbor against neighbor, uncle against nephew, aunt against niece and the list goes on. Chief Justice Ayim’s goodbye letters on maafanta.com revealed nothing we didn’t suspect or already know, for me at least. But what it did is crystallize everything for us. In it he said “Gambians for the most part are their own worst enemies”. Do I believe this? I’m very much inclined to! Given the infighting he mentioned in the University, Bar and Bench.  That was mind bending for me. Once the judicial system and institutions of a country are compromised or hijacked, you will no doubt end up with a disaster in your hands. Justice Ayim didn’t only expose some heavily soiled Gambian dirty laundry, he was also very much condescending. His lack of respect and even disdain for The Gambia and Gambians is mesmerizing. 

The Gambia has always been said to be corrupt, as far as I can remember. Embezzlement (aka sacha halis) was common, and at all levels. In fact, the culture almost condones it, hence the saying (haar funge ko taka moi leakuwaiyam). The Gambia is still said to be corrupt, but has now been introduced to crushing oppression and bold brutality. The oppression and brutality has deeply ingrained some serious fears in Gambians and they are constantly watching what they say, even on the phone. They think BIG BROTHER is listening. To them, The Gambia seems to be groping in the dark: chaotic, feverish and fearful, with no apparent or definable end in sight. The people of The Gambia are nervously crying and I can feel them shaking and hear their cries from 6000 miles away, especially at night, when air traffic dies down and the freeways are almost empty. Under an oppressive and intolerant regime, oppression and intolerance can easily permeate through society, and we can see it manifesting in the Gambian online forums. When “forum admins” are challenged or disagreed with, their most likely response is to hit the delete button. A couple of these forums have draconian rules dating back to ancient Athens. Censorship at its worst! Did you know that Gambians are docile? Yep! But it looks like that’s beginning to change. I see a little smoke, so let’s hope there is fire.

So what’s next for The Gambia? We claim to have so many intellectuals, but they can’t seem to agree on a single thing. Or, is it because we sometimes equate a college degree and flowery words with being an intellectual? (boy sai intellectual la deh!). According to Edward Said of Columbia University in a series of lectures called Representations of the intellectual in 1993, “an intellectual’s mission in life is to advance human freedom and knowledge. This mission often means standing outside of society and its institutions and actively disturbing the status quo”. And I don’t think The Gambia has many of these. 

I don’t have a panacea for our shortcomings, but I do have a message. To MY PEOPLE: Our beauty is deeper than makeup and our values are stronger than steel. Therefore, the onus is on us to get back to our roots and not succumb to greed and selfishness. Why can’t we all sing in harmony? It makes for a better music anyway. Together we can avoid the “societal decay cliff” we are rapidly approaching. Our values are unraveling faster than we can imagine. Don’t call me BRO then turn around and feed me to the sharks. I want to end by challenging all of us to chop down our arrogance, deflate our egos and humble ourselves. We are better than this! We should always remember the words of our national anthem before we act: 

For The Gambia, our homeland

We strive and work and pray,

That all may live in unity,

FREEDOM and peace each day.

Let JUSTICE guide our actions

Towards the common good,

And join our diverse peoples

To prove man's brotherhood.

We pledge our firm allegiance,

Our promise we renew;

Keep us, great God of nations,

To The Gambia ever true.

God Bless!

What happened to Banjul? – My Story

Banjul was never a beautiful city, but it had character and charm. The architecture was poor, but the atmosphere was magnificent. It was dark half the time at night (GUC), but it had a bright spirit. Banjul was fun!

During the colonial era, Banjul was relatively clean and well maintained. The Board of Health (aka bodorfell) that was set up had strict health codes that were regularly enforced. Health inspectors routinely inspected homes, and fines were handed out to those who were found to be in violation. Inspectors were general unforgiving, and that forced Waa Banjul to be on their “cleaning toes” at all times. Nervousness filled the air in every home, as home inspections drew near. Even drinking water stored in “Ndals” were inspected, and the "Kamas" too. The inspections were thorough and the sanctions were stiff. Waa Banjul definitely had a legitimate reason to be nervous.

The storm drain system built in Banjul was not the best, but it was functional and served its purpose. Smaller gutters in the streets collected water that freely flowed, and channeled it into much larger gutters. The big gutters on Grant Street, Hill Street and Kombo Street comes to mind, just to name a few. Some of these larger gutters drained into the “Tann” (like the ones on Kombo Street and Hill Street) and the rest drained into the main Pumping Station that was located on Bund Road. The storm water was then released into the river. The gutters where not fancy, but they did the job they were designed to do, as long as they were kept clean, and the Board of Health made sure of that.

 

It was around the late 70’s that Banjul started to head south. The electricity was the first victim on November 1, 1977. At this point, the British were long gone and the city was now Waa Banjul's full responsibility to manage and maintain. As the years went by, the Department of Health (formerly the Board of Health) became more and more lax in their inspections and enforcement of the health codes, and that affected the city tremendously. The gutters that use to freely carry the storm water started collecting trash (selepass bu duck, horhe mangoro, packeti cigarette, bopi jene, butale bu toch, ak njome saine). The storm water went from “freely flowing” in the gutters, to full of trash, stagnant and rising to the top. There was sporadic cleaning, but that didn't make much of a difference, Waa Banjul were already comfortable with throwing trash in the gutters at this point.  Stagnant water in the gutters became a "new normal" for Banjul in the late 70's and early 80's. The maintenance of the city's roads by PWD, was also poor at best. Don't let the rain catch you in Banjul!

With stagnant water all around Banjul, the city was now the perfect place for mosquitoes to breed, and breed they did! They took full advantage of the opportunity handed to them on a silver platter by Waa Banjul. The mosquitoes started a vigorous breeding program to build their armies, and launched nightly attacks on Waa Banjul. Overwhelmed with the invasion of mosquitoes, Waa Banjul decided to fight back by arming themselves with Baygon mosquito spray and Moon Tiger mosquito coils. The war was on! And if you were in the business of dealing arms (mosquito spray and moon tiger), you were racking in the dough. But these were not your ordinary mosquitoes; they were "The Banjul Mosquitoes". Just like the "Banjul Ndongos", they also learned how to evolve and survive when the going got tough. They strengthen their immune system and became resistant to the weapons Waa Banjul had. Baygon spray and Moon Tiger soon became like air freshener to them.  You can lock "The Banjul Mosquitoes" up in a room, empty a can of Baygon spray or smoke them up with Moon Tiger, and they will still buzz you off and stick their tongues out at you. They had Waa Banjul slapping themselves silly, in their disparate attempt to smash them out.

As Waa Banjul continued to lose significant battleground to "The Banjul Mosquitos", families were also growing and living space was shrinking. This, coupled with the constant arrival of new city dwellers from the various provinces and everywhere else, became unbearable for Waa Banjul and they began exploring the Kombos. Waa Banjul were never keen about the Kombos, but now they had no choice. Banjul was getting tighter by the day.  The kombos offered abundant space, soothing breezes and clean beaches, comforts they were not use to. It opened up a whole new horizon to them, and they never looked back. They were desperately searching for a better quality of life, which they found in the Kombos. Of course, there will always be those entrenched in the idea of "live and die" in Banjul, and you can still find them there holding their little ground. But for how long? More and more Waa Banjul are jumping on any chance to move to the Kombos, and the city has now fallen into the hands of the new comers (gans) and businesses. Most of the homes that were “down afdie" have been turned into warehouses, and the city is desolate come night fall.

Neglected for far too long, Banjul is now a "has been city" that is in dire need of a face-lift, or even reconstruction. It has lost all the glory. The lack of proper maintenance after all these decades has brought Banjul to its knees, and that was hard for me to see. I have deep roots in Banjul, for that reason, I'm extremely saddened by the city's current state. Every time I think of Banjul, an avalanche of memories comes rushing in. The streets I roamed, the friends I hanged with, the parties I attended and the list goes on. I can say, with reasonable certainty, that most Waa Banjul feel the same way I do about Banjul. A city we all love, but sad to see kneeling down. The question now is: what should be done about Banjul?

This is my story and I'm sticking to it!

The Circle of Life

Life is what you make it. A book with many chapters, that is full of endless surprises. There are no guarantees; no time outs and no do over. Be yourself, live life and don’t let the sun catch you crawling.

We all spring out of our mother’s womb kicking and screaming, and ready to take on the world and everything in it. After receiving a quick rinse, a light wipe down and wrapped into a blanket, the adrenaline from erupting into life starts to evaporate. In the comfort of our mother’s arms and pressed against her bosom, reality starts to set in and we soon realize that we are just a helpless newborn. With a stiff stare in our eyes we become paralyzed by immobility, we can’t help but rely on our parents for care. Crying becomes our only means of communication for all our needs. The sense of relief for our safe arrival, coupled with the excitement of having a baby consumes our parents, who can’t help but declare us the most adorable baby in the world. True for some, but false for others. The happiness we bring, regardless of our cuteness, becomes the glue that further holds our families together. Our cultures and traditions may sometimes determine how the gender assigned to us will be celebrated.

As we learn to be mobile and independent, our mouths become a deep pocket. Everything we find along the way in our short travels, ends up there. At this point, the destructive quality of human nature starts to surface in us. Anything in our path may fall victim to our growing curiosity as we gravitate towards objects that attract our attention. The adults in our small world are there to protect us from falling victim to all the dangers in the big world. Fires, hot water and cars in the street will be some of our parents’ worst nightmares. Parents may become chokingly protective and their child safety chart is constantly on red. Getting out of sight becomes problematic for us, as grown-ups watch us like a hawk. Watching us eat on our own gives immeasurable pleasure to them, as it is a true sign of the beginning of a child’s independence. Their duty is to ensure our safety and to mentally chronicle every event along the way. Stories will be vividly remembered and told for years to come.

The playground will be our first battlefield. Our survival skills are initially tested there. This is the place where the first hand full of dirt will be thrown in our face, when our parents look away. Usually, it is thrown by another ill-mannered toddler. When this happens, two options are available to us. One is to retaliate, and the other is to cry. The survivors will retaliate and the crybabies will need assistance. Parents will then rush in to comfort or chastise us, depending on whether we are the victim or the aggressor. Children are innocent, but can be extremely aggressive at times. This is where the fight for dominance begins. We start marking our territory, even at this early age. We will battle over swings, slides, balls and all other kinds of toys. There will be pushing, shoving, biting, scratching and lots of finger pointing. We will win some and lose some, depending on our opponent of the day. These playground battles are generally benign, but very crucial in helping develop our survival skills.

As we venture into adolescence, the real challenges in life start to emerge. We are confronted by responsibilities, peer pressure, love, romance and everything else adolescent, with love and romance being the main factors. Love is innate, acute and enhanced by romance. If you thought romance was for only the sophisticated and only took place in cafes or in front of flickering fireplaces, think again. It also happens deep in the jungles of the Amazon, where men court their women by showing off their gardening skills, and all the flowers are free. Adolescence is where it all begins. Love and romance validates us as individuals and keeps the human race going. Our quest for love and romance will lead us into the dusty, windy and slippery roads deep inside the jungle of love. Treading through the jungle of love can sometimes get very dicey; temperatures can be hot one minute, and cold the next. Constant adjustment is needed. We will have our hearts broken and we will break hearts. That’s just the nature of the beast. Our hearts yearn for love, and our souls need it. Love does not always have a happy ending, but as famously said by Alfred Lord Tennyson “it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”.

Once love is found, life becomes more exciting and meaningful. Love is the prelude to marriage in most cultures, but not everyone marries for love. There are cultures that engage in arranged marriages, and these marriages are sometimes used to preserve lineage and bloodline. There are also folks who will marry someone with all the right qualities, even if they aren’t in love with the person. For them, marriage is considered too important a step to leave to chance. It carries a huge sense of responsibility, for both parties. It is also considered a monumental achievement. Little girls dream about walking down the aisle at a very early age to marry their Prince Charming, while little boys fantasize about marring a beautiful angel. It is always entered into with the spirit of “till death do us apart”, but that’s not always the case. Needless to say, marriage is one of life’s biggest gambles. A father looks forward to the day he will give away his daughter’s hand in marriage, and a mother hopes that her son will marry the perfect wife. Unless the bride and groom are already related, marriage merges their two families and make it one big family. Once a child is conceived in a marriage, DNA is passed on and The Circle of Life continues.

What does life mean to you and what do you value? Personally, I value freedom, my dignity and the ability to express myself without any fear. Even if my opinion does not count at the end of the day, I still want to be able to voice it out. I view life to be fifty percent faith and fifty percent attitude. You have to believe in something, and your attitude towards that will make the difference. The struggles and challenges we face are what give us all a story. It is not about succeeding or failing, but doing your best with the resources you have at your disposal. Try to create opportunities for yourself and take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. Material possessions don’t fulfill a life; it is the human connections instead. After all, it is the simple things that matter; the kindness we show, the joys, laughs and smiles we share. We all deserve to live a dignified life, regardless of our social status. As humans, there will always be forces pulling us in different directions, but with humility and God, we can always get back to the center. We all carry the responsibility to leave the world a better place that we found it, and getting involved in our communities can easily be a way to achieve that. Remember to teach the children the values and virtues of life; we owe it to them. And hope that the aggressive child from the playground will grow up to understand that kindness pays better dividends than aggression, to an individual and society as a whole. Let us respect and use religion as a vehicle, and not as a weapon or dividing factor. With God’s guidance and our collective human efforts, nothing is impossible. Peace is just an arm’s length away.