Heroes Don’t Die!
I Start by Thanking ALL of You for Taking Your Time to Honor These Honorable Men.
Brave Men Are Immortal. Death is inevitable. But the only difference is that the brave have the option to choose their own death. And they shall remain immortal as their names shall be uttered throughout history. Thus! HEROES DO NOT DIE
I have heard so many things said about my brother Captain Njaga Jagne over the past year, both good and bad, many made up. Many have claimed to know him and many have tried to represent the totality of who he is based on very short acquaintances. We who have known him for all his life and have been there through all the triumphs and struggles along the way, we who know the very essence and spirit of who he is and the life he has lived, say only one thing in reflection of the totality of the package of who he was as a person and the life he lived, we say…
“We are so proud and our heads are held high….. Not only for the incidents that happened on December 30, 2014, but for many reasons over his lifetime. ” My brother was an honest person. He was one who when he gave his word, he meant it. He was one who once he believed in something, for better or worse, he held onto it even when it failed. He was one that never second guessed people or doubted people. Because of his honesty, he always thought people were ALWAYS representing to him who they truly say they are and with the best of motives. While this characteristic meant that he sometimes missed when people are not being honest, it was one of the characters that made me admire him the most. He always wanted to see the best in others until he was left with no choice but to see a glaring representation of the opposite. Then he would always stand for what he fiercely saw to be the truth. Njaga Mamour Baba Yandeh Jagne was fiercely true to whatever he believed, even when others betrayed him. He stood fast and fiercely to his believes. He was a man of honor.
Njaga Jagne was never someone to yearn for the limelight. He was a laid back person until something stirs his passion. Then! he was fiercely passionate. It was this passion to rescue his people, the people of The Gambia that spurred him to sacrifice a comfortable life that he has worked hard for over here, in order to rescue a suffering people. Alas! It is hard to rescue people who do not realize the source of their own suffering and who choose to stay within their own individual safeguards rather than standup for their collective selves. He was a simple person who loved the simple things. He was a giving person. His was never a quest to rule The Gambia or be in some high position in the government. His wish was simply to see a better Gambia, with a people free to pursue their destiny and whose rights are not being brutally trampled by the very government that is supposed to safeguard it. And I dare say most, and perhaps all the Heroes of December 30, 2014 were simply drive by that single motive. That desire for a better, more free, democratic Gambia where all its citizens rights are honored, and all are given equal opportunity to thrive. So my message today will honor that thirst for change to a better Gambia that drove our heroes.
Yes! Our hearts hurt and we miss our beloveds each day. We live this pain daily. At many moments we remember our loved one with a smile. At certain moments we hurt and yearn for their physical presence. And wish they were here to witness a million things. We wish we could tell them a thousand things. Wish we could embrace them just one more time. We continue to experience so many different emotions each time their memories come up for us, sometimes quite unexpectedly and at the oddest of times. For us their families, we are left with a huge gap in our hearts and a yearning to know the real truth of what really took place on that fateful night of December 30, 2014; a night that is etched in our very DNA now and forever. We are left with so many unanswered questions and so many challenges that we have continued to endure as a result of their deaths. We realize this is now the new reality we will forever live with.
And for our heroes who are still with us, “Our Living Heroes”, and their families whose lives are being challenged daily, some are in prison and being tortured as we speak, and some here in this United States are fighting for their individual freedoms, some elsewhere encountering untold difficulties, one thing is real for all of us, we will ALWAYS remain proud of all of you! We will ALWAYS carry our beloveds in our hearts. Our heads will forever be held high. For Captain Njaga Jagne, Colonel Lamin Sanneh, and Alhagie Jaja Nyass have immortalized themselves through their ultimate sacrifice for their country. And Captain Alagie Barrow, U.S. Army officer Papa Faal, Mr.Cherno Njie, Mr. Musa Sarr, Mr. Bai Lowe,Mr. Pa Modou Njie, Mr. Banka Manneh,Mr. Landing Sonko, and Mr. Dawda Bojang have sacrificed much for their country. And each of them and their families continue to face many challenges daily. So as we scramble to make them our heroes on this day, and as many of us jostle to claim closeness to them, let us stop and ask the question that is the most important, What have I done in the past year to support their ongoing struggle? Have I reached out to see what I can do to support their legal battles? As the families of Bai Lowe and Musa Sarr suffer and struggle to sustain themselves as their lives and livelihoods have been suddenly pulled from under them, ask yourself what have I done to support them? Ask yourself What am I doing to free Pa Modou Njie from the horrible imprisonment circumstances he is enduring daily and at this very moment? Ask yourself have I reached out to the mothers or Lamin Sanneh and Jaja Nyass since their release from prison?
While all the rumors and the untruths told by so many pierce our hearts, We know that history will proof the simple honest fact that our loved ones who are now in spirit, along with their heroic brothers who are still with us- these are MEN who simply went on a rescue mission for a people who desperately need it. But those very people largely abandoned them at their hour of need. Those very people have often attacked, maligned, and spread the worst of rumors about them and their families. And these very people continued to hold their New Year’s Eve parties even on the very next day of December 31, 2014 as the bodies of our beloveds lay in the streets of Banjul.
Throughout this past heart wrenching year, the beautiful sacrifice of our beloveds and the many challenges that we the families had continued to deal with, have taught each of us invaluable lessons that we shall carry throughout our lives. We have come to see human nature both at its best (even through the support and kindness of complete strangers) and at its worst (even from those we thought were supposed to be the closest to us). But we are extremely grateful for the family, friends, loved ones and strangers alike who have supported us, stood by us, and stood by the truth! May God continually bless you and all your loved ones.
Not only our loved ones, but we ourselves have been put through the wringer. Our resolve and resilience have indeed been tested. But we continue to blessedly thrive and to overcome. For this we are thankful to God. Even as many of our families were abducted and some tortured, even as the mothers of Lamin Sanneh and Jaja Nyass languished in prison for more than half a year, most turned their eyes to more comfortable issues and kept on with their lives; even as we continue to still grapple with trying to learn what happened to the bodies of our beloveds, we have people ascribing wrongful and untruthful deeds to us and our loved ones; even as we continue to grapple with multiple tremendous challenges trying to deal with a thousand unsettled issues that were suddenly dropped in our laps. and as our lives were suddenly turned upside down, we have continued to witness how quickly people resort to in-fighting, tearing down of each other, scheming against each other, and spreading of horrible things about each other- from both ordinary Gambians as well as those one would expect to know better- those who purport to be engaged in the effort to bring peace and democracy to our country. This is not the reason our loved ones made the ultimate sacrifice for our beloved country.
As we continue to witness the way we live our lives and the actions we continue to engage in, and hear the statements that we continue to make, it has left us to conclude that in order to change The Gambia or its government, or to change Africa in general, each of us must first look deep within and change ourselves. I pray that we have the ability for such an honest and objective assessment and the ability to make such a critical and necessary self-change. For that is the only way that we can all achieve the dream for which our beloveds sacrificed.
What I want to share now is an excerpt from a speech by “Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, who is the former Director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and currently the Director of The Kenya School of Law.
He calls for what is termed,”Corvasasio Morrum” – a Change of heart as stated by the Benediction monks.
Professor P.L.O. Lumumba says, (and this is applicable to most African countries and specifically TRUE for The Gambia)~
“The Tragedy of Africa is that Africa is in the Business of Canonizing Thieves and Demonizing its Saints…. What Are YOU Going To Do About It?….We Must Change Ourselves. We Must Change Our Behavioral DNA. The Question Is Are We Going To Wait For Outsiders to Tell US to Do That Which We Ought to Have Done? The Question is Are We Prepared to Sacrifice our Lives for That Which is Good and Right?….The Question is, Beyond our Comforts… Are We Going to Roll Up Our Sleeves and Meet the Poor and Destitute….The Question is, Do We Say With Our Mouths That Which We Do Not Believe With Our Hearts. (And I will add …. Do we say with our mouths that which we are not willing to sacrifice for?)
Lubumba says “That is the tragedy of Africa. When we are given the opportunity to elect good men and women into public office, we elect them based on the size and the depth of their pockets, or on the basis of their ethnic extractions.
(Here it is important for me to pause and say, “It is quite disheartening that even among those of us who are working to change The Gambia for the better, these ugly divisions along tribal lines showcase over an over again. Often our first go to when things go wrong is to start blaming and pointing fingers at each other along tribal lines stating that “Kii Ollof Lah! “Nying Mu Mandingko Layti” “Ang Koh Pular!,” or whatever tribe the person happens to belong to. This is an abject shame and a demonstration of our collective deficit. And I daresay, the most aggressive offenders are often the ones who are the quickest to tar others with the brush of tribalism).
Now to continue with the excerpt from Professor P. L. O Lumumba’s speech: “…we elect them based on the size and the depth of their pockets, or on the basis of their ethnic extractions. And when they have occupied public office, then we expect them to behave well. (It’s like ) We are asked to elect a committee to determine the fair rules of hunting, then we elect Hyenas and we expect them to take care of the goats. That is the tragedy of Africa.”
Our generation have the opportunity to change this tragedy. What we do with that opportunity, will be up to each of us. It will be up to each of us whether we choose to use our efforts towards bettering our nation and the lives and future of our people, or towards in-fighting, rumor mongering, and tearing each other down. Empower yourself! Choose to spend your time in a way that showcases the best of us and not in a way that shows the worst of us. Choose to use your effort towards building and bettering The Gambia and the Gambians, and our collective future.
But we must change each and every one of our selves first! The tragic thing is some of us will hear this message and conclude that it is meant for “another”, and not for them. Some of us will listen to or read this speech and the only thing they will derive from it is that am disparaging Gambians; the only thing they will choose to get from this speech is that it is an attack. These are usually the ones who truly need to learn from this message. I pray that God opens each and everyone of their hearts and pour the real spirit of this message within it. Often the truth is that those who need to absorb a good & truthful message the most, are often the ones who lack the ability to really hear and implement the message. They lack the capacity to see themselves in the message and to self-improve. May God give us all the ability to continually and truthfully self-assess and to improve accordingly. So for 2016, I pray to Allah and to the God that each Gambian worships (whether you are a Muslim, Christian, or otherwise), that we each gain the ability for objective, healthy, self-assessment that leads to positive self-improvement and self-change. For that is the greatest battle we face.
We are certainly not short of good examples among our midst. We do have those among us who continue to showcase the best of who we should be as citizens; those who are not only selflessly true to the cause of creating a better Gambia, but who continue to pursue the truth, stand in truth, act in selfless truth, and in following their words with their actions and who choose to focus their efforts on standing up for what is right and what is true whether it is within their individual relationships or as good citizens bettering their country. Those among us who can honestly look themselves in the mirror and stand before their God and say that they do make honest and good faith efforts to better Gambia, do right by others, and thrive to act at all times according to what they claim in public. Those people know themselves. And for those, we say thank you!”Jaarama” “Abarakah!” “Jayray Jeff” for modeling the way. Your steadfast actions is what will create a better Gambia and better Gambians.
When we can achieve that enmass, it will only be a moment before our government and our country changes for the better. For the government is simply a reflection of our selves and of how we treat each other. A people get the government that they deserve! And we deserve better! So let us change ourselves and thus our government to one we deserve. This is the Dream of ALL of our heroes as they ALL live on. Because
Heroes Don’t Die! They live in eternity and their blessed names shall continue to be uttered in blessed memory . Our heroes message to all of us is a call for honest self-assessment, followed by change to our better selves, change to be better sons and daughters of The Gambia. At each moment ask yourself honestly, are you being the change that you wish to see in The Gambia?…. Do you reflect it in your heart and in your actions? That is the critical question you must continually ask yourself.
As they say in Wollof “Waychaaku Jotnah!” And the Mandinka say “Nfang Falingo Siita”
For our heroes have shown us what sacrifice for country is. May we respond by changing for the better individually, as a people, and as a country.
May God Strengthen our resolve to continue to thrive through it, to lighten our hearts, to be better Gambians, and to create a better Gambia that we can all be proud of!