By Yero Jallow.
I was alerted to the historic debate on some of our Senegambian musicians singing praise of dictators and oppressing leaders, notably Yaya AJJ Jammeh. Recently as widely surfaced on the online media, Jaliba Kuyateh, Ouza Jallow and Thione Seck has been called on to review their praise-singing of Jammeh. Reactions from Thione Seck and Ouza Jallow on Freedom Newspaper are very disappointing to say the least because the expectation is such leaders of the cultural arena are held high and expected to act mature and ethical. The topic is where one would have to show tough love to these musicians and their many fans around. Nonetheless, we are beyond to where we have to fold our hands without saying anything on it.
To start with, it is to be clearly noted these singers over the ages sang praises of kings, queens, heroes, heroines, individuals and even places for their importance to prominence or downfall. Most if not all of it has been important because way before our history (African) made it to books; we relied entirely on such cultural messengers to pass on narrations of our cultures and political establishments. These musicians have also served as a source of inspiration in the entertainment business and some even made it to prominence so easily because of the level of support given to them by fans. Music and musicians are very important in our setup and establishment.
The argument here is there is no leader without a follower and there will be no musician without their fans. To DUGA’s point, the Senegambian musicians need to be at par with the realities on the ground. Being in the music industry doesn’t mean ignoring the injustices wrecking our social fabrics and human establishments. In fact, musicians have for ages being among the heroes and heroines serving as societal catalysts to combat injustices and expose societal dangers. Notably, the village Town Crier is sometimes both a musician and a journalist functioning best at local functions. It was very interesting hearing Ouza tell online media (Courtesy of Freedom Radio, March 2014) that he is a Panafrican. With his recent engagements, it is the same as Yaya AJJ Jammeh or any of his predecessor oppressing leaders telling us that they are PanAfricans. To the contrary, there is no system of matriculation for one to be a PanAfrican and this very topic is something discussed exclusively in a radio Interview (Courtesy of Gainako Radio, 2013) with Sainey Faye of Atlanta Georgia. Sainey made it very clear that it is easy for anyone to beat their chests and claim to be PanAfrican when they are far from it.
To the fans of these musicians, there is a need to carefully weigh in. I know some of you are going through the same pains of the dictator’s lashes as everyone else and yet still you would rather take music and the pleasure that comes with it than the truth of the matter. In my humble view, there isn’t anything wrong continuing being their fans with a condition of showing your disapproval to their unethical behavior. In the absence that these musicians show arrogance and unwillingness to recognize the peoples’ concerns, feelings and tears, then it is within acceptable right to show some sort of action that sends a strong signal to their unethical behavior. That is tough love and it is really necessary so the relationship is well defined.
There are some questions we can ask to which the answers are obvious. If we ask any of these musicians if their immediate parents, sons, daughters, sisters, uncles or even close friends were subjected to the same humiliation, denial of free speech, torture, arrest and killings like seen to be done on others, would they still praise-sing these dictators? If these musicians were denied participation like politicians are denied having rallies and news papers and radio closures, would they still praise-sing the dictator?
To the musicians, it is time to eat humble pie and recognize the urgency of our situation. You out of the lot of citizens are not excluded from whatever evil comes with these iron fist rulers. The nation and its people come first. It is the happiness of citizens that should translate to the increasing number of your many fans. The late South African Apartheid hero, Lucky Dube is one person who was both a musician and a true son of Africa who money and material couldn’t buy until he died. It was evident from his music, from his ethical behavior and more so his way of life. If you lot (Jaliba, Ouza, Thione, Every-Mbye, etc …) don’t rehabilitate yourselves from the way you pursue money, material, fans and fame, you risk going down in history as greedy supporters and enablers of tyrannical systems, ala Sheikh Professor Yaya AJJ Jammeh of Gambia fame. The nation and its oppressed citizens which include many of your fans too deserve your sympathy, support and comfort tones. Heck yeah, we do!