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> From: Modou Jallow <[log in to unmask]>
> To: GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List
<[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Sierra Leone and west Africa (fwd)
> Date: Monday, February 16, 1998 12:42 AM
>
> Gambia-L,
>
> I wish to share the following response by Dr. Sulayman Nyang. I hope that
> you find reading it worthwhile.
>
> Thanks to all who responded, either privately or on this list.
>
> Regards,
> Moe S. Jallow
> ***********************************************************************
>
> > Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 12:45:09 -0500 (EST)
> > From: Sulayman  Nyang <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: Modou Jallow <[log in to unmask]>
> > Subject: Re: Sierra Leone and west Africa
> > In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
>
> From: [log in to unmask]
>
> Thanks for your message informing us about the state of affairs in Sierra
> Leone. I think Gambians should show interest in the state of affairs in
> Sierra leone. I can give five reasons why we should show interest and
> concern. The first reason is that many Gambians and persons of Gambian
> descent now see Sierra leone as their adopted homeland.This Gambian
> diaspora in Sierra leone is usually associated with our Serahuli
> clansmen,but the Gambian presence is more diverse than that. The second
> reason is that many Gambians are of Sierra Leone origin. The Krio (Aku)
in
> the Gambia originated in Sierra Leone. The decision of Lt. Governor
> Rendall in the early 1800's to bring many Krios into the newly
> created Bathurst settlement (now called Banjul) paved the way for the
Krio
> factor in Gambian history.Many Gambians have relatives and in-laws from
> this important community of Gambians.Their contributions to Gambian
> society range from the Agugu (Yoruba:Egungun), fufu and Akara to the
Asobi
> and Osusu. There are many other things to list. To do justice to the
> subject one may have to write an essay on Gambian-Sierra Leonean
Relations
> in the Age of European Colonization. The third reason why Gambians should
> show interest in Sierra Leone is that the peoples of Sierra Leone are
part
> ofthe West Sudan civilizations. Their ethnic groups are related to other
> Gambian ethnics. The Mende, the Yalunka, the Sherbro, the Susu and the
> Mandingo of that country are cousins to our people of the mande-speaking
> group of West Africa. The same is true of the Fula, the Krio and the
> Temne.The fourth reason why the Gambians should show interest in the
state
> of affairs in Sierra Leone lies in the common  regional destiny that
seems
> to lump all the West African states in a circle of military violence. The
> late Kwame Nkrumah warned the Africans of his generation to avoid the
> pitfalls of disunity. He wrote and I quote from memory: " If we fail to
> unite Africa will be plunged into the same condition as Latin America is
> after one hundred years of political independence...We will be victims
and
> martyrs of neocolonialism." What the Ghanaian leader was saying is that
> the military coup detat would become as common place in Africa as it was
> (then) in Latin America. Africans should study the history of coup detats
> in Latin America and identify the factors and forces responsible for the
> elimination of the military coup detat in that hemisphere's political
> life. Since the Gambians have also gone through the agony of a military
> coup, it would be politically naive not to think the unthinkable. once
> upon a time the Sierra leoneans thought that the political volcano
> rocking other African states could not destabilize their peaceful way of
> life. Those who are seriously interested in the stability of the region,
> cannot ignore the threat to regional and local peace in any of the
> countries. The fifth and last reason why Gambians should pay attention to

> the state of affairs in Sierra Leone, lies in the fact that Sierra Leone
> has set many precedents for Africa. Let me list a few of them for your
> reflection and comment.The first precedent from the land the Portuguese
> called Sierra Leone, took place in 1967, when the late Siaka Stevens was
> elected to replace Prime Minister Albert Margai. This was certainly
> unprecedented in African politics . It took place at a time when the
> single party system was the order of the day.Since then the Sierra Leone
> example has been followed only in Mauretius and Zambia.The second
> precedent is the fact that the military in Sierra Leone carried out a
coup
> detat and returned Siaka Stevens back to power, following the coup detats
> of Lansana Musa and  Commander Juxson Smith respectively. The third
> precedent from Sierra Leone is the fact that this is the only African
> country whose civilian president decided to groom a military officer to
> succeed him.This is the Stevens-Momoh deal which blurred the lines of
> demarcation between the civilian politicians and the military
> establishment in Sierra leone. If the Nigerian forces dislodged the
ruling
> junta in Freetown, Sierra leone would set another political precedent in
> Africa. Here we witness an unprecedented spectacle of one military force
> taking action against another in the name of restoring civilian rule in
> Sierra Leone. What is unprecedented is the fact that the the
> democratically elected civilian ruler to be restored is being restored by
> an external force (Nigeria)at a time when that very military power is the
> target of pro-democracy forces in Nigeria and elsewhere. The Nigerian
> intervention is certainly not unprecedented.The activities of the
> Senegalese army in the Gambia , following the Kukoi Samba Sanyang
> abortive coup detat in July 1981 and the French army in the restoration
of
> Gabonese President Leon Mba in 1963 provide interesting constrasts for
> students of African politics. I hope you will find this informative and
> provocative.Let me hear from you.
> Sulayman S. Nyang
> Howard University
>
>
>