Right Mr. Darboe. I did share a podium with Professor Gomez at last year's 
Chicago conference. When he persisted in repeatedly quiping about the need 
for Gambians to forget about politics, I couldn't resist the urge to shoot 
back that talk of forgeting about politics is nothing but empty polemics. I 
said exactly what you say here: that politics is the soil in which the seeds 
of national development are sown. The poorer the soil, the worse the 
harvest. And as you rightly say, by calling on Gambians to forget about 
politics, he is being very political himself. And I think he very well knows 
it. Talk about getting into the good books of those that matter for good 
business.

Baba


>From: Lamin Darbo <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list              
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Fw: Professor Gomez Challenges Gambians
>Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:54:29 +0100
>
>Mr Jallow:
>
>   No surprise whatsoever. Indeed I expected this kind of sycophancy at the 
>formal launch of Banutu Business College
>
>   I've read Ba Banutu-Gomez's exit interview with Gainako and the remarks 
>attributed to him in the instant article appears to be an extension of 
>views therein expressed, if implicitly.
>
>   By demanding that junkies de-emphasise "politics" for "national 
>development", he was being political himself. It is unbelievable that 
>supposedly learned people have such great difficulty in appreciating that a 
>lawless public environment is the functional equivalent of barren land in 
>its incapacity to promote growth, much less anything approximating 
>meaningful sustainability.
>
>   I know a Gambian who said his parents broke down when he informed them 
>he was returning home to make a living. As I understood it, the parents 
>were less concerned about the foreign exchange than about his personal 
>safety. That person has as good a potential as Ba Banutu-Gomez to make a 
>comfortable living in the Gambia
>
>   Who wants to see your child falsely accused, arrested, detained, 
>tortured, and may be killed - with impunity - for mere non-conformity to 
>the lawless political dogma of the Republic and its Great Leader?
>
>   Ba Banutu-Gomez shared a podium with Baba Galleh Jallow about this time 
>last year. I wonder if he told him about his impending book, and to at 
>least commit him to purchasing a copy. In my view, he is certainly not one 
>of Mandela's Other Children
>
>   As an informed observer of Gambian public affairs is wont to quip in the 
>context of readiness by many to dine at the table of atrocity, we are light 
>years away from prime time readiness.
>
>   How sad!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>   LJDarbo
>
>
>
>
>
>Abdoulie Jallow <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>   All power and blessings of the lord to you Prof. Gomez. You are doing a
>noble deed indeed for fellow Gambians and I pray to the Almighty Allah to
>pave a smooth path for your success in this endeavor. Your challenge is
>heard loud and clear, but conscience, experience and circumstance dictates
>yours truly to see you through for some time. Skepticism has taken the
>better part of me on this one prof. sorry but no thanks for now. I'd rather
>be away and support your call in various forms including specific help to
>your students. Just let us know when you set up Online Classes. I
>can certainly venture 3-4 early hours of some of my mornings with your
>students to share the little experiences i've had in life from my safe,
>free, fair and hassle-free abode.
>
>And what is it that you think politics is all about? Do you think there can
>be any meaningful risk taking for development without the right political
>environment? Just curious.
>
>God be with you prof and I wish you every success in your endeavor.
>
>-Laye
>
>======================================================================================================
>
>
>Professor Gomez Challenges Gambians
>Thursday 23rd August 2007
>
>By Abba A.S. Gibba & Ya Sainey Gaye
>
>Professor Ba Banutu-Gomez, the proprietor of the newly built Bantu Business
>College, has called on all Gambians outside The Gambia to stop focusing on
>politics, and instead focus on developing the country regardless of any
>political ideology one may have, adding that if the country is the centre 
>of
>our hearts and thinking, we can work together even though we may have
>different political ideologies.
>
>On the occasion of the inauguration of the College, Professor Bantu-Gomez
>said, "It is indeed expensive to invest on quality education, but we feel
>The Gambia deserves a quality business college to help citizens better 
>their
>lives and their families".
>
>"I challenge any Gambian, if you care about your own people, your own
>country, then you should come back and invest in your own country, not only
>in education but in any form.
>
>"It's with great pleasure that I am finally ready to return home and engage
>in national development and sustainability at this stage in the history of
>our beloved country, The Gambia. I feel energized, excited and more
>committed than ever, to return home and work directly with my fellow
>citizens. This great opportunity for me and my wife has served as a 
>variable
>for motivation to return home," he added.
>
>He made this statement at the grand opening ceremony of Banutu Business
>College at Lamin village, Kombo North.
>
>Professor Banutu-Gomez revealed that Banutu Business College "plans for
>Academic year 2005 to 2009 is to enter the education market and offer
>Bachelor of Science Degree in all the disciplines in our programmes. By the
>academic year 2009 to 2010 we will offer Masters Degrees and PhD Programmes
>here in The Gambia," he added.
>
>"We believe in marrying and theory and practice and Banutu Business College
>is a Teaching and Research college. Banutu Business College is being
>established to provide quality business education based on North American
>Education, for students in The Gambia," he stated.
>
>He revealed that the college would initially embark on Diploma, Advanced
>Diploma and Associate of Science Degrees in the following subjects:
>Leadership and Management, Accounting, Office Administration, Finance and
>Banking, Human Resources Management, Tourism Management, Management
>Information Systems, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Sales, Public
>Administration, Gender Business Development, Economics, and International
>Business.
>
>In conclusion, Professor Gomez called on all foreign embassies to work with
>them to assist their students and faculty for Visas when the need arises 
>for
>them to attend academic conferences or to present research papers.
>
>いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L 
>Web interface
>at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
>
>To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: 
>http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
>To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
>[log in to unmask]
>いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
>
>
>
>---------------------------------
>  For ideas on reducing your carbon footprint visit Yahoo! For Good this 
>month.
>
>いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L 
>Web interface
>at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
>
>To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: 
>http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
>To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
>[log in to unmask]
>いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい

_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE! 
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい