By Benjamin Joof
The impulse reaction of the cynics would be to dismiss the headline as “apples to oranges”, but the political journeys of Obama and Dr. Ceesay are mirroring each other by the day. The promise of hope, confidence and charisma, youthful exuberance and overly professorial add to their charm while on the campaign road for the office of the presidency. Obama may have overcome the odds in the United States, but the political reality of the Gambia remains far removed from looks and books.
Dr. Ismaila Ceesay Citizen’s Alliance plans offers change to the chronic economic hardship the people of The Gambia endure daily, and that is the same hope Barack Obama campaigned while seeking his first mandate. CA’s manifesto spells out strategies to build housing units, uplift the citizenry by bringing economic prosperity, restructuring the NAWEC nightmare, good health system, eliminate corruption and most importantly, introduce security measures to protect lives and properties of Gambians. The hope and promise of a vision to be delivered by the Citizen Alliance sound exactly like the Obama “change” slogan.
If Ceesay walks into any ad office, creative directors can draft at least ten storyboards in one sitting. This is because of the vision he lays out for Gambians are pragmatic and promising, therefore, his tone, character, and temperament may well be tolerated by even the uninitiated. In the same vein, Obama’s long shot care act, infrastructure plan, clean energy, climate activism and uplifting the middle class became after all what the voters wanted. The play book of Obama’s 2008 campaign is directly in the hands of Dr. Ceesay, and he is exploiting the spoils.
“You never have a second chance to make a first impression”, that may be a bit of a cliché, but Obama rose to the ranks at the 2004 Democratic convention as key speaker and gained support, while Dr. Ceesay handled himself well on the primetime Paradise TV debate on the woes of the Coalition Government. Additionally, on the same faceoff with respected P.D.O.I.S leader Halifa Sallah, he set the stage and propelled his political growth. He has broken the myth and stood equal with the veteran politician at the end of the debate, and that won him the hearts of many at least for the time. Similarly, Obama too became politically matured when he rivalled Hilary Clinton for the Democratic Primaries in 2008. What a campaign it was!
Ceesay has a gift of communication, and as tutelage of Gambian politics, he is able to simplify himself without being overly professorial. And for the local language audience, he speaks with absolute clarity, articulate and boisterous. His spoken Wollof is “tallif” (poetry) sounding like a man who may have been breastfed by a “Ndarr” mother or raise as a member of the Diocese of Banjul Lector’s Group. Up close, his speeches and interviews may as well be renditions of Obama’s big moments.
With these beaming similarities, the effects of Obama may be brewing in the 2021 presidential campaign in The Gambia. And just maybe, on that voting December day, Ceesay’s ballot box may load enough marbles voted by friends, foes, and even the somnambulists, giving him the benefit of the doubt. “You have done what the cynics say, we couldn’t do” (Obama) words of thanks after winning the 2008 New Hampshire primary. Are we in for a surprise in Banjul? With undisclosed campaign chest to spend, the wind is gravitating towards the Dr. Ceesay and his Citizen’s Alliance.
