Dear friends,
Over the past few days, we have had a heated debate over the legitimacy of the Gambia Press Union and the extent to which it is representative of Gambian media and journalists in the United States. The debate has, naturally, led to some angry exchanges from both those who feel that the GPU-USA is okay as is, and those who feel that they are not fully represented. Indeed, each side is making claims to being in the right. Such is the nature of any conflict situation. Wars are fought because each party feels that they are in the right. And sometimes, it is the fact that both parties have legitimate reasons to take up arms against the other. Where compromise solutions that accomodate the parties to a conflict are worked out, a ceasefire ensues. Where compromise solutions are not found and each party sticks to its own version of right, the conflict drags interminably on, leading to severe losses on all sides. I pray that we should find a compromise solution and move on.
That said, I also thought to myself yesterday that Yahya Jammeh must be laughing happily in his sofa, tapping his belly, gleefully munching his dark cheeks, and saying loudly to his crooning cronies: 'You just wait and see what happens to them. They are calling for my destruction but now they will all be destroyed because I am not their equal. etc. etc.' He would be thinking that his marabouts or his demons have succeeded in smashing us all so hard that we are now madly knocking our heads together, exchanging angry words, and tearing each other's throats. He must be gloating over us. Our current discussion reminds me of some lines in a song by Ifang Bondi which says: Allah kanang faa njaw la lunnah. Ning Allah yeng faa njaw la lunnah njaw saa foleh nhang na wulo faa. The artist begs God not to kill him on his enemy's day. If God kills him on his enemy's day his enemy will say 'I have killed my dog.'
True, we do have some issues to iron out. And it is great that we are trying to iron them out. But in doing so, I beg you all not to lose sight of the bigger and more important picture. We all have a common enemy, a common task, a common goal whose achivement is a strong enough motive to help us all swallow our individual and collective grievances and pool our resources in the interests of our dear motherland. I therefore humbly appeal to all Gambian journalists to please let by-gones be by-gones, forgive each others trespasses, and forge a solid common front in the interest of our dear motherland.
To those of you who have felt that they were sidelined, please rest assured that whenever the GPU-USA acted, it acted in all good faith and in furtherance of the goals we all share. There has never been any calculated attempt to keep anyone out. We may have differing opinions, but I pray that we learn to agree to disagree. After all, that is all what the democratic culture we advocate is for.
Please let us pool our resources together, let our voices be heard in a civil manner, and let us set our sights firmly on ending the tyranny that is oppressing us and our innocent nation back home. We are all fighting the same war against impunity, against the violations of our God-given rights, against despotism. We are all in the trenches together, each doing their very best wherever they are, at every moment of day to help bring peace and freedom to our country. We are all fellow journalists, fellow victims of a despotic regime we will not let consficate our liberties. We are all Gambian brothers and sisters. And we are all practising Muslims and Christians. For all these reasons I appeal to us all: Please cease fire. Let us unite and move on, respecting our differences but keeping the prize squarely in our sights. God bless you all.
I thank you all.
Baba
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