By Famara Fofana
No one in these shores need reminding that February 18 1965 was the exact date when The Gambia downed the yokes of British colonial rule. That epoch-making moment in history has long been taught in our history books as early as the 3rd grade or primary five as it were in.
After much cynicism initially, we are told that this country, known at the time for her groundnut exports, was unready to steer her own destiny to the promised land. Who would forget Berkeley Rice’s book “The Gambia- The birth of an Improbable Nation”
Whatever dispensation we may find ourselves as a people, nationhood celebration must be highly cherished and relished. In truth, this has not been the case in the past two decades as the event has been downgraded to a lower level; a footnote of an occasion by the then powers that be. It was devoid of a national character and the prestige that should have been the hallmark of any Independence anniversary.
For the first time in as many years, Independence celebration generated a feel-good factor and a sense of national pride weeks before the day itself. Perphaps too, that was down to the fact the event was a two-pronged affair that also saw the Swearing-in of President Barrow here on home turf.
The mammoth crowds at the Independence Stadium were a sight to behold and even scary in some instances as fears of a potential stampede loomed large ; this as Gambians and non Gambians from different facets of life vied for a place in the bowels of the Gambia’s only national stadium. I would later learn that some people from Jarra had made the journey on the eve of the day, spending the cold night in Bakau with the aid of some oranges.
Under the scorching sun on D day, students and teachers alike stood in perseverance as a gaggle of helpless journos made frantic efforts to enter the stadium. Talking of the media, journalists on their coverage of the proceedings were accorded a vantage point they never have had all the years thanks mainly to the collaborative efforts of the Gambia Press Union and the government.
During the eye-catching march pass that is synomymous with the various security detachments in times of such national events, I could not help but gauge the views of some people at the Stadium on Saturday.
“The feeling is great because I had the opportunity to also witness the inaugural independence day as a very young boy then ” says Moses Nden, a veteran broadcaster these days. He described the Gambia @52 celebrations as unique given excatly one month to this year’s day, it was all about panic in town being the day when Jammeh’s mandate offcially ended but one that was literally given a further stay of execution in the form of the State of Public Emergency he declared .
U.S-based Gambian Muhammed Kah told me “You could feel freedom in the air. The atitude of the people, the crowd was nothing but great. Its definitely a good feeling to be back here without having to look over your shoulders”.
“There was a sense of freedom about Saturday’s event”, remarked Lamin Manneh, an I.T teacher at Charles Jow Memorial Academy.
On the task at hand, journalist Moses Nden said “we have confidence in the new administration in view of the calibre of appointments made” . Even whereas he said this one is understandable, he would want to see a less flamboyant ceremony in subsequent independence anniversary celebrations.
For Mohammed Kah who jetted in from Maryland, the idea of the new dispensation to open the doors and embracing other people’s ideas and brains is worthy of acknowledgement .”There are a lot of people I know in the U.S who are capable of coming here and start ten to twenty businesses”, Kah gleefully added.
For now though, its like a new slate for the Gambia. Beyond the pomp and pageantry that characterised the Gambia @52 , the call to arms cant be louder as encapsulated in our National pledge” we must stand together as one people with one goal and move forward as one nation”.
