By Abdul Savage
THIS Article, like with all my articles, and public pronouncements, are considered public domain. So, please feel free to share with any and all audience, in any and all settings or medium, Facebook, Twitter, etc, in order to provoke and stimulate discussions, which I hope will lead to fruitful action. Please note that I do not qualify the “fruitful action” here, and so I intentionally leave that open.
Some proponents of collaboration among these Diasporan entities have submitted, in their arguments that all roads must lead to Banjul. On the surface, such submission might appear like a compelling case, but upon thorough examination, such a proposition has cracks all over it. For starters, on what roads that must lead to Banjul? Paved road, which is “peaceful”? Or rough, which is “force? Or by any and all means? Which one? Or is it all of them? Or is it a blend? Or some road will take on “force” and a dosage of “peace”? Or some “peace” and spice it up with “force”?
And if the struggle is a “relay”, what kind of relay is it? And what baton are some holding? Are some holding “guns” or “force” or “peaceful means” as baton? You get the gist of where I am going here with my questions. Don’t you?
Foremost, as private citizens, we will applaud any gesture of good faith efforts to reach and project some UNITY, or resemblance of it. We must encourage and continue to put pressure on these diasporan entities to thread FIRST down the path of Unity to fight a shared and common predicament in any and every way we can. We must exhaust first travelling down the path of Unity among these diasporan entities before any other topic, such as the “use of force” is entertained or even discussed. However, I would respectfully urge that we refrain from public engagements or publicity stunts that most people familiar with the workings of this “diaspora’ would consider as nothing, but just that, that is, pure “publicity stunts”, without any good faith intent to bring UNITY. Such maneuver, as much as it worth applauding, is misleading, and a disservice to the struggle.
We want genuine UNITY, not facade unity, with the hopes that they can go back and form their entity if they disagree with the Parent Entity or Umbrella. We will go further, stronger and longer with a UNITED front in any and every way than individual efforts. So, instead of having individual races to get there first, why not pull our resources together in any and every way we can to fight a shared and common enemy in any and every way we can? UNITED effort to fight a shared and common predicament is effective and eloquent than divisive efforts.
And another submission proponents of “collaboration” have put forward is that of “education” in this diaspora. This is all good, well and dandy. True, education is part of any “movement”, but that “movement” is not complete until there is “empowerment” and “action”. So, you can do all the education you want in a movement, until it is sanctioned with “empowerment” and “action”, it is nothing. Movement without “empowerment” and “action” is not completely a movement, despite all the “education” you put into. “Movement” without empowerment and action is useless, nothing.. A classic example that comes on top of my mind is that of the civil rights movement here in America. All kinds of ways, means and methods were devised, developed and used to educate the people, but at some point, empowerment and action were needed and used to complete “the struggle”.
And another trend or pattern popping up now in this struggle is the proliferation of talk shows, and so on under the guise of “educating people”, and the new camouflage of using the struggle as an employment scheme or a business venture, or as a platform to launch ways to fame, or glory. We should be in this and do this without favors or promises.
The Gambia is bigger than any and all of us.
We must give the Gambia a sense of hope not shrouded in, or wrapped around egos, self-centered perspectives, interests or other ulterior motives. The Gambia needs tough love, plenty of help and some dosage of nurturing. And when we make decisions “to act or not to act”, we must employ professional judgment, caution and planning, not emotions or desperation. Decisions to act must be based on caution and planning, not on popular appeal or novelty of the idea or desperation. The Gambia in the Diaspora is not an employment scheme or a business venture.
The Gambia is bigger than any and all groups or entities in this “diaspora”, and the interests of the Gambia supersede any and all
Yes, true, some among us have political ambitions, or other agendas, which are well and good, and we applaud and encourage them for that. However, we in the diaspora are not going to put these people or vote them into political offices in the Gambia. So, with all due respect, they can save us some of their expert political analysis, and innuendos to winning “votes”. If they want to run their campaign I submit that they can do so with their “brilliant analysis” for voters in the Gambia, because after all is said and done, those voters in the Gambia are the ones that matter, not us in the diaspora. So, save us all these political analysis of the Gambia in the diaspora about the Gambia. Preach instead more on how we can UNITE to fight a shared and common enemy in any and every way we can.
And these “politicians” or “political entities” in the diaspora must keep in mind that “Campaigning” is one thing, and “Ruling” is an entirely different thing. And we are not even in the campaigning phase yet in the Gambia and “political entities” and “politicians” of the Gambia but outside, are already acting as if they are running campaigns, here in the diaspora. Our people in the Gambia are suffering, while we in the diaspora are busy taking jabs at each other, and creating platforms on which to launch our agendas, and disguising such platforms or agendas under the guise of “educating people” and so on. Really?
Is there ever going to be UNITY among these diaspora entities to fight a common and shared predicament in any and every way? Can they not meet over coffee in Atlanta, Raleigh or any other place, and talk about UNITY, and about how to converge, consolidate and merge themselves and their efforts?
And when these different entities UNITE they must declare to their followers and the public that they have dissolved and come together under one UMMRELLA, to fight a shared and common enemy in every and any way we can.
We don’t want to recycle the whole process again, and again. We want one final UNITY for all.
The Gambia is bigger than any and all groups or entities in this “diaspora”, and the interests of the Gambia supersede any and all.
And I, personally, as a private citizen, I stand ready, again, as a private citizen, to assist in any and every man I can, but will not do so “blindly”, or for any other appeal, other than in the best interests of the Gambia.
Also, reduce and or eliminate the “publicity stunts”. Work behind the scenes.
Disenchantment and fed-up sentiments are being expressed against certain groups and or individuals, and rightfully so.
Proponents of “collaboration” also gave all kinds of examples from South Africa, Thailand, and so on. I respectfully submit that such examples as used by proponents of “collaboration” are disingenuous and misleading. And this is why: We all understand different political or non-political landscapes operate under different sets of circumstances, events and so on. So, it will not only be unfitting, unrealistic but even dangerous to transpose and or apply the contexts of struggle in South Africa, or events in Thailand to that of the Gambia.
The analogies or movements in other countries, such as South Africa, being used or given as examples are of poor taste, and unfitting in our case. Of course, we can learn from other analogies, but the sets of circumstances, atmosphere, times and all are just totally different from the predicament facing the Gambia. With all due respect, I wonder how people would even make such comparisons or use such analogies.
Of course, we can learn from these different times, eras and sets of circumstances, but inferring or implying that we can project such onto the framework of the Gambia I must say is little bit far-fetched, unrealistic and just plain out of touch with realities on the ground in the Gambia.
We are not here to propose or put forward text book ideas we learned from our “political class” in college. The Gambia is not a lab, a choir, a band, or some sort of launching pad. It is a beautiful shoreline that needs some tough love, help with salvaging and plenty of nurturing.
So, if it seems now to be “a disorganized chaos”, why not try to get it to be an “organized chaos” to fight a shared and common enemy in any and every way we can?
Yes, true, all these entities in the diaspora are bringing attention to the plight of the Gambia, relative to the barbaric regime there. However, a UNITED action is effective and eloquent.
Egos and self-interests, at the expense of the interests of the Gambia, are more paramount to some. This is sad, but the truth
We all know that recognizing or knowing what a problem is, is the first step to solving that problem. So, in this case, we all at least can agree that we have conquered the first part, which is recognizing and accepting the problem. Now, the challenges are how to overcome the interests and emotions to bring UNITY. But then again, in some quarters, this “problem” might not even be accepted.
There is strength in UNITY of ACTION.
The publicity stunts are getting redundant, rampant and saturated. And these publicity stunts are being catered towards self-centered interests instead of national interest
By Abdul Savage