The Spotlight: Gambia’s Online Community
By Yero Jallow
“Dictators are like natural disasters to world citizens. Gambia and its citizens suffer more from our President Yahya Jammeh than we ever will suffer from fire, flood, famine, drought, or disease. So how do we defeat tyranny? First; by looking at dictators squarely in the face and exposing them. They are all bullies and cowards at heart. They fear the truth. They fear the fearless. That is why I thank all the other participants here… We all share the same story” (Fatou Jaw Manneh, Maafanta Proprietor and Publisher, Oslo Freedom Forum, October 2014).
The online community is a rare type of citizenry, those that gave up everything to serve in a new way, to a nation (The Gambia) in peril which suffered political instability, economic crisis, and human rights violations from the tyranny that dawned on Gambians in July of 1994 under the leadership of Yaya Jammeh. For over two decades now, Gambians established online newspapers, radios, blogs, chat groups, and other social media outlets to expose the dictatorship in Banjul. They do this at their own expense, while juggling with other things; some that I know even have two jobs with school and large families.
The online community stationed itself well, continually challenging the excesses of the Banjul dictatorship and exposed its cupboard skeletal nibs. News analysis and reportage are almost instant. The online communities go even further to morally and financially support the many victims of the tyrannical regime. To the Online Community, like PDOIS’ Halifa Sallah argued in an interview with Gainako (2006), that “Citizenship is not an accident,” and the online community takes it that love for county includes great sacrifices, fighting with and along for a nation and its citizens, during the good days and the ugly days, giving hope to those denied hope, giving love to those denied love, giving security and shelter to those denied a safe haven, and giving amnesty to those tortured mentally, physically, emotionally and the exiled.
The online community realized essence in arming itself against a relentless enemy (the dictatorship) using advent technology, targeting as many audience worldwide as they could through their online contributions. Even though we sometimes see fierce online fighting among the online mediums themselves, they still recognize the common enemy in the dictatorship. Most of the fighting is caused by injected hypocrisy from the lurking dictatorship, competition in name and hits, constituency, and who reported the news first. More to the problem, the dictatorship act as catalysts masquerading in the background to ignite and flame things, and then they will sit on the side enjoying the show, the type of ugly divide-and-rule.
The online community offered itself as the sacrificial lambs for Gambia’s struggle, no matter what expense and suffering comes with it. Take an example, to build an online medium costs between $750.00 and $1500.00 depending on the quality. This doesn’t include monthly hosting fees, technical support for continued maintenance, radio package, cost of phone calls, paying some reporters home in the Gambia and personal time. On a monthly basis, an active online medium committed to inform its readership will spend between $150.00 and $500.00 monthly. They are always there to receive loyal friends, new comers, dip-flies who also take advantage of the online community to hit the spotlight for their agendas and the many others positioning themselves for power and material come what may with dictatorship and its aftermath.
There seems to be a counter force to the online community which is mostly the political bystanders, the so-called neutrals and the blind support of the tyrannical regime. Interesting enough, a bystander, the so-called neutral and blind support thinks that the online community exposing and criticizing the tyranny in Banjul are enemies of the Gambia. The types of citizens are in fact beneficiaries of the online community. They access news, read articles, and to some of them, things should be modeled to their own liking, that love for country means following the Banjul tyranny regardless of the crimes associated with the regime. Another factor is having some of their family members and friends within the administration, which is enough reason to just support blindly.
We do have some of the bystanders, who are neither here nor there, and to them the only thing that is politically right is their interest. As long as their interest was not put in the limelight, forget about everything else! The interesting thing is that such types of citizens are good social engineers lurking in the background benefitting from online coverage. They lurk in the background following trends, talking to both sides at convenience. When they meet the dictatorship, they gossip and point blame to the online community. When they meet the online community, they secretly confide and take refuge in the online community from the impunity at home and how everything is upside down. To the particular group, it is a complicated matter, not knowing that political hypocrisy is bad participation to a nation. Some of them happen to be beneficiaries of both the online communities and settlement programs for sanctuaries.
We do have the brand of citizens who are really sympathetic to Gambia’s situation. Even though they are in a danger zone, they are still a compliment to the online community. They voluntarily position themselves against all the known odds, to serve as informers and reporters for the online community.
Well, the online communities are fighting for the Gambia and its citizens. Most of them are outside with great professions that can support them, but they see beyond this selfishness, they see a liberated Gambia from the clutches of tyranny, they see beyond position, beyond the material world, and beyond the tempting things. They are ready to hang on, to take the risk, and they believe fully in what they do daily, they are motivated to continue come rain come shine, and are not bothered by the negative branding and isolation they get from the yoyo citizens who pretends that everything is right. Even the dictatorship itself knows that its human rights violations are exposed and put to check by the online community. As far as the information battle, the online community is on the victory, and tyranny itself represents failure and evil, so tyranny is continually losing and sinking to rock-bottom. If it is not for the online community, the dictatorship in Banjul would have reached at a much more oppressing level, with more human and collateral damage, just like North Korea where citizens are closed and not properly aware of their surroundings.
To the online community, I say a big salute. Keep it up all with the enlightenment and fighting for our country and you all are the citizens known as penguins, walking the talk, and making the big difference. There cannot be development when there is no peace and there will never be peace when the power greed, the excesses of greed, and human rights violations are not checked. That is why your role is crucial. Thank you all for lifting the national flag up and continually guarding our territory with your pens. May God continue to guide you and shine light on your strength!