Gainako Newspaper

........Kudos to a man of honor!
................................................By Yero Jallow....................June 16th, 2008

Ah! My little sight
Don't trick me ever
For I saw a man of honor
So peaceful and humble
Like an egret or a dove
Before a cheering crowd.

This one of ours that I saw
A poet f time
A visionary educationist
Who by God's grace
Gave all his life to the struggle
Educating the pupils, educating.

Ah! My little sight
You know who I saw
When he profiled African culture
In his many cultural poems
Starting with Africa
And ending with Africa.

The cheering crowds echoed aloud
Darkness sneaked out ashamed
Over the new dawn that brought day
Contained in the magnificent book
Of powerful memories
'The River Gambia' of sweet talk.

..............................THE BOOK
..TREATISE ON FOUNDING A FEDERATION OF AFRICAN
...REPUBLICS, (FAR) LAUNCHED: 2016 Set For Africa’s Unification
...........................By Solo, Banjul correspondent.....May 29th, 2008
The Launching of the Book “Treatise on Founding a Federation of
African Republics; (FAR) took place at the paradise Suites on Sunday
25th May 2008 with the objective to also mark the African Liberation
Day celebrations,(A.L.D).

The launching attracted over a thousand people from across the country
including Pan Africanists in the Diaspora, religious leaders like Hafiz Faye
who did the Muslim prayers and Mr. Bah of the Ahmaddiya Jammat, Pan
African youth groups and progressive individuals and sympathizers.Dr.
Assan Jaye of the MRC chaired the occasion.

The print media is fully represented but the GRTS, National and Television Services has not made any representation or
coverage.The children of Nyakoi Nursery school mesmerized the crowd by naming the capitals of any African country
asked by members of the audience.

A Pan African musical and theatre group sang a song written by Mr. Suwaibou Touray entitled, Africa, we should unite
now or perish, we must unite Africa! The song cited names of many Pan Africanists and freedom fighters in both the
Diaspora and in the mainland, such as Patrice Lumumba, Cabral, Samora machel, Edouado Mondlane, Steven Biko,
Marcus Garvey, Dubois, Sylvester Williams, Titina, Nzingha Ngosi, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Nkrumah,
Mandela etc who have in one way or another sacrificed their lives for the African continent.

They also sang a song entitled, our transformation shall succeed, succeed! With dedication and determination! These two
songs have achieved their purpose, ie. to thrill entice and inspire the congregation.

The group also staged a play written by Suwaibou Touray on the present day realities of ordinary Africans as they tried
to eke out a living in their various countries, such as a Somalian beset by the endless war which has not made any sense
to them but create all kinds of problems. Another from Kenya who lamented about her country’s problems such as the
lack of peace and inter- tribal warfare, instability etc. The one from Nigeria is from the Niger Delta worried by the
exploitation of their resources without any regard to the environment or the people living in the area. Another from
Zimbabwe who laments on the fact even though they had fought for independence in which they have sacrificed
everything, they are still without Land, Work, peace or progress. The one from Dafur Region of Sudan spoke of the
fratricidal war which has made untold suffering on them the ordinary people and another, a Gambian youth lamenting
about the smiling coast not providing any outlet for the groundnut crop while they the youth continue to experience
unemployment and low pay etc. He insisted that since he has no future in his homeland he would go anywhere his legs
could carry him, and said he would go and no one would stop him etc.

Then a voice of Kwame Nkrumah emerged to greet the people and to remind them of the Hour of Decision, THE
UNIFICATION OF AFRICA. The voice also explained what Kwame had told his fellow leaders in 1963 and 1965 on
the merits of Unity and demerits of Disunity, in a brief speech which has given answers to the main problems cited.

The Theme of the Book Launch is, “Awareness is the Mother of Liberty and Prosperity” In a one and half hour speech,
Halifa Sallah espoused on his book. He emphasized the importance of knowledge and awareness building. He also said
the era of heroes and heroines has passed and Africa does not need saviors but that we now live in an era when
knowledge must become the property of the people.

Mr. Sallah moved into the realm of philosophy and quoted Aristotle who he said indicated the stage of development
during his epoch in the Athenian states in the following words; That ‘The Nations that live in cold regions and those of
Europe are full of spirit but somewhat lacking in skill and intellect. For this reason while relatively free, they lack political
cohesion and the ability to rule over their neighbours. On the other hand the Asiatic Nations have in their souls both
intellect and skill, but somewhat lacking in spirit, so they remain both enslaved and subject. The Hellenic race, from
which he Aristotle came from, occupies a mid position geographically has a measure of both; being spirited and
intelligent. Hence, it continues to be free, to live under the best constitutions, and given a single constitution to be capable
of ruling all other people”

Citing Dubois, Sallah said Dubois argued in his writing that Black Africa influenced Rome; that many of her great men
were called the ‘African’ because of their birth and blood ties; that the culture of Egypt went across the Mediterranean,
lighting fires in Crete, inspiring Asia from Southern Arabia to Syria and the Western Asia Minor. In Cretan art, Negro
heads appeared, and in the late Minoan age, at the time of the expansion overseas, a black Minoan captain led Negro
troops and so on.

Sallah said Herodotus, a great historian also mentioned in his accounts the names of nearly all the Greek Gods derived
from Egypt, and certainly the Greeks continually turned towards Egypt for cultural inspiration and scientific information.

Sallah said in the age of Pericles, Black Africans were considered equals to, though different from Greeks and superior
to European and Asiatic barbarians. According to Sallah, the Pan Africanists intelligentsia read widely and drew lessons
from the mythology and history of other Nations.

Citing Dubois further, he said, science for years tried to separate men into great groups called Races; at first the object
was to explain human history by human differences. He said that it was later evident that mankind would not fit
accurately into any scientific delimitation of racial categories; no matter what criteria were used.

The author then went into the evolution of African nationalism that History teaches that the struggle to unite the African
peoples found an African nation which can protect them from their woes, which gave birth to African nationalism, is
older than the struggle to unite African micro-states to found a united state of Africa.

The author cited the global slave trade and African Nationalism. He cited Oluadah Equiano, who was kidnapped and
sold into slavery at the age of 11 years but managed to buy his freedom in 1766 before the U.S gained independence,
did not hesitate to recall the horrific experience he and other slaves went through in his autobiography which should be
standard reading in literature classes in all African schools, Sallah opined.

Sallah said Equiano indicated clearly how attempts were made to obliterate the sense of dignity and self worth of the
person of African origin by compelling him or her to accept bondage through floggings and subjection to improvident
avarice; that over 100 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic to become chattels in Brazil, the US and the
West Indies.

Sallah did not forget the efforts made by Africans on the home land to stop the inhuman trade. He cited the king of
Congo (Bakongo) who petitioned the king of Portugal who turned a deaf ear to his concerns for human and peoples’
rights.

After citing the struggles of various Africans such as the Black Jacobins of San Dominique which led to the proclamation
of the Haiti Republic in 1804. He said even after the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, the slave trade continued
clandestinely while the internal slave trade flourished in many countries. The revolts therefore spread unabated
toBarbadoes in 1816, Brazil in 1828 and 1837, Bolivia in 1840, Cuba in 1844 and Jamaica in 1861.

The author then concluded that these revolts spelt doom to the reliance on slave labour for raw material production. This
was why he said a new system had to emerge to safeguard the sources of raw materials for industrialists of the North.
“That new system is called Colonialism” He said.

Sallah then explained what Colonialism meant and dwelt into the first Pan African Conference, the juridical instruments
proposed by the Congress, how the Pan Africanists helped shaped the thinking of the League of Nations through their
petition and the demand for Self determination. This was how the links between the African peoples at home and
Diaspora developed in form and scale.

The author Halifa Sallah took his audience through the process towards Independence at a National congress of British
West Africa, and how the Second, third, Fourth and Fifth Pan African Congresses influenced the UN Charter etc.

Sallah explained how Dubois influenced Nkrumah when a breakthrough was made on the 6TH March 1957 when the
Gold Coast became Independent. Quoting Nkrumah who expressed his conviction that no single African country could
emerge from colonial economy and build industries and the necessary infrastructure to compete with the capital base of
the multinational corporations and emphasized the need for Africa to be united to make use of its abundant mineral and
natural resources. Halifa then went through the experiences of those who like Nkrumah wanted unification and those
who they considered as gradualists. He gave a long and tedious explanation on the purpose of Pan Africa, expounded at
conferences of independent African states and the All African Peoples Conferences; that Nkrumah examined the
material and subjective conditions which prevailed at the time and observed the enthusiasm everywhere.

Sallah explained how Ghana and Congo tried to form a nucleus of a federation, how Lumumba sought the help of the
UN and how Ghana sent troops which served under the UN commanders and how Belgian troops snatched Lumumba
from the UN troops and how he eventually got murdered by the Belgian troops; that even one of the Belgian troops
confessed recently that he took a tooth of Lumumba after they murdered him as a souvenir which he said shows how
dehumanized they were at the time.

He then explained further how Ghana and Guinea tried to forge a union government but argued that that could not serve
the same purpose with that of Ghana and Congo because as he said Congo has vast mineral resources.

The author followed the second All African Peoples Conference, the achievements and challenges of the liberation
struggle, the Birth of the OAU,the progress made after the failure to adopt the major proposals of Nkrumah. He said the
OAU established the following commissions which became operational before African Nationalism went through its
greatest crisis with the overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah in February 1966;

1) Economic and Social Commission
2) Defence Commission
3) Educational and Cultural Commission
4) Scientific, Technical and Research Commission
5) Transport and Communication Commission
6) Commission of Jurists.
7) He said these key institutions were established in 1964 to complement the operation of the Economic and Social
Commissions such as the African Development Bank.

Sallah went through the nature and goals of each of these Commissions and draw the conclusion that all the institutions
were established to create an African Union Government, but it was only left with the political will to implement it.
‘Instead of redirecting these institutions, African countries therefore drifted into unequal relations with the developed
countries and remain producers of primary products and importers of value added products” He asserted.

But the author summed up the failure of micro- Nationalist States and the opportunities of African integration, which he
calls the lost decades; 1970-1980, 1980-1990, 1990-2000 as first, second, and third lost decades respectively, in
which sub Saharan Africa became the most heavily indebted region in the world, at 270% of export earnings and 75% of
GNP, and is chronically in arrears.
Halifa asserted that the indebtedness and marginalization of the African continent compelled the Heads of state to meet in
Sirte in Libya, in 1999, to look at the factors which have been stifling the movement of the continent towards sustainable
economic, social and cultural development.

He dilated on the constitutive Act and the building of a united Africa, the need for a programmatic policy document, the
introduction of NEPAD which he opined could bring development but not the ultimate development that is required. He
also argued that NEPAD has not captured the fundamental lesson of global economics that multilateral trade negotiations
are best conducted by regional trading Blocs which have built up intra- regional trade links to enhance their international
competitiveness and bargaining power.

The author finally went into the way forward and said the arms of the state has been established; that the treaty
establishing the African Economic Community, the Constitutive Act and the Protocols which emanated from them
provide for the establishment of continental Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Social and Cultural structures which are
expected in a Federal state. He explains the principle of Collective Sovereignty of states, irrespective of size, have been
accorded equal voting rights; that decisions are based on consensus or two-thirds majority; that the Pan African
Parliament avails equal representation to all countries in accordance with concept of peoples rights inherent in the African
Charter.

Sallah said the process to attain the full union or Federated state is in phases, from one to eight. The 8th phase leads to
decide the faith of the Draft constitution and a summit should proceed in 2015 to establish a task force to prepare an
implementation blue print to be approved by the 2016 summit for the establishment of the Federation of African
Republics.

“History is indeed in the making” says Halifa Sallah; that the third and final phase of Pan Africanism or African
Nationalism; the total Liberation of the continent from poverty, dependency and tyranny will reposition Africa in the
world and set a new agenda for internationalism which will aim to transform the world into a universal home for all human
beings to live in Liberty, Dignity and Prosperity.For Sallah, the African must build a civilization in the 21st century which
will ensure a destiny of liberty, dignity and prosperity which he said is a verdict necessity and dictate of conscience and
reason.

Africa he said shall rise like a star among the world constellation of Nations and as he asserted, we have a contract with
Destiny to bequeath a Homeland to the new generation than they have found it; and that only unity can avail us that
opportunity. Africa, he concluded must unite or perish. The future is bright! ALUTA CONTINUA!

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