Nanditeh sonut...

‘Ehwoo’ (awareness) is blissful, because it’s a state of mind, not necessarily the state you mind. All the tossing and turning at night, being overly troubled by what people think, spending recklessly to keep up appearance, pretending to know it all that you are too rigid to adapt yourself to your social environment are all signs of ‘ehwadi’ (the opposite of Ehwoo).

That’s why while I was obsessing with ceremonial prestige and my (perceived) intellectual superiority, my boy Skinny will go to the Tijania Fashions, buys stuff for five and resells them to me at ten, and he will be like: “Star, I saw these diplomatic stuff and I knew you’d love them.” Then he’d wrap the deal with: “Intellectual nga, belahi.”

Now he has his own shop and drives a BMW, and I, a piece of shit; a Vectra 1995, 'howma' 2002 probably 1988 Model. And no, I’m not blaming Skinny for any wrongdoing. As a matter of fact, I admire his ingenuity. He turned me into a permanent consumer, and himself, an entrepreneur… ‘defa ehwoo.’

I think she can be mayor...

Gambia - June 29, 2012, referring to Muhammed Jah, BBC wrote an article titled: “The Gambian man who made millions without a business plan…” and it got us all wowed and proud of a brother. He certainly had ideas; that’s a businessman’s primary capital. He didn’t just think it a Wajib to blueprint his plan. Now, relating his to my point, and for some of you who cannot even manage a picnic, if M. Jah’s was likely, why can’t Rohey Lowe become mayor for Banjul on her already existing party line?

Anyway, you know what some mentally liberated people call some of these manifestos: ‘public declarations of the same shit.’ Yeah, I know, that’s not a nice thing to say. Let me be more polite and ask: from 19 O’long to date, is there any political proposal you saw that wasn’t as unoriginal, superficially plausible, and misleadingly attractive as it was soon forgotten like a typical New Year’s Resolution? But you still think it’s a life-and-death thingy?

When are we going to stop indulging the scheme of the elite – can’t you see you’re being caused to believe that society should be ruled by those who meet their ungenerous standards? See, my grandfather was an immediate post-colonial MP. He wasn’t college educated, but he did more for his constituency than all his successors combined. So, if Madam Lowe wants to blueprint hers, fine, but to me, if she wants ‘Benachini Perch’ for Banjul, she doesn’t need some formula to tell her okay madam let’s do this:

Chop the ingredients. Add oil. Heat. Add garlic. Wait till brown. Remove the chunks of garlic. Add the onions. Keep stirring. Mix in the pureed pepper. Add salt. Add water. Mix in the tomatoes. Stir in tomato paste. Cover the pot. Is it coming to a boil? Sprinkle in the rice and more cups of water. Reduce heat to simmer. Add water and spices as needed. Don’t forget the cabbage. Wait for the rice to cook.

And that was ‘Benachini Perch’ for the benefit of those who cannot cook. She doesn’t need all that… she ain’t no robot. She can cook. Real cooks know their recipe by heart. We only need to trust her on this. That’s what Obama was talking about when he was talking about hope… and faith. Now we have all seen what happened when America went for El Diablo because he had a ‘platform’ of ‘Making America Break.’

Mitches...

Where I come from, they say: “gohrr, susi johm jogay, dara desatu fa” - when a man loses his sense of worth, he has nothing left. Me... I say when a guy loses his man code, he’s what Kevin Hart calls a mitch. And if he’s as selfish, then he’s a mieech - that’s a portmanteau of mitch and leech. OASN, this is why, today, we have more mitches snitching than bitches ditching and that itches like, where do stitches go when you need one – grrr, hitch!

In the past, if you rat out on a brother, or you don’t see his sister or ex- as off limits unless he’s cool with it, you get yourself a bottle of whoopass after dinner. Today, all that’s permissible. When I was a boy, when a hangout gets busted and X caught with a joint, Y goes all out to bail him out. He doesn’t, in his bid to delegate the code say he’s lost his ID, like most today will say: ‘chaa, star! Mann suma ID card ba reer.’ Mtcheew, that’s why I ride alone - usually!

In Truth I Trust

Here’s what I think: away from what the propaganda is projecting on him, Hon. Halifa Sallah is one of The Gambia's finest minds. Yes, winning is definitely not his political party’s familiar territory, but he’s an intellectual, incontestably, and a transformational leader. So, if he’s not a building block to be treasured, he’s no stumbling block to be unloved - the President knows that.

Even if you don’t ask me, I’ll say this: if The Gambia were a creed and politics a crusade, the infidels and heretics to go after would be the many pseudo-intellectuals on social media, divisive-advocacy groups, picky-liberals and not-so-sociable socialists you see all over the place trying to pitch the man against the status quo, as if goading him into some battle for leadership. 

Make The Gambia great again...

It's always good to hear fine minds like Uncle Baks Touray speak. His memory is up there, and he's so generous with it. Invariably, I've heard the man remind us of how great we used to be, our exemplary performance in athletics, the arts, economic comfort, and buoyant moods.

It's like before oppressed people, we were blessed people, truly. And if Olof Njie is right neh kui yoot'a nayha jangal tooflee, we can make The Gambia great again, and not the Donald Trump typa great - if that guy could, he'd change the Official US Motto: "In God We Trust" to: "In Diablo We Trust." But that's by the way.

What I'm tryna say is: we know better, we can do better, and we should do better. We just need to respect and appreciate each other, and stop pouring cold water on each other's achievements, emotions, ideas, and suggestions. Let's dead the bomboclaat specious convos and spiteful detractions, Gambia. It's so not us; it sucks!

Family is everything...

In the village of Niodior, an Island in Senegal, crime, especially family feud is almost zero, because even the smallest of children are caused to recognise their ancestral history and how they're many, perhaps different fruits, but of one tree. The kids there have a playtime song that reminds them of their ascending line of parentage, and it goes like this:

'Who are you? I'm Omar. Omar who? Tida's Omar. Which Tida? Aja Tumbulu's Tida. Tumbulu who? Ntu (Bintou) Ceesay's Tumbulu... etc. And interestingly, they all end up having at least one common (ancestral) denominator.

How many Gambians can count their lineage beyond the mother of their grandmother? See, that's our problem: the recognition of family is what's broken round here. So we fight against those whose welfare we should be promoting. Today, a typical Gambian family unit has shrunken to consist of two parents (a mother and a father) and their children, and we think that's Toubabeh, whilst the Toubabs are hijacking ours; look who goes to grandma's for Christmas and Thanksgiving.

So I repeat what I once said on here: we need to demonstrate tact and grace in dealing with one another, knowing that we (Gambians) are even more connected than it's inferred by the 'six degrees of separation' theory. And if we pay attention, that belief is made firmer anytime you go to some function and meet up with elderly folks and they introduce you to some family unit that you never thought you had any relation with.

The beauty of tolerance....

A nonbeliever to a Muslim scholar: why's your God showing off in Surah 55; I mean, was it necessary to remind us of His favours? The seemingly irked (Q&A) moderator interjected, but the scholar was like, let him. 

In buttressing his point, the asker gave this anology; said, why should I be amazed if Bill Gates gives me $1? The scholar was like: shouldn't the question be, why should Bill Gates give you a Dollar?

And because of the scholar's accommodating spirit, it became an intellectual discussion; the question so logically handled by the scholar that the asker was eventually ready to make the Sahada. That's what happens when a seeker's sincere questioning meets tolerance.

Swear down, if that were me asking an average Gambian preacher that kinda question, I'd be condemned to hell straight away, like: Subhanallah, brother you've lost your soul. I can't help you.

So by their scarecrow-like preaching, ask them how many converts they've to their credit and the answer is zero, except those non-Muslim friends and spouses of ours that we were able to convince by our own efforts - you know, just taken to the Masjid to render the intention official by reading the Kalima aloud.

Contemporary babylonian con-sultants

Contemporary babylonian con-sultants are to Africa as the Military-industrial Complex is to the New World (Dis)order and here's the semblance:

Military industries are thriving because there are wars to supply their weapons and materiel to. So wherever there's peace, they'd incite a conflict so they can remain in business, and that logic is too compelling for a conspiracy theory.

Same way, the con-sultant is irrelevant without consultantship. So they'd propose solutions in search of problems and call them proposals. Where a fitting problem isn't evident, they'd create one, so deceptively attractive it becomes priority, and because our average elite is at their mercy anyways.

It's like the law of the instrument: "if the only tool you have is a hammer, you treat everything as if it were a nail." Where I come from we say: "kui ordor lamenj, bor nopay rafleh." (He, whose means of livelihood is his tongue, must keep talking),

Enyaan' (envious notice and feelings...

Share glad tidings of a personal achievement with those you think are friends and pay attention. If not most, some of them soon become so wanting in spirit, mammering for words of approbation, like: "ah.. so.. eh.. ye e yeeeah" - like, dammit dude, the word is congrats. And it's not like they stammer or something.

This shit goes as far as corporate Gambia and other national circles. So, I say our retardation as a nation isn't entirely the fault of political leadership... yeah mon, not even Jammeh; the shitstem that he was able to create was a consequence of a collective mentality: you know, apathy and selective empathy engineered by 'enyaan' (envious notice and feelings). 

We say we are a nation of believers, but do we practice the prescribed love for others as we'd for ourselves? We say we are open-minded yet we pretend to like our dislikes just to hurt another person's feeling. We claim ethics but we violate the golden rules.

Some of us are so myopic; we act as if our perceived hierarchy will change if others do better. So, we can wish each other well, but soon act so fucking weird and ungenerous the moment we see the next man doing as good as we think we are.

If you ask me, and you can disbelieve if you like, until we purify our hearts, we wouldn't go far (Gambia du dem). Yes, individuals may thrive like it's evidently the case, but collectively, we wouldn't get outta this shitpit with mentalities as dark as that. Happy independence day, still.

So here's unsolicited advice:

It doesn't matter what you do: good, bad, or ugly, someone somewhere is gonna have something to say. You just cannot let the negative criticism get to you. Sometimes, those who cannot create criticise.

Where feedback is balanced, even though negative, you can use it to build and grow.

Where criticism and detraction are tantamount, like most fools confuse the two, walk away... that shit won't nourish your growth.

To the pathological critic with a solution in search of a fitting problem to solve, if the problem isn't forthcoming, chances are, there's none... mandul, don't create one.

Go twist this opinion all you want:

Apparently, the (alleged) break up between President Barrow and his actual party was just one big-ass glorified expectation. Now that there are signs to the contrary, that expectation is fading. I know the feeling. It can be discomfiting. But ‘eff it!

I haven’t seen a divided Gambia yet. It’s just being caused to appear so, and we all know the apparent -ism surrounding it all. Yeah, we do! We just don’t want to say it lest we offend our friends. However, if our friends don’t mind rubbing it in our faces, tolerating their intolerance becomes foolishness.

If Barrow chooses to communicate in Lingala and his audience is OK with it, what’s anyone’s Wahala with that? Would the reactions be the same if he’d spoken in a tongue different from Mandinka, eh? Why must Mandinkas become collateral victims of UDP or Darboe’s victimhood?

I was a member of my community’s Mosque Committee and I used to play ball for the Evangelical Mission same time. I still go by Mike as well as Omar. I am as smooth in Wolof and Mandinka as I’m in English. The one I believe is my current girlfriend is Fula and my ex- a Serer, so I hate divisions (schisms) caused by prejudices (-isms).

Swear down, if we want a Gambia that we all claim to be wishing for, we need to dead the bigotry, every ache for tribal dominion dead, all negative-vibe-peddlers shamed, and all who manufacture faults to find quarantined.

What’s even more mysterious is when borderline-smart people who couldn’t pass the Common Entrance come on here pretending to have everything figured out, and so they must force their way on the rest of humankind. Granted, anyone is free to see whatever one wants to see. Some of us are so confirmation bias like that. But to impose your truth on others as the fact is total BS.

Gambia - 'Olof Njie neh wacha, daanu si gena gaaw.' By that I mean when it comes to telling the truth, let it be said frankly. If the cap fits anyone, wear it... man, activism isn't about rendering oneself nearly almighty in society.

In fact, where individuals can freely speak truth to power, it's only fair that holders of power be allowed to spit it when they have it, especially truth that'd restore order. We owe each other that much tolerance and sincerity. Agitated excitements cannot be pampered forever.

Sometimes we need to listen and admit the possibility that holders of power might have a point.

That's what political maturity is all about: setting a cutoff for idealism and political correctness, beyond which, realism cannot be compromised and I think that's exactly what the president was tryna do.

If you ask me, my opinion is that the man's not adrift of the frivolous and petulant discourse, the impertinent chattings, the rash censures, and spiteful detractions that we all know are so rife in this New Gambia. I think he was just keeping it as real as we thought we were, and some of us just got served.

Depression is real, yo!

You know that feeling when it’s morning and you just want to stay in bed; you just want to be left the hell alone. I mean when sleep becomes your only escape from the things that you don’t want to recollect. It’s called depression. It’s menacing.

In my part of the world, folks call it ‘hamadi’ or ‘kulubaliyaa’ (insolence). So they think it’s deliberate and I think that's unfortunately insensitive.

Well, maybe they just know not. Maybe he who fought the battle knows it. See, Mom passed and I wasn’t emotionally ready for it. So I’ve had it. But I got tired and by Allah I found purpose.

Now, if I cannot relate to the challenge in others and do something about it, like being a source of encouragement, I’d be stupid to pass judgment, because like I said, I know depression, I know it’s menacing and I know it’s real, yo!

Being an empath...

From once you're an empath, misrepresentations and betrayals will test you in ways you could never have imagined. And no matter how badly you want to be indifferent, you just cannot. It's not in your nature to submit to the violation of the rights of others, especially the vulnerable.

If yours is a community of narcissists, oppressors, sycophants and self-serving leeches, they're not gonna like your liberatory tendencies. They'll try to defile you character, treat you like a rebel, cause you to fall out with the people you defend, and if those people are weak-willed like they usually are, they too will indulge against you and Ellen Hopkins finds that ironic... that 'we ignore those who adore us, adore those who ignore us, hurt those who love us, and love those who hurt us.'

Honestly, I don't know... I guess Chronixx is right: 'mankind is no longer interested in anything without a curse behind it.' But for what it's worth, this world's moral bankruptcy regardless, empathy is always noble. So I'd rather be called names for a good cause than betray my humanness. Do I care who betrays me? No... In fact, I expect it, and so I'm hardly ever disappointed.

Everyone’s in some sort a criminal...

If not for today’s selective criminalisation of issues, if we should disregard personalities and go strictly by the book, everyone’s in some sort a criminal. In fact, The Gambia’s 2016 ‘political impasse’ would’ve topped the score for the highest number of (decriminalised) crimes perpetrated in nation’s history.

But that’s it! Politically expedient schemes hardly keep to conventions, hence crimes, no matter how resourceful.

See, even that fine ass chick in your class (or office) whose company causes you to accomplish nothing, but you still love being around her, is a criminal - an accessory to the crime of idleness that is. And if by her you just want to have your way with her, that naughty thought of yours is also a crime – that’s to name but a few.

Is it selective tolerance?

An Ahmadiyya TV isn't a threat to our version of Islam. I think it's an ideological propaganda, a challenge if you like, and the solution is simple: create another TV and counter-proselytise if proselytism is the fear. But... how can we create a TV of our own if we're so unfocused; it takes an average Gambian (Muslim) community 20 years of alms-seeking to construct a community mosque?

This is why I like the brothers at the Markass. When they realised that we were losing it. They didn't come to attack the missionaries. They created a centre that'd be conducive to the spread of what they believe to be the True Message. And by Allah, today, many a renegade is reformed thanks to the centre's sharing of knowledge and constant reminders.

So, to me, the threats to national unity and coexistence are those who hide behind the support structure in the government to impose their will. It's the politics of religion. And so the 'Ahmadi-phobia' isn't even a phobia, but an attitude of fixed dislike, enmeshed with hypocrisy, that’s it: groundless prejudice and oppression.

The Islam that I know doesn’t coerce; compulsion is forbidden. "Every man has the right to decide his own destiny." And about religious destiny, the Qur'an says: "Invite to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious...." we need to be symbolic of the blessing that we think we are. Attract by arousing interest towards ours, knowing that "honey catches more flies than vinegar,” and that which we cannot get with tact and courtesy, we will not get by any other means.

Well, every man has his own philosophy; mine is: I just wanna be a Muslim, and I was a Muslim from I was zero, taught to treat all people fairly, not for what they're said to be, or who I think they're, but for what I see and can prove of them - evidence over prejudice. I am not going to be here fighting to protect my version of Islam - that's not my job.

It's God's to protect the truth and He will. Mine is a personal spiritual struggle against evil, temptation, and for self-improvement. My job is to be a better me, one who'll serve as an example worthy of emulation. Mine is to give tidings, to "invite" (that's the word) and to pray for personal salvation as well as collective guidance.

Wa akhiru da'awana anil hamdulillahi rabbil aalameen.

Gambia... respect your teachers.

When QTV was about to start operations, GRTS employees got a 100% raise. They didn’t say it was about the competition, but it was about the competition. And we all applauded the move.

Meanwhile, the average pay differential between a private and public school teacher (in favour of the private school teacher) is not just a gap; it's a chasm, and by the authorities' indifference, the deal may be a 'take it or leave it,' and that's already sad.

Save me the poor academic performance argument, that’s a different thing; don’t blame it on the teachers. It starts from the parents not fuelling their children’s desire to learn, to disincentives like the above.

Here's my theory: if the teaching conditions aren't attractive to teachers that will say: "this is mine," it'd settle for teachers that'd say: "this is my yours," or "this is A egg" in place of "an egg."

Another thing: ours was an idiocracy, where tinkerers could be appointed to think for thinkers, and so they go about fixing things that weren't broken in the name of change and doing things differently. So they invented a successor to the unbroken GCE... thank God I did high school when high school was high school.

And to Muslim parents: don't forget about the 'oustasses' at the community 'daras.' Pay them like you pay your kids' school fees: on time. They too have bills to pay, and it's not like they're asking for much. Theirs is usually not more that D50. Let's respect our teachers.

Respect the teachers dem...

From whom more is required, more should be given - but that's common knowledge. And truth be told, motivation and incentives for teachers in our public schools suck. It's just natural that they call attentions to their plight. I empathise because before paper-pushing, I was a teacher, and I can confirm how impaired the opportunities and treatments are.

Now I digress - Mom thought I was so reserved; I should try teaching for remediation. I obliged and taught for six months. Within that six months, I resigned three times. That's why I respect those who endure. Here's why I left:

My first month, the paymaster came to our school in Lamin (Daranka). My name wasn't on the payroll. I was told to go the Ministry in Banjul. I went. Indulged the Accountant's dawdle for hours only to be told that I should come the next day and 'please' wasn't the magic word.

I reminded them that they weren't doing me a favour like they said they were; it was their job to ensure that I was paid before my sweat dries out. They caught emotions, and I was also pissed, so I quit.

Days later, the headmaster called my mom and said he'd secured my salary, and that I should come back... I went.

Couple months later, it was another payday. But because one-by-six advances were to be paid, we were asked to converge at the Regional Office, opposite the College. From morning, the paymistress didn't come until five in the evening, naturally causing great agitation. Some guy that I later knew as the Regional Education Officer came out of his Pukus, yelling at us as if a slavemaster.

I couldn't take the arrogance. I called him out, and to order that is: how dare you talk to us like that... at least respect these greying Oustasses here. He was like: who's this small teacher? I said: don't call me a teacher. I quit. I'm not built for this kinda snobbery. That was the second.

The third was a compromise. I told the headmaster that I'll continue till end of the academic year, and it was for the sake of the kids. After that, I'm done teaching and he agreed. If I were to keep teaching on a salary that wasn't unlike an offering plate, I needed to be treated like I mattered.

This was me teaching here in Kombo. The further you go, the shoddier it gets, and so they pay what they call a "Hardship allowance" - mtcheew, it can't even buy you Warga for a week let alone make up for the hardship.

Freedom of Speech... where's the cutoff?

Some of us who advocate for (absolute) Freedom of Speech in this "New Gambia" are so sensitive to rejoinders; we act as if we are the Lord's chosen arbiters of truth... you know, the conscious few, and those who disagree with the faults we find or the issues we criticise are the sheeple, and that's BS.

Here's what I think: if you can make an assertion, others too reserve the right to counterassert, how strong yours feels regardless. We all have to enjoy these freedoms: of ideas, choices, beliefs, including the freedom to get angry, to disagree, to call out BS like I did above, etc.

There cannot be any unchallengable authority in this phenomenon, no consensus reality, and so, what someone may consider slurry or an insidious opinion is an opinion, still. In fact, unless, considering our cultural value systems, we agree on a cutoff beyond which freedom of speech becomes nonsense, it's the business of anything goes. So, let's go... ndoti ndoti style!

National Democracy Protecting Agency (NDPA)

Our nation's intelligentsia should now be called the National Democracy Protecting Agency (NDPA). Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good thing. The bad thing is: everyone’s a Coordinator… of absolutely nothing; perhaps peddling alarm and making the regime an object of baseless fear.

See, even I know that an appraisal of a political experiment cannot be fair if the line of argument that the assessor is willing to house is one that sees the regime as an impending tragedy. So it wouldn’t surprise me if such assessors should try to make misery out of delight just to establish their predispositions.
 
At first I thought the fears were justified and are just safety measures perhaps – you know: "we don't want to create another dictatorship." And like they say: "once bitten, twice shy," or we’re “better safe than sorry,” but I think we are becoming sorrily safe.

Seriously, ours is like the case of the guy that got beaten by a mad man so mercilessly that today, he's so ridiculously unreasonable he doesn't even go to the garage to fix his ride - because whenever he sees a mechanic in dirty clothes, he runs for his life.

That's it with paranoia. It leads to doubt, and where there's doubt there's suspicion, where there's suspicion there's fear, where there's fear there's anxiety, where there's anxiety there's self preservation, usually against threats that do not even exist. We need some balance, yo. Virtue they say is in the middle.

Open-mindedness on social media is contingent...

Some people are so unresponsive to what you do on social media, you even forget they're your friends. But that's until you write something that they volunteer to become objects of, or when someone else makes a counter comment, seeking to turn your argument against you.

Open-mindedness on social media is contingent; an act if you like. Our sensitivity to criticism is inappropriate in magnitude and I'm not excluding myself. Once, our performance appraisal rated me low on emotional stability. I accepted the rating as a challenge to overcome and now, I can gladly testify that I'm able to manage my temper.

But that's by the way. The point of this piece is: what we take to be comradeship on social media is just a rental, and conformity, or keeping within the box is the rent one pays to remain a tenant. So having a divergent opinion is tantamount to hatred, or a possible parting of ways.

For this reason, some people choose to be reserved, not because they're miserable or socially retarded, they just want to be left the hell alone, often utilising their time to sit and think over issues worth thinking over. Falleh wunj golloh bu pudarou!

Let's feed the youth right...

In pursuit of awareness, particularly political, young people are naturally struck by strong feelings of attraction to people with radical views.

I've been there, done that, hence my love for hip-hop kulture, conscious Rastafarian movements, and why I cannot stand most mainstream BSs.

But, as an adult, especially one that the young people adore, and one who can influence their choices, it's only right that you feed them right.

You may score yourself some political points by seeking to radicalise the youth, but that'd be disingenuous, because you're only giving them an incentive for aggression.

The Voice Newspaper and our State House Press Secretary...

About the Voice Newspaper and our State House Press Secretary (or whatever the correct nomenclature is)... hmm! Is it to blur optics (and I mean that in a political context), given the timing of the publication and the week's coincidences? Is it malfeasances as the story stopped short of saying explicitly? Is it true? I don't know, because I don't even know what to trust in this (new) "New Gambia" anymore.

Granted, we've seen some executive gaffes lately, but let's also be honest; are our journalists and civil society groups and activists honestly doing the job of keeping the executive honest? Are they really and truly trying to "safeguard our democracy," or are they being sensational because it's trending and like Morgan Heritage says, good news nuh sell nuh paper?

See, if media agencies resort to giving biased and predetermined views against some, or for whatever it is that whets their appetite or courage to publish, thus neglecting their fundamental duty of reporting news impartially, then we have a big problem, because that's presstitution right there. But, like I said, I don't know what to trust.

What I want to draw attentions to is: it's natural for most press secretaries to storm at the start, particularly where the phenomenon is new, and because while the media is just there to keep it real, theirs is to provide advice on how to deal with that, and to maintain a positive public image; you know, avoiding negative and subversive media coverage.

After a while, knowing that honey catches more flies than vinegar, many eventually come round, build a 'sanawuyaa' or 'kal' type of rapport with the media community for a technique. That way, they could even ask for a postponement of certain embarrassing publications against the government, or convince some journalist to trade one damning story for another non-controversial but equally juicy story, or even offer hard to get exclusives, etc.

But again, about this particular case, I don't know, because I don't know what to trust in this country anymore and I'm probably not the only one.

Academic Arrogance...

To the question: 'What is academic arrogance?' Aurora Clawson, in December 2014, wrote this on quora.com and I'm upvoting it as relevant:

-

"It is a belief that what you have spent your time learning and mastering in your chosen field of academics somehow sets you apart as superior.

Perhaps if everyone made the same choice to pursue the same knowledge, to excel would have more meaning, or be a more justified assessment.  There would be a level playing field.  Not everyone has the same path and there are those excelling in their chosen fields, and mastering what they came to master and learn.  Why should a scientist who excels, for example feel superior to someone who hasn't even entered the field?  We make different choices for a variety of reasons. 

Self aggrandizement is an ego issue that speaks to a lesser emotional intelligence. There are many forms of intelligence and we as human beings are challenged to bring them all into balance in our unique way.

One can also accomplish with humility and gratitude.  That speaks to greatness.

Arrogance is never appropriate. It is an ego issue that diminishes the appearance of intelligence.  Its ironic that many people who boast of superiority due to their intelligence don't realize this."

The New Gambia, the disorientation...

Some folks will get punched in the face multiple times before we can reach a national definition for democracy, watch it! And I mean democracy with all its attendant responsibilities, rights, privileges, freedoms and caveats.

But I guess that's the process of change for you, especially coming from a long-term idiocracy to democracy. There will be moments of doubt, insecurity, and disorientation. However, it's easier to get along when everyone in it is getting ahead, pretty much.

Question is: how quickly possible is that in this "New Gambia" where individual interest is confused with commitment, where party battles, cultural adamance, pseudo-intellectuals, academic hubris and crassitude keep asunder every bomboclaat proposal for consideration?

No wonder we agonise more than we organise, and so gradually becoming a nation convulsed by political agony; isn't that sad?

Don't twist this...

It's edutaining how social media's becoming a democracy lecture theatre for Gambians, especially when lectures are being delivered by barely-born 'prob'ly never even gone beyond Kanuma' democrats, whose knowledge of democracy's as secondhand and as conceptual as it's sourced straight from the pages of textbooks.

That's why sometimes my allergies act up and I'll be like: hey sun, bulma horh! You're preaching to the choir. I saw Sir Dawda's. So, my knowledge of democracy is firsthand. It wasn't perfect, but before oppressed people, I can confirm that we were blessed people, certainly better than the idiocracy that some of y'all were born into.

Opinion...

Last evening, I saw videos of some UTG students in front of the Police Headquarters welcoming the release of Dr. Ceesay, also demanding immediate apology for his arrest, detention, or whatever it was. To be honest, ndeysaan, it was touching. Just that the decorum at it, like: "amut nix, laygi lanj sohla apology bi" - wasn't so evincive of that level of academia to me.

I mean the bravado was kinda juvenile. It reminds of those kid in "Lean On Me." Remember that fact-based film where Morgan Freeman played the ex-teacher (Joe Clark), took over as principal of a performance declining East Side High, but his method of getting East High to its glory didn't appeal to some of the school Board members. So he was set up and detained, and the kids had to demonstrate for his release?

Well, I guess that's what watching too much civil rights inspired movies does. You're so young, so full of verve you want to be like Malcolm or Rosa Parks, and even where your reality isn't Montgomery 1955, you simulate the same instances of injustice to resist, usually causing storm in a teacup. I'm so glad that this one's now over, and mine is just an opinion.

Hmm, interesting times - this “New Gambia!”

We have become so political that we sometimes don’t seem to realise that politics is all perception, and perceptions are derived from what the mind’s willing to comprehend, not necessarily conclusive. That's why everybody’s is different. But from when we are objective, tread carefully on our democracy, be less personal about issues, even if we cannot see eye to eye, we may end up having new eyes for discovery.

To start with, I feel for Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, and I don’t even have reliable answers as to what he did, the extent of violation of his rights if any, how brief and cursory was his time at the police to qualify a detention –was it an arrest as in the technical sense of the word, or just a detention ripened into a de facto arrest, I don’t know. I just naturally don’t like the control of people's freedom, especially by means of the police, but that’s just me being sentimental.

That sentiment aside, I’m aware of the fact that Freedom of Speech is one of the bases of a good democracy. However (and I’m not saying this to quench anyone’s thirst), for the good of all, and like all freedoms, there are boundaries and responsibilities that go with Freedom of speech.

What I mean is, just like your driver’s license can only permit you to drive, not to absolve you from reckless driving, Freedom of Speech cannot be used to disrespect others, to justify sedition, negative vibe peddling, presstitution, etc. because even if officially permitted, it’s so defeating the common purpose of creating a better people.

Don’t twist this. I didn’t say Dr. Ceesay is in the wrong nor am I saying he did all that. In fact, like I said, I don’t even know the details. And it’s not like I’m trying to give the government coercive powers to edit our rights. I just want to throw caution and I hope not to the wind, that Freedom of Speech cannot continue to be predicated on the (implied) notion that it's OK to work against each other than work together, or to trigger rather than extinguish chaos.