Thanx for sharing Karim. Classic Saidy-Khan. Intelligent, honest, and an
all-around good human being. The guy is coherent and always precise and to the
point. Gotta love him.
Masoud. MQJGomezDT. Darbo. Al Mu'Umin.
In a message dated 1/26/2008 6:08:39 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
On Sam Sarr, Ethnic Nationalism, and the Quest for a Gambian Nation
By Saul Saidy-Khan
Pa Nderry,
Please allow me space to add to the debate started by Sam Sarr. I truth, I
was going to send this to Sankareh, but I notice he's becoming personally
involved, so I'd be grateful if you could put this out for me. Time allowing,
I'll finish up my conclusion in Part Two.
Thanks in advance.
.........................................................
Ironically, on reading Samsudeen Sarr's "analyses", I have the same feelings
he had about Suntu Touray's initial response. I'm totally confounded, and I'm
not sure where to begin. The utter disregard for established historical
facts shown by Sam is really shocking. Not to talk about obvious ethnic bias,
given the man wants to be taken as an impartial commentator slamming tribalism.
First, unlike Sam, it matters not to me whether his first respondent's real
name is Suntu Touray or Haddy Juum. We have read many online postings in the
past under names like "Ebou Colley," "Egu S.", "Kujabi" etc, on different
websites, yet many of us know these are mere pseudonyms that Sam might know
something about. So what's the fascination with the name "Suntu" –even if it is
another assumed name? As we willingly played the fool, and took "Ebou Colley"
at face value, so is the approach many readers adopt towards online bylines.
The name is less relevant than what is said! And going by the dictates of
natural justice, how can someone notorious for hiding behind assumed names,
condemn someone else for doing so? Anyhow, I'm inclined to believe that Sam
latched unto this irrelevance in an attempt to skirt the substance of what Touray
wrote, while unnecessarily denigrating the fellow. After re-reading the man's
posting, I cannot for the life in me figure out why Sam thinks
this man is any sort of bad representative of people who would identify with
the Mandinka.
If I understood anything from what Touray wrote, it was to raise the flag
for Sam to say that "there is another side to the story that you're is trying
to make us believe." For which reason, I agree with Suntu whole-heartedly!
Suntu Touray, at no point said or suggested that "nothing could be done about
tribalism." Rather, the man was cautioning against the MONO-view that Sam has
taken on the subject. From what Sam has written, you'll have to concede and
conclude: Poor, Poor Wolof people! Look how Mandinka people have been treating
them! IF what Sam wrote is true, and complete.
However, the version of Gambia's political history that Sam Sarr is peddling
is neither accurate nor original. It is a five-decade old Branding of
Mandinka people as irredeemably tribalist by orientation, and therefore less than
patriotic relative to others. We are constantly bombarded with the notion that
all Mandinka politicians do is to use ethnicity, NOT ideas, to get into
office. What is left unsaid is the implication that politicians from other ethnic
groups in The Gambia use OTHER THAN ETHNICITY to get elected. And the story
line continues that while in office, all these Mandinka politicos do is look
after only their kind. Never mind, the reality of three decades of
Mandinka-led governments in The Gambia makes a canard of these allegations! But these
are what we hear.
I say the false branding of Mandinka people is not original because world
history is replete with examples. In present day America, the Far Right,
through relentless demagoguery of Liberals over time, has turned the term "Liberal"
into a dirty word. They have been so effective that even well-known Liberal
politicians recoil when asked if they are Liberal. Many even try to qualify
what type of Liberal they are! (Read John Kerry in the 2004 Prez Campaign.)
Ironically, almost all the people that we revere or celebrate around the world
(prophets Mohamed and Jesus Christ, Buddha, Nelson Mandela, Mohandas Gandhi,
Mother Teresa, ML King, Nkrumah, Sankara, etc) were all unabashed Liberals!
American Liberals had wrongly assumed that ordinary people would be able to
see through the falsity that the Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys are peddling
about them. They were wrong! The Liberals' mistake is to let the Far Right
define them, such that people don't know who Liberals actually
are, and what they stand for; they only know what the Limbaughs feed them
about Liberals. It was only when Liberals woke up to this fact and started
fighting back with Air America and similar media that they've been able to
repair some of the damage that the Far Right demagogues have inflicted on their
image. As is the case with American Liberals, so has it been with Mandinka
people in The Gambia. So be warned! Human beings believe what they often hear –
unchallenged. Sad, but true.
It is precisely because of this fact that letting the version of Gambian
history being peddled by the Sam Sarrs stand unchallenged would be to help
Hogwash History germinate. Wolof Nationalists like Sam Sarr (bear with me and this
will become clear,) have through the decades used a combination of
One-liners, Half-truths, and at times outright concoctions (often in coded-language)
to brand, label, and stigmatized Mandinka people in every conceivable way as
The Gambia's problem. You hear them say things like: "It (Tribalism) is not
going to work any more…;" "We know what happened before...;" "You know them
(the Mandinka)"; "They (the Mandinka) are power-hungry. Me I don't care about
power…" So on, so on. But are these true, or the whole truth?
Allow me to give Sam credit for breaking with their tradition to state
clearly what he truly feels about Mandinka people. Often, outside of their Choirs,
Wolof Nationalists employ Coded Language to spread their anti-Mandinka
sermon. The Coding is deliberate: to avoid being held responsible for what they
say. If you challenge them, they play the victim, and claim they meant
something else by what they said. Sam, at least has saved us that toothache. But true
to tradition, he couldn't help himself when it comes to another Wolof
Nationalist hallmark – Transference. Note how Sam tries to portray Suntu Touray as
the tribalist when in fact, unlike him, the man did NOT SAY ANYTHING
derogatory about Wolof people! In Sam's Wolof Nationalist mentality, all the
negative things he just happens to recall about a people call Mandinka, has nothing
to do with his inner feelings, it was to condemn generic tribalism like is
happening in Kenya. But Suntu Touray's response? Ooooh No, that
is motivated by Tribal bigotry! Classic Wolof Nationalist trickery. Somehow,
we are to believe the stories Sam Sarr made up about Mandinka people as
sincere, but we are to condemn Suntu Touray who cautioned him to be cognizant of
an alternative view. It is noteworthy that as usual, some people have fallen
for this trick.
But in order not to jump the gun, lets take a multi-faceted look at this
Notorious "Mandinka anti-Wolof campaign" that Sam is using as a ruse to unload
his pent-up prejudice against the Mandinka. Let's start by putting things in
perspective:
Sam is talking about an election campaign that happened forty-eight (48)
years ago!
As most still do, almost ALL Gambians voted along sectional lines in that
election. (The over-whelming majority of Wolof people voted for the THREE Wolof
candidates that ran; and the over-whelming majority of Mandinka people voted
for the one Mandinka candidate who ran.)
The Gambia has had dozens of elections since.
Close to 80% of Gambians today were not even alive at the time.
Having made these clear, let's look at Sam's allegations, and please allow
me to quote Sam himself extensively. He said: "However, it was not until the
PPP in their quest for independence from the British started spreading the
inaccurate political message that the Wolof had stolen their country, Gambia,
and kept them under suppression for centuries that I began to realize the filth
behind tribalism. As far as some of them were concerned, colonialism with
all its degradation had nothing to do with the "Toubabs" in charge for over
three hundred years but everything to do with Wolof hegemony."
This is very interesting. In essence, Sam is giving us the impression that
he saw and experienced these things first-hand during that period! This
notorious campaign happened between 1959 and 1960. The first thing that struck me
is simple: How old is Sam Sarr that he understood things around him in
1959-1960, and more specifically, the meaning of what Mandinka (PPP) were saying
about Wolof people on the campaign trail? I ask this question because Sam has
told us that he didn't begin to realize the "filth behind tribalism" until the
PPP came along and started blaming Wolof people for Mandinka misfortune,
while giving a pass to the Toubab. Going by his words, Sam had to have been not
only alive at the time, he had to have been matured enough to understand what
the Mandinka PPP politicians were saying, which was the only way he could
have "realized" that the polity –which was hitherto pristine, was suddenly being
defiled with "filth!" I remember seeing Sam Sarr in military
uniform many times in the '80s. If Sam Sarr was alive at all in 1959-1960,
he must have been very young by my reckoning. In that case, Sam was the genius
infant who not only understood what adults were saying, but who also
understood the implication of their words as well. Quite remarkable!
If Sam Sarr is fighting his parents' and grandparents' battles, which I
believe to be the case (because I know Sam Sarr was NEVER part of the audience
when the PPP first campaigned against Banjul Wolof parties,) why not be honest
about this basic starting point? As children, we all have an innate instinct
to fight for our parents. My own father passed on a year ago, and there are
many things I'd do for him. But fight a dead fifty years old issue for him?
What's the point?
Like Sam, I believe in putting everything on the table to discuss what ails
our society with honesty. Only then can we forge ahead to higher heights as a
collective – in my view. But when we start such discussions couched in
misrepresentation (to be very generous here,) and obvious prejudice, what possible
good could ever come out of such initiatives?
Sam began by couching his language in an aesthetic Pan African façade, but
his language is classic Wolof Nationalistic: it's rabidly anti-Mandinka, and
latently dishonest to the core! They say however much lipstick you slap on a
pig, it's still a pig! Sam discounted the relevance of ethnicity very well
(for good measure,) but repeatedly, he went to extraordinary lengths to paint a
single group –the Mandinka, in an ugly light. I actually have the creepy
feeling that Sam Sarr is a disciple of the renowned Psychologist Maslow and his
Theory on Conditioning because each time Sam mentioned a particular Mandinka,
or Mandinka people in his original piece, it was with reference to something
negative.
To begin with, of all the "minor" problems that Sam could recall from his
childhood on the streets of Serekunda, it is the seldom (his own description)
confrontation between Mandinka girls and their Wolof counterparts over Female
Circumcision. It hasn't escaped notice that Sam feels it necessary to remind
us that he is referring to the much loaded, and controversial TOUBAB-ASCRIBED
term "genital mutilation of females." For the record, this is a practice
that was picked up from Middle Easterners in medieval times (during the reign of
the first real Islamic ruler of the Mali Empire in the case of Manden
people, Mansa Kankan Musa.) The practice remains common among Africans that had
significant contact with Arabs – the Manden, the Fulani, the Somali, the
Amharic, as well as Swahili speakers in East Africa. A true Pan Africanist would
call the practice what its African practitioners call it: Female Circumcision.
(I'm not debating the medical merits or demerits of the
practice. That's simply beside the point.) However, for someone who started
off slamming Africans' blanket acceptance of everything Toubab, Sam's Goal
Post-shifting leaves some of us scratching our heads about his true agenda.
But then again, Sam's real agenda was never far off the surface.
His story went downhill from the aforementioned point. He dwelled on a
Mandinka onslaught against a Wolof Hegemony, but the mere concept of a "Wolof
hegemony" in The Gambia in 1960 is a figment of the imagination of Wolof ethnic
chauvinists. Period! It simply did not exist! Why then would anyone campaign
against a non-existent entity? In 1960, the dominant group among Africans in
Gambia was the so-called Akus. And no, not all of these are descendants of
repatriated slaves. One of the first West African people to voluntarily take to
the Toubabs are the Yoruba of Southern Nigeria. Not only did they flock to
Western schools early, they even had college graduates in the 1890s! To this
day, people from Abeokuta and Ibadan remain some of the most educated Africans
anywhere. Some of those educated Yoruba people followed Europeans around West
Africa including to The Gambia. Look for names like Tunde, Bola, Femi, etc
(Ola-Tunde, Ade-Bola, Oba-Femi) among the so-called Akus of the
Gambia, and you can connect the dots. (Don't be fooled by The Western Last
Names. It's by "choice." The Fantes did the same in Ghana.) These were the
people who had what you might term a "hegemony" in The Gambia in 1960. They had
such a hold on the social scene that many Wolof people including that most
famous of all Gambian Wolof – Pierre Njie, joined them. Yet, we continue to
hear of these stories that the main theme of the PPP Mandinka "political scam
artists" was to overthrow "Wolof hegemony." Which one?
Also, Contrary to the false impression we often get, Pierre Njie was in
fact, another Jawara: provincial roots; educated in Banjul; abandoned his
religion in order to assimilate into what was seen as the cream of Colonial Gambia,
until it became expedient to revert to those same roots. Like the Spanish
say: Ayos Mismo. They're all the same! Sam asked the question: "How was Jawara
who came to Banjul as a child, got raised and educated there, converted to
Christianity and married an Aku Christian woman got chosen as the PPP leader
when the main target of the party was to burst the Banjul clique?" We shall get
to what pushed the PPP founders to settle for Jawara, but for now, let's
note the similarity between Pierre Njie and Jawara. Pierre was a Saloum Saloum.
Unlike his brothers (Sheriff, etc) he converted to Christianity, and married
an Aku woman, etc. Some of Pierre Njie's children like daughter Mary Langley
(former Establishment Secretary,) live their lives as Aku, not
Wolof. Just like Jawara's first four children do. So why did the Banjul
Wolof choose Pierre Njie of all the people they could? So why is Sam Sarr
interpreting the experience of the two men differently? Why not raise the same
question about Pierre Njie as he did about Jawara? Sam is supposed to be an
ethno-blind commentator. Or am I assuming wrong?
On that 1959-1960 campaign, was there anything unique about the way the PPP
Mandinka campaigned? In other words, were they the only people who injected
ethnicity or sectionalism into their politics at the time? The answer to this
question is an emphatic No! Sam has been kind enough to let us in on the
fact that his own parents were supporters of Jahumpa and his Muslim Congress,
and not Pierre Njie "because he's Christian." If we are to be honest with each
other, Sam's own people voted with "their hearts, and not their heads" as he
labeled Suntu Touray's reaction. In other words, they were guided by emotion
instead of reason. Pierre Njie's religion had absolutely nothing to do with
his ability or lack thereof to run our country. So why was that a factor at
all in the choice that Sam's people made? If Sam has any problems with his
parents' political choice, he hasn't said so. But evidently, he is less
understanding about the majority Mandinka who voted the same way! LIKE
EVERYBODY ELSE, they voted with "their hearts, and not their heads." They
DID NOT BUCK ANY TREND. So why single them out for criticism?
On I.M. Garba Jahumpa especially, Gambian history would record that he was
the one who formally injected sectionalism, or ethnicity into Gambian
politics! This is a serious charge, so allow me to elaborate.
You see, between 1943 and 1959 (before PPP joined the political scene,)
roughly 95% of all Aku speaking people in Banjul were Christian, and the same
proportion of Wolof speakers were Muslim. The so-called Aku were by far the more
educated locals. Now if you want to dislodge an Aku from elective office,
you have a choice of going after him as an "Aku candidate," (with clear ethnic
undertones,) or as a Christian (with subtle ethnic undertones, even if an
overt religious one. "Aku" was synonymous with Christian.) Jahumpa settled for
the more subtle option, a characteristic that has now become a tradition among
Ethnic Nationalists in The Gambia. They never say anything direct; they only
talk in codes! Anyhow, regardless of Jahumpa's tactics, the effect of what
he did was the same. By deftly injecting this Sectionalist wedge between
Banjul people, Jahumpa was able to achieve what he sought, which was to get
himself elected into office at the expense of more qualified Aku
speakers. In fact, that divisive tactic of hiding behind religion to
sideline the more educated Aku speakers was so effective that the man that PDOIS
folks keep telling us is the Father of Gambian Politics – Edward Francis Small,
was crushed at the polls! This was well before the PPP was even formed.
PDOIS people never tire of reminding us of the patriotism and issue-driven
politics of late Mr. Small. So why was this patriotic, and decent man
defeated? More importantly, was the agenda of the candidate who defeated EF Small
more progressive? Not according to PDOIS, or Jabis Langley, or one Mr. Dacosta,
all of who have written extensively about early Gambian politics. The main
difference between PDOIS and the other writers is that the latter two
emphasize that "before the advent of the provincial-born, Banjul-educated Dawda
Jawara, no Banjul politician (including EF Small,) championed the cause of the
disenfranchised rural majority." They both advise that we see EF Small in that
context. Where their opinions of Mr. Small converge is that relative to all
the other politicians, he was the one candidate who saw himself as a Gambian
first. It is for that reason that they all agree that he deserves to be seen as
the Father of Gambian politics.
But from the foregoing, it is obvious that sectionalism, tribalism, or
ethnicity (choose whatever name you want,) was part and parcel of The Gambia's
political scene before Protectorate (PPP Mandinka) people even came along! Yet,
we continue to read about, and hear of allegations and insinuations from the
Sam Sarrs about how the PPP people used "filthy" tribalism to dislodge the
Wolof (from power they never had) as if the PPP folks had intruded on the scene
and introduced something new. Fact: Banjul people were already DIVIDED ALONG
SECTIONAL LINES BEFORE the PPP was formed. If the PPP people did anything at
all, it was to do to the Banjul Wolof what they did to the Akus - thanks to
their relative numerical strength. Nothing more! The Aku moved on when
reality hit. But Wolof Nationalists seem to be stuck in a time warp. This is 2008
for goodness sake!
Why are Wolof Nationalists still bitching about a forty-eight years old
election? It does give a whole new meaning to the term "sore losers" -doesn't it?
When will this sulking end? What are they after? An election happened half a
century ago. Why not get over it? Isn't it about time that we concentrate on
more pressing things – like, say Gambian politics in 2008? Our politics
still remains primordial and dominated by complete frauds and idiots of all
shades. There is absolutely nothing exceptional about Mandinka politicos. If
through some magic, you remove ALL the "Mandinka political scam artists" from The
Gambia's political scene today, you'll still have a mess in your hands
because the rest of what you'll be left with are no better. So why are we being
dragged back to 1960 when our house is on fire in 2008? Do the Sam Sarrs follow
what goes on at The Gambia's parliament? Why not pursue an agenda that will
segue our politics to the next level?
Lest I forget, let me hasten to note here that a distinction needs to be
made between PPP politicians and PPP founders. PPP politicians like Jawara were
in fact Carpet Baggers. They are "Monkey Work, Baboon Chop" characters like
the GNA Military Boys call such people. Jawara did not sweat at all to get the
top position. In fact, he was even unwilling to sacrifice the loss of his
salary, for which reason, the Founders PAID him a salary to lead them. In
essence, he was handed a finished product on a gold platter. Was he the wrong man
to lead these people? Of course, he was – in my view.
On the other hand, the PPP Founders were a motley crew of Country, mainly
Mandinka-speaking illiterate old men who were driven by the desire to have
their voices heard in the affairs of the country in 1959. At all cost! Their
story is akin to a David v. Goliath scenario. The odds were prohibitively against
them. Now, what was eating away at these old men? The answer to this
question is what Wolof Nationalists NEVER acknowledge, nor want to hear anyone else
say! But let's set aside the affliction call Political Correctness and cite
some of the complaints Country people (some STILL ALIVE) had against Banjul
Wolof especially.
Sam quotes Prez Eisenhower's son about his father's opinion of what he saw
in Banjul in 1943. Sam should do more research because Ike went further than
what Sam noted. Ike's summation of Banjul and The Gambia in 1943 was one word:
"a Hellhole!" That harsh reality notwithstanding, the residents of this
Island which was "ceded" (using Colonial terminology,) to the British in the
early 19thc by a MANDINKA Seyfo, were rabidly xenophobic, and tribalist to the
core. Prof. Adu Boahen describes the Ashanti King Obiri Yeaboah as a "martial
ardor… who enjoyed blood sports." In the same vein, many Banjul Wolof in that
period had a very twisted sense of humor: they enjoyed Humiliation Sports.
Despite their own unflattering lives, they openly poured scorn on people from
the hinterland. Some people still alive remember walking down streets in
Banjul in the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, and getting jeered, heckled,
and taunted with words like "Santong Ko!"; "Nko!"; "Go back to
the farm!"; etc.
Santong KO, especially only means "someone from the countryside," in
Mandinka. But it was said as if it is on a par with "thief", "murderer," "rapist,"
or something dirty like that. In essence, country people were routinely
demeaned and denigrated. But worse than that treatment, one needs not go far to
find old men who remember some country person dying in Banjul at that time, and
being unable to find help among the local Muslim population to give the
deceased a decent farewell. This, despite the fact that the majority Wolof
speakers in Banjul were Muslim as well! Sanjally Bojang talked about this in his
chat with Foroyaa before he died. As he remembered it, so does my late
grandfather, and two other old men I know still alive. Add to this the open
discrimination they underwent in finding employment, and you get a picture of what
drove various Mandinka groups under the leadership of people like Sanjally
Bojang, and Pa Keita to shove aside their differences to form a
coalition in order to matter in the post-Colonial period. They were simply
terrified by the prospects of mainly Wolof-speaking Banjulians taking over
from the Toubabs – given their (the Founders) experience at the hands of those
people.
Now people who have been harassed, bullied, or treated these ugly ways for a
protracted period could be forgiven for being irrational in looking for
anyone who fits the bill (settling for a transplant like Jawara because of his
Barajally roots.) Who among us could, in good conscience fault them for their
fears? Are these mainly Mandinka-speaking people justified in assuming the
worst of the Banjul Wolof? What would Sam Sarr and his types have done in their
shoes? More importantly, how does Sam's complaints about Mandinkas compare to
what his people did to Country people OVER several DECADES? When some of us
mention what was done to Country people in Banjul, we are condemned as bitter
and hateful. But the Sam Sarrs never relent in their fabricated tales about
what "Mandinka people did to Wolofs in 1960." And this is used as
justification for why they're kissing up to Yaya Jammeh today. In their mind, they're
"Paying Back what Mandinka people did to them." Never mind, the
truth about what actually happened, or the "others" in our country. How can
we ever become a nation with an outlook on things? It's 2008, yet some are
still fighting their parents' 1960 battle!
To underscore the plight of country people in those days, it is helpful to
recall that when a senior British Colonial Official came visiting – in 1958 I
believe it was, ABSOLUTELY NONE of the Wolof political leaders of Banjul
bothered to seek the representation of country people to get their input. The
official came and went without hearing anything from the majority of Gambian
people. Country people felt dejected and voiceless. This is a point that both
Langley and Dacosta note in their writings. Unlike some people, the two men
show integrity. In any case, why should anyone be surprised that these same
group of old mainly-Mandinka men rejected the overtures made by some Banjul
politicians to lead them a year later (in 1959,) when it became clear to the
Banjulians that they stood no chance against the majority rural dwellers? The old
Country men did what any rational person would have done: ignore the Banjul
politicians' attempt as insincere and self-serving. Who can
blame them?
So when Suntu Touray raises the flag of caution, some of us recall these
stories, among many others. I won't even go into what some of the Banjul Wolof
merchants in particular were doing to farmers – Mandinka, Fula, Jola, even
Fana Fana, in those days. You see Sam, we didn't start off right. A lot of dirty
things happened, and CONTINUE to happen, in that country. And I know with
absolute certainty that Colony Wolofs are NOT the victims in most cases! Nine
out of ten times, they were the ones doing the victimizing. I don't believe
that the sins of the fathers should be visited on the children, which is why I
don't understand why the Sam Sarrs keep bringing up this 1959-1960 campaign,
most of the major participants in which are all DEAD! Ironically, the man
that Sam's own parents supported flipped around, folded his party, and joined
the same filthy Mandinka political scam artists after he lost to them at the
polls! What does that say about Jahumpa?
What I find very irritating about Sam's Wolof Nationalist types is the
haughty attitude that they somehow have a monopoly on the truth about Gambian
history. You see, just because others don't whine and raise hell doesn't mean
there is only one culprit in Gambia's socio-political scene. There never has
been. Banjul Wolofs themselves were routinely bullied by Akus before others got
to the scene. Even in school, they caught hell from some Aku-speaking
teachers. However, that attitude proved to be infectious, because the Banjul Wolofs
turned around and treated other Gambians that followed them in worse ways!
So in truth, the majority of the Mandinka, Fulani, Jola, Manjago, etc were
more often than not at the receiving end of Colony Wolof bullying, not the other
way around. Yet, it is the Wolof Nationalist who are always crying victim!
Victim of whom?
This is the gist of what Mr. Touray was trying to alert Sam about. Instead,
he just trashed the man. Touray even cited an example that ANY HONEST
expatriate Gambian can attest to about the scene at the Christening ceremony he
presided over in London recently. What Touray said is NOT an isolated case at
all, neither is it restricted to Christenings. You see that same scenario at
meetings, at Parks, etc. Yet Sam dismissed this as a fig leaf propagated by
anti-Wolof Mandinka people to convince others that "Wolofs are unwilling to speak
Mandinka." Is Sam Sarr one of those Wolof who does not want to speak
Mandinka intentionally? Only Sam can say. But are there any Wolof like that?
Absolutely! Not only do some of us know Wolof like that, we are even friends with
some of them!
There is something very insulting, and patronizing about Sam's posture that
suggests that he knows how every Wolof behaves. Sam Sarr knows himself, and
how he thinks and behaves. Unless if Sam is Dr. TJ Eckleburg (as in The Great
Gatsby,) how in the world would he know how every other Wolof behave? Or more
pertinently, how would he know what Suntu Touray's experience is? Sam Sarr
encountered Dr. Modou Manneh briefly and diagnosed him as tribalist because he
THINKS the man was unhappy with him speaking in a non-Mandinka language to
him. Fair enough. Why is it impossible for Suntu Touray, or any other person
to have had a similar experience with a Wolof person? This kind of twisted
logic is what ticks some of us off about Wolof Nationalists: Wolof people who
cannot speak other Gambian languages or dialects just happen to have NO NEED to
learn these (going by Sam's explanation which itself betrays a Colonial
Mentality,) but Gambians who cannot speak Wolof are somehow
tribalist because Wolof is the Lingua Franca (we are constantly reminded.)
But says who?
This Wolof Nationalistic tendency of assigning themselves the role of Rule
Maker, or Definers in Gambian society remains one of the stumbling blocks in
the quest to create a Gambian nation. Things are not what they are unless they
say so; someone is tribalist because they say so (without bothering to
proffer any convincing evidence); something doesn't exist unless they say it does;
whatever they're involved in is "national", but anything they don't control
is "tribalist;" etc. this is not only symptomatic of their inflated sense
of their importance in Gambian society, it betrays a very ignorant, and
arrogant mindset. Where does this temerity come from?
If Sam Sarr has an issue with Mandinka people, which I think he does, he
should be honest enough to lay it out squarely without hiding behind some dead
issue like this 1959-1960 campaign. I say this because Sam went to elaborate
lengths to portray a non-existent Mandinka tribal cabal during the PPP era. In
my view, Lamin Saho bungled the Radio Gambia News Reading sequence issue.
What's the point in conducting a Census if the results are not used for
formulating Public Policy? The largest Gambian ethnic group is Mandinka, followed by
Fulani, though you wouldn't know that from Sam's discussion, or many things
Gambian. That, because the Fulani, by nature have made themselves the Lapdogs
of either Mandinka or Wolof people. I know something about this because my
own family are Fulani who migrated from Futa about two hundred years ago. They
settled among Mandinka people, who they taught, and converted into Islam.
They called these Mandinka people "Talubeh" and the Manden called
them "Saidy" – thus the prefix to my family name. Anyhow, when Foday Kabah
came along on his conquests around 1890, my people quickly abandoned most
things Fulani to appease him. We never fully went back to our roots since. And my
Fulani friends from Guinea tell me things that make me wonder whether
kow-towing is in our genes.
In my view, Gambian News should be announced according to size of ethnic
population – Fulani before Wolof any time! Lamin Saho did a half-hearted job,
and provided fodder for frustrated Wolof Nationalists who were at the time
looking for anything they could latch on, to show how "anti-Wolof" Mandinka
people are. This should have been a routine Radio Schedule change. Why in the
world is that a cause for a National crisis? Was it tribally-insensitive?
Apparently. But is there more to it than that? You tell me. (This was the 1980s, and
after Banjul Sankapra ML Saho resigned his appointment as Health Minister
in 1982 (he supposedly campaigned on the belief that he would be promoted to
Veep,) there was no Banjul Wolof in the cabinet. Thus, Wolof Nationalists were
seething with rage for much of the 1980s.)) Otherwise, Dr. Lamin Saho never
ran for national office; he ran against his blood cousin Sheriff Dibba in
heavily Mandinka Lower Badibu. (The two men share the same
maternal grandfather from what I understand.) Saho was defeated the first
time he ran in 1977, before eventually winning twice in a row. How tribalism
has helped him in his political career, I cannot fathom. And for Jawara not
stepping in, that's the man's Signature Attitude. Let's take a look at a
parallel case.
In 1984, the GNA was inaugurated. I don't know if Sam was at the Reception
they held in Faraja. But a very senior cabinet member who was, told me a story
that is very revealing of Jawara's personality. Lloyd Evans, former IG of
Police and Establishment Secretary, pulled this gentleman and Jawara aside, and
laid it out (in Wolof): "You see these boys? They are Shy-shy! We cannot
trust them for a minute. You HAVE TO get involved in their appointments and
promotions. Make sure only people you trust handle certain sensitive
positions..." The gentleman quotes Mr. Evans as saying bluntly. But what did Jawara do?
He let Ndow Njie run the show. Sam was a senior officer in the army. He can
tell us who the officers of the army were before another blunt fellow came by
(Gen. Dada from Nigeria,) who told Jawara point blank –in not so many words,
that he is ignoring the Army Officer Composition to his own peril. According
to who? Someone who was in the thick of things! Anyone who knew
the GNA's Officer Structure can tell you that had Jawara placed someone like
Turo Jawneh (his relative,) at the head of the army, he'd probably die in
office, or leave at his own volition.
But my point is, even in this critical area, keeping a tap on which could
have prevented the tragedy that ultimately consumed his regime, Jawara pulled
back and let the Line Managers use their discretion. Sam Sarr knows the
process of how Army Officers got their promotions under Jawara, and how they do so
now under Yaya Jammeh. So why then is Sam trying to blame Jawara for not
interfering in what was really a very silly matter like a Radio News Schedule?
The answer is simple: Sam Sarr wants us to read tribal bias in Jawara's
failure to reverse Dr. Saho's decision when in fact, Jawara behaved the same way
when Ndow Njie was stuffing the higher echelon of the GNA with a mainly
Wolof-Aku cast, which fact was one of the main ingredients of the 1994 coup! The
junior officers and soldiers of the GNA didn't have any respect for the
soldierly qualities of their superiors -thanks to nepotism. History shall record that
the 1994 coup was as much an internal revolt by junior
officers and soldiers AGAINST THEIR SENIOR Officers, as it was against the
politicians that led the country! But watch Sam blame the success of the coup
on Nigerians. Nigeria's own first coup was carried out by relatively junior
officers based in Kaduna in 1966. Within days, ALL the leaders of the coup
were in jail, replaced by their seniors - Gen. Ironsi, Ojukwu, and others. But
it was the responsibility of foreigners to stop the Gambia's 1994 coup. What
claptrap! The question is: why were GNA soldiers unwilling to listen to
Captains, Majors, and Lt. Colonels instead of following the Sub-Lt.s they fell
behind?
Sam's desperation to paint a Mandinka anti-Wolof cabal, betrays his
deep-seated anti-Mandinka prejudice. Perhaps, we can't blame Sam because he must have
been fed such sentiments from early in his life. My evidence? Sam is getting
really worked up about a fifty years old election campaign he NEVER took
part in himself! Where is his passion coming from if he wasn't fed such
prejudice early in his life? And Sam has promised to defile another young mind – his
son's! How does feeding his son half-truths help the boy understand Gambian
history? Demonstrably, Sam's own version of our history is one-tracked and
bereft of any context. Yet, this is the one he is vowing to teach his little
boy! Shouldn't truth matter in how we teach our children? No wonder lying has
become acceptable to so many of us.
On Dr. Manneh, again, it's more fumes than substance. Sam indicated that
someone had told him that the man is irascible, yet he sallied forth with the
allegation that Manneh's dirty looks at him were due to him speaking "… in a
language different from Mandinka" to Manneh. How did Sam Sarr deduce that
conclusion from Manneh's looks? A more probable explanation –given what people
told Sam, might be that the man is a pain in the behind. A rude fellow. Why
discount that in favor of tribal prejudice? Did Sam notice Manneh being all
smiles to those speaking Mandinka to him at the same time? But then again, Sam is
on a mission, and no incident is trivial enough for his purpose.
Dr. Manneh used to contest a Jokadu district, not a Badibu one. His district
is one of the most eclectic ones in rural Gambia. Sam should research the
ethnic makeup of Manneh's constituency. If I recall right, Dr. Manneh actually
won that seat as an Independent candidate after he was kicked out of the
PPP. Somehow, some people in that district –non Mandinka, must have liked what
he was doing for them.
On Dr. Manneh and Dr. Saho's qualifications, and the insinuation that unlike
one Haidara Ceesay, an impostor who was booted out of the Gambia College
Staff, (while Drs. Saho and Manneh were given a pass because they're Mandinka
people,) I can only talk about I know for a fact. In 1987, I was getting ready
to leave the Sixth Form. I was with an uncle at the Quadrangle when we bumped
into a friend of his named Kebba Dampha (NOT online KD,) a Mandinka fellow.
This man is from Saihou Sabally's area (who as Finance Minister at the time
championed his cause from what I understand.) That Kebba Dampha has lived in
London for a very long time. At the time, he claimed to have earned a Masters
Degree in something. Mr. Dampha was appointed "The Administrator Designate"
at the Central Bank of The Gambia. Kebba Dampha was fired faster than you can
count "one - two" when his verification came back negative! He had the
backing of Saihou Sabally, yet he was fired! Does Sam Sarr mean to
tell us that the Mandinka cabal didn't realize this Kebba Dampha is Mandinka
when they fired him? I've heard people raise doubts about Manneh and Saho's
qualifications. But the insinuation that they got away with fraud because
they're Mandinka is orphaned by the facts in similar cases. Unlike others, they
chose to run for political office instead of the Civil Service. My feeling is
the Civil Service was better equipped at ferreting out impostors than the
PPP Party machinery was. Many of their MPs didn't have much education, so it
is easy for an impostor (IF that's what Manneh and Saho are,) to blend in
without much trouble.
Sam's take on Sheriff Dibba, and why he quit the PPP and formed his "tribal"
party is also unsupported by the facts. Lets quote Sam directly: "Dibba a
Mandinka who was among the founders of the PPP when the party was called the
People's Protectorate Party had later broken away when it became the People's
Progressive Party and formed his own tribal party, the NCP, on the premise
that Jawara was not Mandinka enough and had betrayed his people to the Wolof.
There was no truth in it but the gullible fell for it as usual."
First, the PPP never competed an election under Protectorate People's Party.
Jawara prevailed on the founders in Basse to change the party name to
People's Progressive Party before the 1960 elections. Sheriff Dibba remained a
member of the PPP top tier (held posts of VP, various cabinet posts, as well as
Ambassador to EU) until mid-1975 when HE WAS FIRED by Jawara! Dibba DID NOT
resign voluntarily. And the NCP was not formed until late 1975. As such, Sam's
version of events is another concoction being spread by his Wolof Nationalist
types to stigmatize Mandinka people. The allegation that Dibba "…formed his
own tribal party, the NCP, on the premise that Jawara was not Mandinka
enough and had betrayed his people to the Wolof" is a complete fable! Classic
revisionism!
Having read his postings several times, I keep wondering why Sam Sarr is
going to such extent to portray what never was? It defies commonsense. Mandinka
folks had a rock-solid grip on Gambian governments for thirty years. They
could have discriminated against Wolof people any way they wanted. There was
absolutely nothing the Wolof could have done about it! But did they?
It's because of the paucity of time that, some of us have not delved into
the composition of the various PPP governments from 1962 to 1994. But clearly,
there is need for this - a look at every position from Divisional
Commissioner to Secretary General: who held the positions; for how long; what their
ethnicity is, etc. Perhaps that will finally do for us what commonsense has
failed to do: stop the unending fifty years-old Whisper Campaign of calumny that
some Ethnic Nationalists have been waging to distort what essentially is
Gambian history. As OJ once told me, Colony Wolof ought to "tone down their
criticism of the PPP because of what we did for them." He was talking about a
people who constitute less than 10% of the Gambia's population, yet constituted
the majority of ALL IMPORTANT positions in the various PPP governments. Yet,
some continue to cry victim. Victims of Mandinka tribalists. Sometimes, one
can't help but feel sick at what one hears, or reads. A little
gratitude would be in order. If truth be told, Mandinka people helped Colony
Wolof tremendously. What the Sam Sarrs call a "Wolof hegemony" was allowed
to flourish during the PPP era, NOT BEFORE. Before the PPP era, Aku speakers
were fully in charge. It was in fact the "tribalist" PPP Mandinka folks who
put Colony Wolof on top! This was one area where Jawara should be extolled.
If I had the time, I'd move from the empirical to the semi-professional by
taking a two-prong Cost-Benefit approach to the issue of what The Gambia as a
country lost as a result of Colony Wolof defeat in 1960, and what Wolofs as a
group lost from same election. Since this is unquantifiable, we can simply
rely on publicly verifiable data. But since I lack the time, I'd just
summarize it thus: had the Banjul Wolof won in 1960, they'd have put their own
"qualified people" in most important positions in government; had they won, they'd
have created institutions like The Gambia Commercial & Development Bank,
Gambia National Trading Corp, Gambia Utilities Corp, Gambia Public Works
Department, Gambia Ports Authority, Central Bank of the Gambia; Gambia Cooperative
Union, etc, etc. Guess what? The horrible Mandinka tribalist people call PPP
did exactly what Pierre Njie, or JC Fye, or Garba Jahumpa would have done! ALL
the new institutions were headed by mainly Wolof-speaking
Banjul people! Every single one of them! So where is the Tribalism beef?
Methinks, this is a great deal for any people who lost an election. You got
everything else you would have had you won. Isn't that consolation enough? Is
there any concession Mandinka people can make to Wolof Nationalists that
would assuage their resentment? What's this hatred about? Must you have people
wrapped around your fingers to feel relevant? I have no doubt in my mind that
this Mandinka hatred has to do with the fact that, they're the only people in
The Gambia who consistently stand up to Wolof Nationalists.
It is noteworthy that almost every single one of the new institutions I
cited was run into the ground. Nobody paid any real price for these crimes. I'm
sure in Jawara's thinking, pursuing them would have amounted to a "Mandinka
anti-Wolof hegemony" crusade. Whatever his thinking, he backed off that route.
Our country suffered tremendously because of what those Banjul people did.
But my bad, this is an Off-Limit topic. The Sam Sarr's have no complaints about
Jawara letting Banjul Wolof crooks bleed us dry, but they're mighty miffed
that Dr. Lamin Saho changed a silly Radio News Lineup. I was wondering what to
make of Sam's recommendation of Isatou Njie as Yaya Jammeh's replacement
until I read this latest outrage. That woman who passed along Yaya Jammeh's
Order To Shoot little kids is somehow good enough to rule the Gambia, but Dr.
Saho and Manneh are "filthy scam artists." If this is not a classic case of
using ethnicity as an instrument of bully, and coercion, I don't
know what is: "they hate us, and are criticizing us because we're Wolof",
"they won't vote for us we're Wolof", etc, etc. No Baba, "they" criticize
certain Wolofs because of their incompetence (which they try to hide behind their
ethnicity); "they" hate certain Wolofs because of their Beneatha attitude
(like in A Raisin In The Sun; ) and "they" don't vote for certain Wolofs
candidates because they're worse than the alternatives! How about a little growing
up?
So enough of this Western Artist-style neurotic, self-analytical, and
narcissistic behavior: "Mandinka people turned against Jawara because they hate
Wolof;" "Sheriff Dibba broke away because he hates Wolof;" "they don't speak
Wolof because they hate Wolof people;" etc. There is something incredibly
prepubescent about this mindset. It makes George Bush look like a genius. Who said
Mandinka lives revolve around Wolof hatred? What is to gain from that? The
one thing that we can all agree on about the last forty years is that the two
groups of people who cannot stay away from each other in The Gambia are
Mandinka men and Wolof women. Some hatred it must be.
And finally, on this persistent allegation that Mandinka politicians were
telling the "Mandinka masses" anti-Wolof puff on their campaigns, please let's
stop being Drum Majors for ignorance! Unlike any other Gambian party, the PPP
is a Bottom-Up party. It was FORMED BY THE MASSES who went shopping for
leaders! I discussed what pushed them to form their party. Does it therefore make
any sense that, these "masses" needed to be told why not to vote for Wolof
candidates who didn't care about them before they formed their own party?
Banjul Wolof had an ugly reputation that caught up with them in 1960 – period!
But instead of admitting that, we hear of this insulting, and patronizing
allegation from bold Story Tellers that the "Mandinka masses were told by 'scam
artists' that …" – as if that mattered at all in the scheme of things. If the
Mandinka candidates didn't utter a single word at all, they'd have been voted
in because of the alternative.
Did the Wolof candidates use similar language against the PPP? Let's assume
that they didn't. Yet Banjul Wolof people voted overwhelmingly for them! Why
should the behavior of other voters be interpreted any differently: Wolof
voters voted for their own WITHOUT being told WHO NOT to vote for, but somehow
Mandinka voters only voted for theirs because THEY WERE fed "tribal filth" by
the PPP. The mendacity of some people! The "Mandinka masses" that some people
heap scorn on, defied their own then-powerful Mandinka Chiefs (who ALL
supported Wolof Pierre Njie, something we don't hear from the Sam Sarrs,) to vote
for the PPP! But guess who else voted on ethnic lines? Colony Wolof people!
So what's the problem? Why are some singling out one segment for condemnation
in what was a classic Sectional election?
Another ridiculous story that is frequently peddled is the story that PPP
politicians told their supporters that they'll "take Wolof and Aku peoples'
storey buildings" away to give them. This is part of the reason why it is common
to see Wolof Nationalists walking around haughtily with an air of
superiority because of such asinine ideas in their heads. I was in Banjul in February
2007. Forget 1960. Excepting government buildings, there are still far less
than 200 storey buildings in the whole of Banjul! In February 2007, the
majority of the people who live in the Banjul I saw live in PLASTERED KIRINTING
houses! So where are the storey buildings that the hundreds of thousands of PPP
supporters were supposed to have been promised in 1960? It's one thing to
hear some nitwit senselessly repeat this kind of fable at some Attaya Vous, it's
quite another to read such garbage from so-called educated people. And this
story is told as if it is a caricature of the PPP leadership
when in fact, all it does is reveal the incredible obtuseness of the people
who continue to spread such improbable tales. How can the PPP leaders take
from Banjul Wolof and Aku what they don't have? Did a particular PPP politician
say something like that? Maybe. But was that a the major theme it's made out
to be? No!
**************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music.
(http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp003000000025
48)
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