Mr Sey,
I am very much interested in the issues you are dealing with under the above
mentioned caption, but I have not been able to access the original text you
are reacting to. I would be most grateful if you or anyone else so placed
kindly help to enable me access the said text.
Thanks.
Omar Joof.


>From: ESSA BOKARR SEY <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
>To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>CC: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: [>-<] Re:THOSE WHO PRESUMABLY MISSED THE 26 LETTERS-AILING
>'PAPER-POLITICS'
>Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2003 16:31:52 -0800 (PST)
>
>
>In The Gambia and in other places in modern day Africa there is a major
>challenge when it comes to politics and our streets,schools and other
>related institutions and so on.For many so-called 'paper-politicians' being
>illiterate means  one isn't able to convince or be convinced
>politically.This  is indeed  part of the challenges for all those who claim
>to play a part in politics back home.Another problem is the feeling driven
>by "stereotyping" or "tagging",many analysts or critics are suffering from
>the above abstract drugs.
>
>The art of communication or any other skill that leads one to becoming a
>shrewd politician cannot be done in stagnant positions or being obsessed on
>prejudice or personal interpretations that we receieve from private
>calls,mails,gossippings or the god father syndrome ie when Mr X says so
>about him or her then it is obvioulsy true.In politics that is
>false.Politics should be production-oriented and not
>portfolio-oriented.Having been passing class room exams is not the least
>the smae as having succeeded in applying a method and achieved
>results.Classes recall pass methods and or sometime associate present
>happenings with hypothesis thus come up with recommendations.These
>recommendations do either fail or succeed.
>
>WHO IS AN ILLITERATE AND WHO IS NOT? COMBINING THE ROLES OF THE 'LETTEREDS'
>AND THE 'UNLETTEREDS' THE BEST BET OR NOT?
>
>The above questions are a challenge to many particularly those of us from
>communities that have what researchers call high illietracy rate.The
>current statistics in The Gambia say that we have 70% or even more! Ok if
>that is the case let's ask ourselves these questions:Who is illletrate and
>who is not? Should illiterates not talk and be talked to when national
>development poses a challenge? The art of communication from time
>immermorial to date has never discriminated people because they are not
>lettered.
>
>When we revisit the archives it is obvious that it was not long ago that
>degrees,certificates and other measurements-paper-wise started affecting
>our lives per se.Who can tell me what Galeleo's degree was? Did Einstein
>achieve a doctorate degree? I am a friend to one of his grand daughters and
>she said that grand father was a school drop out some time in history! True
>or false he is a genius that the world can neverr forget.
>
>Bill Gates was obvioulsy a school drop out!Are we not using the internet
>now?!
>
>What was Sundiata Keita's degree? What was Latdior's degree? Didn't Sekou
>Toure give sanctuary to Dr Nkruma when he was ejected from power?
>
>Alphabets are not western and only western not at all.History has reserved
>the teachings we inherited from strong civilisations.The following do come
>to our minds in that regard ie;
>
>Egypt-Hyroglyphics,the inheritence of pythagoras theorem(see Cheikh Anta's
>Egyptology and other findings from renowned scholars)
>
>Arabic-(see the Egyptian museum and the one in Bagdad)
>
>Israel-Hebrew
>
>China-Chinese alphabet(based on sounds and not signs)
>
>All these civilisations have literaru scholars who wrote volumes and
>volumes of  texts and are well known within the arena of both social and
>phycal sciences.
>
>Let say the ancient Egyptian's hyroglyphics were being used and history has
>thought us mathematics existed there well before the 26 letters(the English
>Alphabet came to existence).Where those Egyptians illietrates? Not at all!
>Well...i wonder if they were not going to be branded or tagged so,if they
>were to meet some of us in Lancarster Street or somewhere in Mombasa?!
>
>If one visits the Madrid museum in Spain the first thing that greets any
>tourist are the paintings of Goya(a well known spanish painter).Goya and
>others might not have been that lettered but they expressed their feeling
>and understanding of societal matters through those images.Well back in
>form one we remember when Adu Boahen and other Ghanain historians thought
>us that images were used for communication and not alphabets.Infact it was
>the ancient society that studied,expanded it's mind and then produced what
>we use today to describe everything.Evolution brought us all these
>alphabets.Modern day intellectuals did not also hesitate to swim through
>'arrogance' thus called those  who left these alphabets for us
>here:Prehistoric men and women who did not know how to live.There are two
>different notions for some of us.Certain serious historians use words like
>prehistoric to study time and development.There are others who use that to
>show how modern we are and how retarded our fo!
>re
>  fathers were! Development through time is not the same as being stagnant
>and premitive.
>
>Has anyone witnessed where modern intellectuals were able to come up with a
>new alphabet? I have not seen that yet! We are using the left overs and at
>the same time attempting to ridicule that.
>
>The role of illiterates in our society is far more important than we think.
>
>Let's take Gambia as an example,many of our scholars who studied arabic are
>considered illiterates?! That is absolute nonsense.We are  missing a lot
>when it comes to what these people can do to help us develop society.Not
>all those used the arabic to study were products of islamic madrassas.There
>are some that i know who used arabic to study agriculture,botany and so
>forth.People like Momodou Lamin Yaffa are bright examples.Yaffa has proven
>to be one of the most successful shcolars after having completed his
>educationla career and he speaks fluent arabic.Yaffa later on studied
>french and served as interpreter at the then ministry of external
>affairs.Some people call arabic scholars back home "ustazz"that is also
>false.In arabic there is a big differenc between the word "ustazz" and
>"mu'alimm".Ustazz is higher in context because it means professor.But back
>home "ustazz" is termed as someone who is just half-baked form the
>"da'rah".These scholars can help us carve an pproach t!
>hat can
>  merge statute lwas with customary ones and work with the statusquo
>through a lot of other cultural and traditional values.The role of the
>curriculum development in this confusion that has been caused by wrong
>analysis? To be treated next....
>
>When will we think of creating our own symbols and alphabets instead of
>ridicluing people because they were not able to repeat ABCDE....
>
>To be continued...
>
>Indian-Hindu,urdu etc etc
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Think before you sink!
>"Pessimists see difficulty in every opportunity and optimists see an
>opportunity in every challenge"
>"Suits cannot be made without scissors and niddles,so decent minds disagree
>to agree"
>
>---------------------------------
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