Culled From The Point...

Good Morning,
Mr President

Mr. President, we were amazed by your pronouncements in Qatar during your
brief stop-over there. At first, we criticised the journalist for failing to
be up to the task; he just threw "easy" questions and got you deliberate in
the most simplistic manner on some far-reaching issues that needed some
expertise. But later, we saw the game of the journalist. Take the solution
of the Israeli crisis.

You told him that the Ummah should come together and tell Israel that the
Palestinians have a right to their land. That easy? Not quite, as you
earlier mentioned something like "Israel's military might". And we may add
intransigence. So, you think that Bill Clinton didn't want to leave power
without a legacy such as a final peace settlement between Israelis and the
Palestinians? So, as a young president, it seems you think that you
know-it-all when it comes to problems resolution. For Casamance, Guinea
Bissau, Sierra Leone, Iraq, it seems that you think the world was waiting
for your magic wand to send all these problems into thin air.

Back to the Qatari journalist, following your call for the unity of the
Ummah, do you remember the question he rolled in? It was the one dealing
with diplomatic relations with Israel. Do you know why? Maybe your
technicians will tell you. Imagine the reactions of the Qatari viewers.
Listening to your replies, lack of debriefing sessions with your aides
seemed obvious. Before the US elections, and after the elections, the
out-going Clinton administration fought tooth and nail to resolve the issue
or at least create a framework to further positive exploration without
success.

But you sounded like the man who could dissipate all the clouds. What is
lacking in Gambian diplomacy is the mastering of dossiers, wit and
imagination. Our title for this piece is Kula Maag Oppa La Sagarr,
knowledge, experience and wit must be sought by young presidents like you.
One should not just project oneself as knowing it all. One learns in all
humility over the years to make a great difference. We have not seen you
take that approach since you took over the reigns of power in this country.

What we have always seen is a projection that gives a dreaded picture; a
picture that expels trust and confidence. Recently you told the nation:
"Nobody knows The Gambia better than me. I can tell you all what is going to
happen in the country for the next 10 years." It is not too late to learn
that when one governs one is expected to be human in all the sense of the
word; to project humility for having been given an honnour many could have
performed, an open heart, compassion, a sense of caring, fair-play and
justice and eagerness to learn. We hope that the dogmatism you display would
become a thing of the past, for, should that be the case, you would be
gathering more 'sagarrs' that could help you in your job as president of the
people of The Gambia.

Dialogue With Students
The news that students of Fatima have been expelled is bad news in the
present context of students/authorities relations. We are still grappling
with the aftermath of the April 10 11 demonstrations with government's claim
that it favours a healing process to deal with the matter. And now we are
told that State Guards entered Fatima school and used force against the
students. It seems that in The Gambia, the rule of law will never obtain in
the country. One issue that government must innovate is the way it handles
students matters for these are delicate as can be verified in other places.

Government needs to engage in a sincere dialogue with students so as to
minimise the incidence of conflicts with them. We say minimise because there
will always be frictions as it obtains elsewhere in the world as Gambian
students cannot be the last of students of the world in terms of
enlightenment. One other issue that government needs to urgently deal with
is the security aspect. Campuses and schools are never invaded by army
personnel. Students are not an invading army. The law provides for the
police to deal with the protection of property and law and order; so the
army has no place in these matters.

The population is also alarmed by the news of the army killing alleged drug
pushers at least on two occasions in the last two weeks or so. The news that
the parents of the expelled students were invited to a meeting is
encouraging in that it provides an avenue to resolve the issue in a amicable
manner. The authorities should grab the chance to rescind the decision to
expell the students in furtherance of a peaceful atmosphere in our student
body.

Government has to prove that it values its pronouncements for a healing
process for had there not been an April 10 and 11 demonstrations the
students of Fatima wouldn't have made the move. That's a simple arithmetic
jigsaw. The decision of the board need not be discussed in these columns but
suffice it to say a wrong cannot correct a wrong. Reinstate the students of
Fatima in the spirit of the great name of the school and the message of
peace it gives to the world.

_________________________________________________________________
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