My first blog, ever — Time for an Islamic, Cultural Renaissance in The Gambia? — asked a question that was, at that time, and still to date, a question that I think is worth revisiting. Howbeit, in the article, I reflected on my formative years, my surroundings, our understanding of Islam and its nexus to the Abrahamic faiths. How, as kids, even though, we lacked a comprehension of the Quran, we still tried to convert our Manjago friends; our condescension towards the Manjagoes, not only because they were considered inferior, but because they were Christians, who were en route to hell, if they did not convert to Islam. Mind you, we were acting as professional ticketmasters to heaven, but couldn’t point anywhere in the Quran where such was stated, or even had any serious understanding of Islam or the other faith we deemed out of line — Christianity. As I grew older, read the scriptures, I had no choice but to question my childhood biases. As a case in point, I cited “Surah Al-Ankabut” to highlight the nexus between the Abrahamic faiths and why, in The Gambia, an Islamic and epistemological renaissance beckons us.

A couple of weeks ago, a video of a Gambian ISIS member surfaced on the web – and, like always, many a conversations ensued. I spoke to a friend who was utterly shocked, stating that “Gambians don’t know radicalism”that “the video was probably doctored” or some such. I, on the other hand, was just listening to the friend, wondering what the hell he was talking about? Even if the video was doctored, is there anything extraordinarily exceptional about the Gambian blood that makes us incapable of joining ISIS? I think a country where 90% of the population are muslims, but a good many lack the basic understanding of what is written in the Quran, is arguably and contentiously – the perfect place to recruit desperate, poor, half-baked Muslims to fight for something “higher” than themselves.

Last fall, leaked documents of ISIS were published by the Associated Press. According to the documents, “70 per cent of recruits were listed as having just “basic” knowledge of Sharia — the lowest possible choice. Around 24 per cent were categorized as having an “intermediate” knowledge, with just five per cent considered advanced students of Islam. Five recruits were listed as having memorized the Quran.” If we are being honest – these stats mirror Gambia, where a good many of the people lack basic knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh), Hadith, or the Quran, in general.

Moreover, it was reported that ISIS’s Libyan chapter is swelling its ranks by offering cash bounties of up to $1,000 to people from impoverished neighboring countries such as Chad, Mali and Sudan. In countries where many earn barely $1 a day, even a few hundred dollars is the equivalent of a year’s salary.” Imagine being promised such a hefty salary and potentially going to heaven for dying for your faith as a martyr, if things go awry? This model, I posit, would be a catastrophic success, if ever proposed in The Gambia, for they would have a readymade demographic, waiting in line.

To boot, religion, from the outback of the Antipodes to the shores of The Gambia, is a form of resilience against poverty and helplessness for many poor people. Granted, we have a change of government, but that is just the first step in recovering from 52 years of economic stagnation, for political change without economic and social change, usually tantamount to naught, because democracy does not guarantee economic development. Therefore, the elephant in the room — poverty — is always going to push people to search for outlets, and one of the most powerful outlets for human beings, is our willingness to seek help and protection from religion, which is in and of itself a form of resilience.

Hence, we have to come to the reckoning that poor communities steadfast belief in a particular religion is an inherent aspect of their resilience – on reducing vulnerabilities and increasing resilience as incorporating to aspects: adaptive capacity and adaptive responses. The former is about the information, knowledge, skills and conditions necessary for their response actions – so that spiritual belief is part of the former. Albeit, it is evident that social resilience is nothing but an intricate organic linkage between the economic base and political institutional framework, and thus with economic and other forms of resilience. The economic circumstances have a great influence on the socio-political manifestations, writ large.

Tangentially, as a teenager, I joined a puritanical religious center called “Markass” – because everyone around me was going there. My brother, cousins, friends, basically everyone around my neck of the woods my age or older, was visiting the “Markass” center. All of a sudden – Islam became the seminal point of my existence. Withal – their message was darn powerful: the idea of the selfless person, heaven and hell, how Islam and Muslims have lost their way to the “Western” way of life. All of a sudden, Islam became a thing of not only faith but culture, too, for the argument against “Western” way of life is not only religious, but a very cultural argument.

This is what drove the Egyptian Islamic theorist, Sayyid Qutb, to write his famous book, In the Shade of the Qur’an or Fi Zilal al-Qur’an, after spending a year of so, in The United States — the decadence of the “West” and how Muslims should reclaim their faith and drive the infidels out of their lands, establish an Islamic state, especially in his homeland of Egypt, where Western civilization was becoming a normal fixture. His Magnum Opus gave rise to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, thus becoming the intellectual brainchild behind Jihadi movements like Al-Qaeda.

I kid you not – for the few months I was visiting the “Markass” center – I could’ve done anything in defense of Islam, because I was a young, half-baked, daft, untutored Muslim. A caveat: I am not equating “Markass” to any terrorist organization – just simply pointing out how easy it was to turn a young, half-baked, daft Muslim like me, into a diehard religious person and how easy it would have been for me to do whatever that was to defend Islam, whatever that meant, though. In a country where women are made to believe that they should worship their husbands, because, for some reason, that is their way to heaven, it is not going to be hard to convince poor, marginalized youths to join a so called cause “higher” than themselves.

Also, this is not a singling out Gambian society as radical one or some such, just highlighting how susceptible we are, just like most societies, to exhibit certain traits. The “Markass”center was great for many Gambian youths, because many were able to get into Islam more, read scripture, and become better Muslims. Nonetheless, they were able to flourish because they offered an outlet to many religiously, economically frustrated youths in the country. I just hope ISIS does not spread its recruitment to our shores, because, if they do, only God can help us, because denial and othering, is seriously not going to cut it.

Saul Njie

Blacksburg, Virginia

05.16.2017

Diversification….

Many African governments fail in the area of employment and its opportunities because there is a concept people have – both the government and the governed – that the government has to provide employment for everyone. Obviously, this is a fallacy. It is practically impossible for the government to employ everyone. Of course, government is the largest employer in any country.

The private sector is the key to solving the problem of employment. When the government makes the market open and provides a conducive environment, the investors will come in from different parts of the world to do business. These will provide the jobs that the government cannot provide.

For this to happen though – and at the level that it will be beneficial for our current situation – there have to be some drastic measures. For instance, many companies in the developed world are looking to diversify their operations but in places where the taxes are business-friendly. There are countries who have made their taxes so business friendly that they have attracted many big companies and thus created a lot of employment for their youth. One example that comes to mind is Ireland. Ireland has almost solved their unemployment problem by offering a tax haven for businesses. Not that they don’t tax businesses, but at a far reduced rate. We can do the same.

Another area that big companies look at is security. Obviously, our country is enjoying a good level of security at the moment. So, all we need to do is to market our country by making our ssecurity haven status known all over the world and then invite investors.

Yet, another area that interests foreign big companies is expertise, particularly those that want to outsource labour. For instance, there are companies in England who outsource most of their labour to smaller companies in East Africa. This is the blessing of globalisation. Though it also comes with its disadvantages. When our people are trained and given the required expertise, foreign companies will come here and give employment to thousands of our young ones. Thus, our problem of unemployment can be reduced drastically.

This is where our education system comes into the equation. Mr President, we must put in place an education system which creates people who can create employment for themselves rather than wait for a government to employ them. If this happens, our young ones will have the expertise that will market them instead of them running around seeking employment. I have repeatedly written about this. We need to transform our education system so that our people will be needed.

Once, a friend gave me a piece of advice which I think our young ones need to hear and heed as well. He said: ‘Wherever you are, make yourself needed.’ He continued to admonish that if one makes oneself needed by proving to be useful, one will always get what one needs. This is what we need to inculcate in our young ones.

To our young ones, we should communicate that the world we live in is a competitive one. One must excel in whatever one does so one can stand out in everything. With this we will be identified in the world as a small country that has the expertise to serve everywhere in the world.

Mr President, it’s time to show the world that we are unique!

Have a Good Day Mr President….

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

Did you notice too? The reincarnation of psuedo and “undocumented” profiles on Gambian social media, Facebook. Lu nyoye nyot di say hat? Apart from the few self-anointed cyber Barrow ADCs who draw their double-edged daggers to slit the throats of your sceptics with repelling profanities, Gambians can now freely express their views without ducking behind flicking shadows. We must not recreate that climate of fear to hold our leaders accountable. Until we recognise that democracy is not superficial but driven by power vested on the people, we will continue to perceive our political leadership as demi gods. Our duty is to fortify participatory governance where both leaders and people see one another as partners in nation and state development. Here we are reminded by Myles Monroe, “People generally fall into one of three groups: The few who make things happen, the many who watch things happen and the overwhelming majority who have no notion of what happens. Every person is either a creator of facts or a creator of circumstance. He either puts colour into his environment or takes colour like a chameleon from his environment”. Each of us must be one of those who make things happen by adding colour to our society.

 
Underlining the Gunjur beach concerns, Mr President, Mr Madi Jobarteh warned, “A severe national security threat is unfolding in Gunjur, the hometown of the Majority Leader Kebba K Barrow. There is a Chinese company engaged in fishmeal production, which dumps its waste and dead fish along the coastline and neighboring communities. The factory releases intense bad odour making people sick as well as destroying our fish reserves and polluting the waters. This is a direct threat to the lives and livelihoods of the people of Gunjur, Kombo and the Gambia as a whole. Yet this company called Golden Leaf Factory continues to operate unchecked by the Government since last year until today, four months into the administration of Adama Barrow”. The pictures are disheartening. If the situation continues unbridled, the consequences will be far-reaching and profoundly costly not only to us Gambians but our sub-regional neighbours too. Corruption by some locals, government officials and the Chinese company is excusing the factory owners from upholding and respecting their corporate and social responsibilities of their contract at the expense of a collective nation. Mr President, be reminded one of the pledges of your government on its cabinet compact on delivering good governance and accountability is to “ensure effective land use planning and management”. Therefore, it is prudent to give the Gunjur beach concerns an utmost urgency.

 
Another equally disturbing concerns is “a notorious Gambian migrant-turned-militia has been accused of kidnapping his fellow Gambians and other African migrants and extorting money from them. The militia, one Sankung Janneh from Kanifing Estate, is believed to be working with several brutal Libyan militia groups in Ben Walid, a town 200 kilometres from the capital Tripoli. Janneh is allegedly jointly operating three prisons in Ben Walid where kidnapped compatriots undergo torture and some even die”, standard newspaper. Mr President, all what is required, according to the Gambian Association in Tripoli is an arrest warrant from Gambia government to nick this nefarious son of anarchy. Repeated efforts by the association to secure the arrest warrant has been met with chilling abdication of duty from concern government officials. Again greed and corruption are the stumbling blocks here.

 
What is happening with the anti-corruption body under your leadership? Yesterday I shared a Kenyan Anti-corruption video on my page on how they are curbing sickening corruption within their police and other government departments. Many Gambians identified the malaise in our own police and other government departments too. The reactions were daunting, Mr President. Albeit the approaches to salivating it varied, all agreed something must be urgently done to bin it soonest. Below are some of the reactions:

 
ABDOU JALLOW: “You will be surprise to know that bribery is openly taking place in The Gambia now. In the past, when Jammeh used to be there, many were afraid that he would fire them at best and lock them up at worst. That sense of fear prevented many from engaging in open bribery. Now that Jammeh is gone, it’s a carefree attitude to bribery particularly at the police. You see vehicle owners paying for dix without being issued receipts. Same goes for number plates and licenses. The future seems bleak in our country unless there are radical institutional reforms couple with a robust civic education drive”.

 
SIAKA SONKO: “Jeeeze a super sting operation..this nonsensical idea of owing the right to fleece the public rather than serve them is a craze..it should be eroded”.

 
LAMIN JATTA: “I think first and foremost, we have to pay them a decent salary that is sufficient to take care of their expenses, and then institute such anti corruption operations. Folks how do you pay a police officer less than D2000 in the backdrop of this crazy inflation and you expect that officer to pay for his commuting, food, rent as well as take care of his family. We have to look at this in a honest and comprehensive manner”.

 
DEMBA NGANGE NJIE: “To do this anti corruption practices, u must recruit new Young and fresh men and women with a leadership of a Foreign expert Police to lead them. Secondly, we must get rid of all top Guns in the police from IGP to low commnders”.
KEJAU TOURAY: “Then we will have to sack and lock all of them lol”.
There we go Mr President.

Sulayman Jeng
Birmingham, UK

National Debate….

It is no secret that you inherited a government in shambles. I do not envy you for, the problems are so many and so varied that trying to solve them is as complex as the problems themselves. Where do you start, for instance? Some will say the economy, others education, yet others will want you to talk about security.

If you start with any of the above the people with different views will see it as too little too slow. Yet, you cannot solve all the problems at once. You have to pick and choose and the Gambians, as you said in one interview are ‘a little too impatient’. But, you will agree with me that their impatience is genuine as they suffered for far too long and simply want to reclaim their dignity.

What is the way forward? For me, it is dialogue. Mr President, your government should initiate a national debate. It is said that two good heads are better than one, I would venture to go further and say that a million good heads are better than one. The people in government alone cannot solve all the problems so they have to consult widely.

There is always two sides to a coin. Once your government wants to do something, you can only view its advantages and disadvantages from a government points of view. Unless you engage the general public through various means to seek their opinion, people will always see loopholes in whatever you do.

Of course, you cannot satisfy everyone, but if consultations are done, and I mean wide consultations, you can always have a base on which you rely to make certain decisions. Mr President, people like to see that they have had a say in whatever is being done for them and on their behalf. This is why you need this consultation.

This is the reason why we have repeatedly called for a development blueprint, a roadmap if you like. With this, we, the ordinary people, will know where you are heading and will be able to contribute our quota in terms of ideas, suggestions and thoughts. This is the way forward.

Have a Good Day Mr President….

A severe national security threat is unfolding in Gunjur, the hometown of the Majority Leader Kebba K Barrow. There is a Chinese company engaged in fishmeal production, which dumps its waste and dead fish along the coastline and neighboring communities. The factory releases intense bad odour making people sick as well as destroying our fish reserves and polluting the waters. This is a direct threat to the lives and livelihoods of the people of Gunjur, Kombo and the Gambia as a whole. Yet this company called Golden Leaf Factory continues to operate unchecked by the Government since last year until today, four months into the administration of Adama Barrow. Why?

Two Chinese, Robin and Jojo run the factory without any Gambian partners and under no check by any authority. They produce fishmeal or fish oil, which is made out of fish and used to feed poultry, pigs and other farmed fish. According to FAO fishmeal production is a major contributor to over-fishing and prevents fish from replenishing themselves thereby causing the collapse of local fisheries. This is because the fish used for fishmeal are small fishes like the ones our fishermen catch in Gunjur, Kartong, Tanji, Bakau or Banjul. After almost depleting their fish resources in China, now Chinese fishmeal companies have turned to West Africa and South America causing havoc in countries like Senegal, Chile and Peru. Experts have noted that fishmeal is a source of terrible environmental damage and human suffering.

So far Golden Leaf Factory is engaged in overfishing in Gunjur and Kartong and destroying the coastline as well as the Bolongfehyoto wildlife reserve. The bad and dangerous odour the factory releases into the community is unbearable. Experts have noted that the factory right now threatens the productivity of sea grass, which marine turtles feed on. They also threaten the mangrove ecosystem because of the chemical waste they dump. This factory is therefore a threat to tourism and the economy of the Gambia. What is even more disheartening is that the fish they catch is not used for human consumption. Rather they use it to make fishmeal for animals all the way in China! But they are ready to destroy our lives all the way in the Gambia.

Who gave this company license to operate in the Gambia in the first place? Was there any social and environmental impact assessments done before they were awarded the license? Why would the responsible and relevant agencies of the government sit down to allow such abuse of the lives and future of the Gambia to take place with impunity?

Were is the National Assembly, the Ministries of Fisheries and Water Resources, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Tourism, the NEA, NDMA, GIEPA and GTB and indeed the Police? All these agencies have a direct responsibility and stake in any activity that negatively impacts on the lives, livelihoods and future of the Gambia. Yet they all sit there watching a foreign company plunder our lives and livelihoods for free! What about GCCI? Are they not aware of this practice by this company and what actions have they taken to ensure decent and responsible practices by businesses in the country?

I therefore call on the Speaker of the National Assembly Mariam Denton and her deputy Momodou Sanneh and the Majority Leader Kebba K Barrow and the Monitory Leader Samba Jallow and indeed all National Assembly Members to institute a parliamentary enquiry into this matter. Failure to do so, the National Assembly would be failing in their sacred duty to the Gambia. This matter is 100% within the powers and authority of the National Assembly to address and they must address it now. Golden Leaf Factory is destroying our lives and livelihoods with impunity!

I call on Chief Servant Adama Barrow to demand his relevant ministries and state agencies to act on this matter with urgency. The ocean is a major source of life and livelihood for the communities of Kombo and the Gambia as a whole. Tourism alone account for 21.9% of our GDP and providing 18.8% of jobs in the country hence the ocean is a precious product of this industry that must be protected. Thus any threat to the ocean affects thousands of Gambians for employment and for food. Why therefore would this company be given license to damage our future and lives with impunity?

The Gambia Government and indeed all African governments must be wary of Chinese companies. This is because the Chinese have proven to the world and Africa in particular that they do not care about human rights, human life and human health in their quest to greedily consume resources around the world. Chinese companies have engaged in unscrupulous and dangerous business practices even in China, how about in faraway tiny Gambia? China as a population of 1.3 billion people and a land size of 9.5 million square kilometers. The Gambia has a population of only 2 million and a land size of 11 thousand square kilometers. Hence what China can afford and waste the Gambia cannot afford that. Therefore we must not allow any foreign company especially from China to come to the Gambia to damage the lives and future of our people. If this is what GIEPA considers to be foreign investment then they are dangerously mistaken!

Whichever government agency gave license to this company must be exposed and held to account. It is clear that they have failed to do an impact assessment or merely ignored the results of such assessment if they did. Secondly this agency has failed to monitor this Chinese company in order to protect the vital interests of the Gambia. This company must not have been allowed to operate in the country at all. They must be closed down! Now.

I therefore call on all Gambians to rise up against this Chinese company and put pressure on the government to expose the truth about the license, the kind of business, the operations and management of this company. What has the Gambia benefited from them? How much money are they making in the Gambia? What damages have done so far? We need to know these issues and make sure they repair all the damages they caused and then close them down. Golden Leaf Factory poses a clear and direct threat to national security.

Gambian journalists should rush down to Gunjur and Kartong and report to us on matters that directly affect our lives. News is not only in Banjul and Serre Kunda. How come such a dangerous environmental, social and economic disaster is taking place in Gunjur since last year yet our journalists could not give it the publicity it deserves! Wake up Gambian Journalists!

Rise up Gambians and do not let our country to continue as usual since Independence. We deserve a better Gambia. We deserve better leadership and good government that is open, efficient and responsive to our needs, in the present and in the future.

#CloseDownGoldenLeafFactory

God Bless The Gambia.

Do you really care? Well, if you do why are you seated tied lips when everyone is moaning about the exorbitant cost to call from and to the Gambia? Mr President, this one definitely doesn’t require counting steps. VPN could not survive the heat after the disgraceful departure of Goloh but the international gateway call termination fees is still milking Gambians to financial malnutrition. Did you know about it? Let me guess…Oh yes, I knew it. You are calculating what steps to take in order to send it packing like its cousin, VPN. Why am I so emotional? Let us take a quick look at call cost between Gambia and Nigeria from the UK for instance. With 3 network, a call to any Nigerian number is 9 pence per minute whereas a call to Gambia cost a whooping £2. Tesco international charges 48 pence per minute to call Gambia and guess how much it costs to place a similar call to Nigeria? 8 pence to a landline and 6 pence to a mobile. Perhaps now, you understand why I am emotional, Mr President. To cut cost on calls, we resorted to free calling apps such as viber, WhatsApp, IMO etc yet the network is as bad as the cost of normal calls. Why is Gambia the most expensive destination to call in the work? The Wolof answered it best when they accentuate “Rong ngone nyi badola moye sim cherre burr”. In other words, it is the tears of the poor that steam the couscous of the king. This truism is difficult to rubbish, Mr President, as everyday you see instances that validate it under your leadership?

 
The Gambia is one of the few countries in the world which enjoys an uninterrupted and exceptional religious tolerance. Consequently, Imam Fatty must not be encouraged to propagate seed of religious discord amongst us. Religious intolerance is one of the deadliest malaise with far-reaching and profoundly costly ripple effect than tribalism more especially in a fragile nation recovering from 22 years of repressive dictatorship. Imam Fatty lost his moral and religious mandate to police religious correctness when he sold his iman for a pine of pleasure to Goloh many moons ago. He wined and dined with the devil knowing fully that Goloh is a murderer, adulterer and a thief, Mr President. So to listen to such a religious hypocrite is blasphemous. Besides, what harm has the Ahmadis inflicted on Gambians? Instead, they are continually contributing to the health and education of our nation.

 
I guess by now you would be wondering why I am breathing down your neck. And testing isn’t there anything else I can chant apart from your diminish prospects? Actually, all I want is for you to succeed and be a living lesson for modern leadership and democracies. This reminds me of what Momodou Sabally wrote to you, ” Dear President Barrow, I know you are undergoing a lot of pressure; I have been there in the corridors of power and I know it can be overwhelming. But do not succumb to the vested interests that are sure to pummel you towards their selfish corners. Forget about GENEALOGY and CAMERADERIE; Be bold and persistent in running a MERITOCRACY and you will have our support even in the trenches”.

 
Talking about support, I will cull excerpts from Seyi Atere-Roberts’ “How Gambia can be the next Rwanda”. He accentuated, “The new government should look into creating a technology driven business environment and an atmosphere of innovation, they should prioritise technology which will exponentially grow the economy with no strings attached or dependence on any commodity. The Gambian government will have to start by creating and supporting innovation hubs offering subsidised broadband Internet connection and other incentives. Next will be to modernise the business climate, reduce time for business registration process, tax breaks for young entrepreneurs and startups. The government could hold programming events and competitions targeting kids as well as young adults. Partnering with Rwanda, Senegal and other regional tech driven states will also be a smart move. For instance, the government could partner with BudgIT a West African startup promoting open governance and accountability. One of the effective ways of combating the plague called corruption is through transparency and monitoring of government expenses, literally following the money.

 
There is really no limit to tech and innovation. The time is now, actually the time was a while back but it is not too late to hop on the innovation-driven economy train. The government has to have the political will and the youths have the drive, the grit and most importantly the ambition. The private sector also have a role to play in financing these ideas, the middle class and high-net worth citizens should not leave their funds idle in banks abroad. They should Sowe the seeds in the future of Gambia because it is no secret that we live in a tech-powered world”. I hope you will give these lofty ideas a chance to see daylight.

Sulayman Jeng

Birmingham, UK