The Cup Is Half Empty For Many Gambians

The euphoria and enthusiasm is high amongst the people of #GM220. Well I will not fault them for such a state of mind as their personal and collective development have been arrested for 20 odd years. We all have a mental blueprint of a #NewGAMBIA but this Gambia has to be nurtured. It will be conceived with our will and resolve for a new national identity and it will have phases and passage to maturity.

The new Gambia has to learn from past events to build a model Gambia that we all will be proud of. Reading passages on social media has highlighted a troubling phenomenon amongst the people of this beautiful nation and it is my humble view that the social inequalities that existed post Independent Gambia have not been adequately addressed and most of our social/political issues are anchored on this divide that breeds anger, contempt and and disdain. Growing up opportunities were far and few for many out of privileged social circles and this perpetuated the upward mobiility of a particular segment of society relative to others. This was not a deliberate ploy by the first republic but an inadvertent design. The botched revolution of J22 1994 used this anomaly as a pretext to upset the status quo. Most of what we heard from the mouth piece of the J22 enterprise was rampant corruption that needed to be checked and corrected with accountability and probity. We now have ample evidence that that was a pretext and not a genuine justification for the usurpation of power by a rag tag group whose nationalistic credentials are now confirmed to be non-existent. Nonetheless the entrenched social inequalities of the day gave them broad appeal amongst a group of Gambians who wanted a slice of the Gambian pie. Other than the opportunistic lot amongst our lot, the J22 enterprise derived it support from the the down trodden who believed the nation short changed them as it relates to opportunities.

Going forward, adressing our social inequalities will be the cornerstone that must underwrite the #NewGAMBIA. The J22 made an attempt to adress the anomaly but their approach was underpinned by emotional decisions that negated merit and consequently they have destroyed our public institutions and professional merit. I wholeheartedly implore on the incoming administration to narrow the genie coefficient that created a divide between a group of people who should have all seen themselves as one. Once this anomally is addressed effectively, the road to the new Gambia will be paved with energised citizens who believe in the going Concern called Gambia incorporated. I am hopeful that the new Gambia will be anchored on a sound social canvas that will highlight our tribal and cultural  diversities on a tapestry that even Picasso would have been pleased to to view. Keep hope alive whilst we build the new Gambia one brick at a time.