BY PA NDERRY M'BAI
The much talked about "oil discovery" in The Gambia is now buried in the
Atlantic ocean, as there is no indications that the said oil will be mined
under dictator Yahya Jammeh's rule.

WE DONT WANT A REPEAT OF
THE THE NIGERIAN CRUDE OIL
GIFT.  A WORD OF CAUTION!!!!
Jammeh's repeated promises that mining will start before year end in 2004
had never been fulfilled.  We are now in 2005-heading to 2006.  The Banjul
oil is all about political propaganda spear headed by Yahya Jammeh and his
cohorts.

From the day one, we knew that that the desperate president was using the so
called "oil discovery" to fool Gambian voters. He even got the guts to
appear before a National Television to demonstrate a mini disc purportedly
featuring the sites where the oil was discovered.  Mr.President, what
happened to the said oil mini disc?  Did you throw it in the Atlantic ocean?
  Stop messing with Gambians.  We are too intelligent to be fooled.

Mining oil requires money and resources, which your government lacked.  At
the moment there are no funds to attract "serious miners."  Our treasury
which should finance such economic ventures, had been squandered by your
very self and some people in government.  Millions  of dalasis are still
unaccounted for at the Central Bank.

While your regime is faced with growing inflation and unemployment rate,
more poverty stricken citizens are dying on daily bases due hunger related
problems.  Diseases such as malaria and HIV/aids are on the rise.  There is
urgent need to tackle these problems now to avoid further deaths.

Knowing Jammeh's bad historic records on crude oil deals, Gambians and
friends of The Gambia are sceptical about the president's sincerity in
making the Gambia an oil exporting nation.

Firstly, they cited the late "Abacha and the  current Nigerian president
Obasanjo's crude oil gifts to the Gambia".  Funds amounting to millions of
US dollars, meant for economic advancement for The Gambia, later landed in
Swiss private bank accounts and Ruling APRC election projects.

The interesting thing about Jammeh is that he behave as if he owns The
Gambia and her people.  He collects economic funds in the name of The
Gambia, without informing the National Assembly and his cabinet. Such funds
are not easily accountable,  since people giving out the funds never
bothered to involve our rubber stamp National Assembly.

Reading the Daily Observer today, Jammeh was quoted shortly after his
arrival from his Brazilian trip as saying"any oil exploration deal with any
company will have to be in conformity with the Gambia Petroleum Policy,
which stipulates amongst other things that the larger share of oil
exploration revenue goes to the people of The Gambia."

Mr.President, if your statement is to go by, then  we challenge you to
explain the whereabouts of the crude oil funds derived from the Federal
Republic of Nigeria in 1996 and 2003. You are good at hiding under the name
of impoverished nation The Gambia to pursue your own economic interest.

The Brazilian government and any other government interested in helping The
Gambia to mine the said oil should be mindful about any moves by the current
administration to use the "oil discovery" to enrich themselves.  We don't
want funds to be collected in the name of The Gambia to mine oil without
making any serious efforts in that direction.

The Nigerian crude oil deal should serve as a wake up call for Gambians and
the World at large. What we have in The Gambia today is a regime interested
in enriching themselves over night.  From the president to the last man in
his cabinet are running private businesses.  They used Gambian entrepreneurs
as under-covers to perpetrate their shady business schemes.

As far we are concerned here at "AllGambian" the oil discovery is not a knew
thing.  It was part of the deposed PPP's  administration plans to attract
potential miners.

For some reasons, some misguided soldiers hiding in the name of tackling
corruption halted the program in 1994, when Jammeh and his fellow coupists
toppled the Jawara era.  The records are there to speak for itself.  A
civilian regime under Jawara will better manage any oil for The Gambia
better than the APRC government.

Today our nation is at cross roads.  While we are being hunted by economic
and political uncertainties, Jammeh is telling the world that he is ready do
whatever it takes to continue to rule The Gambia.  Even though, he is not
delivering the goods as a head of state he believes that he is the right
person to rule The Gambia.

Politics of oil should be set aside for now.  Gambians want to see an end to
the current economic and political uncertainties hitting the West Africa
country. We want Yahya Jammeh to tell us where he put monies he collected
from the Taiwanese government in the name of campaigning for them at the
United Nations.  We are also demanding an explanation from Yahya about his
Moroccan hotel resorts.


The Gambia with a population of less than four million people, our country
is still faced with electricity and water crisis.  Taiwanese funds to
purchase new generators for The Gambia were diverted by the government to
buy run out generators.  These generators are currently grounded for
mechanical problems.

People living in the Greater Banjul Area are living without light. Private
and public institutions are closing down due to lack of electricity.   The
only place enjoying 24 hours uninterrupted electricity and water supply
today in The Gambia is Kanilai, president Jammeh's home village.

The unfair distribution of the national cake, which he Yahya  Jammeh had
been talking about on the side of the PPP administration was nothing but
lies and deception.  We are witnessing the worst today.

He appointed his own people in key government positions.  Jammeh openly
practice tribalism and nepotism.  He's on record for having said that the
"Mandingka tribe" will not rule The Gambia in the next thousand years.  This
statement is not only an insult to the Mandingkas but also to entire
Gambians.

Politics of tribalism started to come into play  under Jammeh's rule and not
the PPP regime. The few  Mandingkas who allowed to be used by Jammeh are
today reduced as laughing stock.  What happened to the likes of Baba K Jobe,
Momodou Bojang, Lang Conteh and the rest.?  The same people were campaigning
for Jammeh-asking there fellow tribe men to support the 'kanilai mansa"

Now that things have fallen apart Jammeh want to blame Mandingkas for his
own predicament. Forgetting that he Jammeh, derives his political support
mainly from the Mandingkas, Fulla and Wolof groupings, he is today
discriminating against these tribes.  We are against tribalism in all it
forms.  But the reality is that tribalism do exist in The Gambia.

Back to the much talked about oil discovery, we are asking Jammeh to stop
day dreaming.  We need a realistic, dedicated and honest president and not
the types of Yahya Jammeh bent on exploiting our impoverished nation.  Our
position is that Yahya Jammeh is not capable of mining oil for The Gambia.
We call it yet "another attempt by Jammeh to explore new means to exploit
Gambians in the name of so called oil discovery."  Time will tell.  We rest
our case.

_________________________________________________________________
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