Our Abiding Interest


The Independent

EDITORIAL
October 15, 2001
Posted to the web October 15, 2001

Banjul, the Gambia

Behind the division, the impassioned rhetoric and the crossfire, one thing
remains constant, unaffected and undeniable our common and charming
identities as Gambians.

Behind the rivalries, insults, allegations and conflicting political
interests we are one and the same, united by our country's cause to believe
in itself, to survive and excel despite the doomsday theory of skeptics that
we are clinging to existence as a small, artificially contrived entity. We
are a unique breed of Africans who take pride in ourselves, our ambience of
peace and our collective drive to hold the nation together when all around
things are falling apart all around us.

Our abiding interest in democracy is being fed by the patriotic verve to
change the course of our history from that of a depraved nation to one
refreshed by the fresh and liberal air of politics, vibrant with the unique
social values which make us unconditional friends and buoyant with economic
activity that could lift our life.

Notwithstanding the gulf presented by the dissimilarities of our
politicians' programmes for national restitution and the attendant
clench-fist scenarios played by their supporters we in our Gambian
commonness need each other now than ever before when our political
locomotive is being greased and tested once again. It shouldn't be a serious
challenge to a nation that has tested and charted the democratic course for
many years since independence when our collective maturity did not go beyond
a simplistic understanding of politics.

We must know that politics should not invite war of fists and weapons but
set the stage for friendly debates and healthy rivalries for the majority's
approval.

We should pause to think of why politics should unify us as one closely-knit
family rather than divide us like the unmanageable rivalry of the fiery cat
and the dodgy mouse. Politics principally is not about enmity or open
antagonism or fistfights or insults or a chance to get rich nastily and
quickly. It is not to plunge us into the dark abyss of resource-plunder or
drive us into the tears for revenge over past wrongs. It is not an occasion
to spy on one's neighbour and report to some architects of terror. It is
something more honourable more fulfilling and more positive to harness our
individual will into a collective whole. It is about building the future by
sacrificing for it if necessary and making our streets glitter with gold if
possible. That is why the true import of politics is not as simple as the
effortless act of eating fufu. It is like sacrifice, which should readily be
an attribute of all Gambians burnished with patriotic zeal.

We should look to our five presidential candidates not as symbols of
division but as the epitomes of our different ideas to reach one undisputed
goal, which would do our motherland proud and make us stand tall among
neighbours and friends. Vote in peace and let Gambia shine in the armour of
our wisdom and courage.




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