Friendship...

So your friend has not been in contact like ol’ times, you assume he’s changed, or has a new buddy perhaps, discounting the fact that you could be in the wrong. It could be that he’s genuinely caught up, but treasures you still. Maybe you’ve also not done great looking up. Maybe he’s just decided to outgrow some of what y’all had - anything’s possible.

You can’t be bothered, right? You won’t find out waguan because you too got some dignity to preserve (gaynula am faida). Yeah, you’ll be alright if you move on like that, but it means your ego’s successful, and now y’all have become so near yet so detached. Next, your thoughts become so divisive, splitting y’all further apart. Your feelings getting so bad that you stalk him to see what he’s up to, but getting offended by the things he did or didn't do.

Those who knew y’all to be so tight from way back will wonder what the hell happened. If in your heart you don’t even know what the problem is, then there’s prolly none. So you may for the sake of the memories you share do better and not wait until it's too late to say “yo, what’s up dawg? It’s been a minute.” It could make a lot of difference.

Random Thought...

If you're gonna be talking to or dating another, whilst talking to or dating another, do remember that ours is a very small world. All these ladies may not be friends as such, but dread, they know each other, and they talk, especially thanks to the miracle of social media.

Some socialist is just deceiving...

None so 'nahateh-ing' (deceiving), often resembling envy, uncharitable, and whose claims hardly reflect their conducts as today's internet-socialists and keyboard-Marxists; y'know, zero track record of sincere commitment to the call, acting all Robin Hood of the poor online, guilting the conscience of the privileged as if being blessed is evil, but in real life, as good as the Merchant of Venice yourself.

Sitting on a stash saved up just to say you have it, yet having the effrontery to delegate charitable kindness is not kindness. Talking about humnmankind's failure to share and how everything sucks like man's doomed, yet so meanly avaricious like you're alien yourself is not as socialist. Emotionally blackmailing others into giving to causes of your choosing, and contributing nothing to anything yourself is not conducive to the social equality that you're calling for; even so questionable is when you don't pay your debts, so much that you're Zakat-indebted.

Some Pan-African is just nagging...

If your sense of entitlement is beyond common sense, you’ll become a complainer. If you’re overly uncompromising, and always tending to revolt, you’re paving a way to misfortune, and these two according to me have been Africa’s biggest setbacks to date.

From when my granny was a baby, the African intellectual movement was chanting down so-called western imperialism and still no changes. In fact, half our political discourse is against the imperialist; the other half either on endless debates; the definition of independence perhaps, or celebrating some brutal tyrant, just because he said something against the west. Meanwhile, the rest of the world’s planning to leave for Mars. We are so academically flashy that even our ideas are conveyed with big grammar, so enmeshed, high-sounding, and so avoidably deep that we defeat the whole purpose of communication.

I’m in agreement that we have an awful history of being taken advantage of by foreign corporations and colonialists, but if we should speak from the bottom of our hearts, we’ll also agree that the well-educated amongst us haven’t done any better than committing fraud and poorly distributing our continental treasures. And these are the people we expect to help us to take a turn for the better.

Talking about poverty alleviation but helping just a few to game the system: create nicely titled imperialist-funded projects and lucrative-charities, rent big office spaces (usually from a friend or a friend of a friend), huge cars, unwarranted committees, regular seminars and workshops, endless study tours to the land of the imperialist (what an irony) - you read some financial statements and see what was actually paid towards intended purposes, you’ll want to box somebody's ears.

We talk about encouraging and strengthening bonds of solidarity between all people of African descent but it’s still easier and hassle free to travel to Brussels from The Gambia than to Burkina Faso. We talk about encouraging a common destiny when some of us here are offended and calling this ECOMIG transitory intervention of ours an invasion. We talk about unity when from AU Summits to our local community meetings, the concerns are so divisive that we cannot even agree to disagree.

Like Tupac, I agree that "it's time to fight back," if not overdue. But like he said, the misplaced hate will only cause disgrace to all races. So, if the old way isn’t working like he advised, and like I think it isn’t, it’s about time we change our line of attack - you know, build our own rather than wishing that the imperialist’s tears to pieces - that’ll be so envious. If the western media’s narrative is bias against us for instance, let’s be like Iran and create our own - that’s what clever people do when they feel badly treated. I thought I should say this today.

Our trade reforms...

Perhaps I'm being shortsighted for my own consumer interest, but honestly, I think the Government's loosening of some import restrictions is a wise thing, of course hoping that the quality of imported stuff wouldn't be comprised. In fact, I think the restrictions should remain lifted until local start-ups and industries are able to have the scale required to meet national demand, and to compete effectively. According to me, economic planning without regard for an already impoverished consumer is a sin.

Let me put it another way: I'm not an economist and not pretending to be one - and so not au fait with the jargons, the mathematics, theories, models and all. However, one thing I can confirm based on observation is that here, causing disincentives to imports have but just been good for businesses only, and the complacency more like leveraging the average consumer for the profit of a few unenterprising entrepreneurs.

Look at the controls on onions and flour for instance. During the embargo on these imports, some families altered their menus against their will, hardly ever cooking almost everyone's favourite Yassa - you know, personal budgetary jihad and all, because onions that are produced ayard have become luxuries, and the price for regular bread rose from three, to five, and to seven Dalasis in a very short span.

So speaking for myself, and as a consumer that is, if domestic produce/products are gonna remain as high-priced, on the argument that materials and packages are imported still; if they're gonna be as non-improving, as bare-minimum, and as insufficient to purpose, since the hotel industry's the primary target of many a local producer, I say give us choices or allow the consequential smuggling along the borders.

Lalo Kebba Drammeh paraphrased

"Mo ku teh dunia. Mo kendeh kuwo leh beh dunia." - Lalo Kebba Drammeh. Meaning: the world's not deficient in people; the world's just wanting in good people.

By that I guess good people are not equal to the purpose, as in more troublemakers than troubleshooters, more finger pointers than responsibility takers, more knowledge than wisdom, more takers than givers, more dream killers than hope givers, more idle talkers and alarmists than factual news reporters, more imitators and duplicators than originators, more fictions than facts, more disintegrators than integrators, more miserabilists than believers in hope, more ego-serving competitors than contributors, and on here more of an insane asylum than an online community, etc. Wow, sounds like the world's messed up already. Anyways, may we know the good ones, may we be them, may we raise them.

We hate to take responsibility...

Dude didn't have the best of grades in high school because he spent most of the time differently, and being caught up in that typical student syndrome of invariably deferring study timetables, thinking there's still time, or perhaps a couple weeks reading before exams was enough. He refused to go to college because he thought he was street smart. He knew he wouldn't get degreed but believed that he doesn't necessarily have to bag one to make it in life.

Today, though fairly endowed with a few talents, some jobs he cannot get because what they require is a degree that he doesn't have. Occasionally, he loses courage, but that's natural. However, his mental attitude's such that he doesn't shift blame. He's of the belief that if there's anyone whose decisions he's a consequence of, that person's none other than himself. So he accepted reality and pushes through like no amount of misguided history's gonna define him. It's not like he's much of a success yet, but he's trying.

If you ask me, his is no uncommon story round here. In fact, some of us were prolly even more reckless, but in denial. We hate to take responsibility. We'd rather we stay stuck at one place, feeling perfect in our own eyes and casting stones at others because playing victim or being a finger pointer for want of help that's only voluntary is convenient; whether it's empowering or even reasonable is what I doubt. I know we all know this to be true, but many would rather not say it lest blood pressures will rise like: "STFU, you're lucky it's been easy with you!"