Congratulations Gambia!
God visited the Gambia last week and rescued the people from 22 years of numbing servitude. Against all predictions that he would rather die than relinquish power, the man nicknamed “the Lagbaja of Gambia”, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Aziz Awal Jemus Junkung Jammeh Naasiru Deen Babili Mansa, uncharacteristically conceded defeat in his […]
God visited the Gambia last week and rescued the people from 22 years of numbing servitude. Against all predictions that he would rather die than relinquish power, the man nicknamed “the Lagbaja of Gambia”, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Aziz Awal Jemus Junkung Jammeh Naasiru Deen Babili Mansa, uncharacteristically conceded defeat in his country’s presidential polls.
His conqueror, Adama Barrow, was an unknown quantity six months ago. An estate agent who had picked himself up by his bootstraps, he now symbolises hope for the long-suffering people of the tiny West African country. He has his job cut out: rebuilding the economy, re-establishing the rule of law, winning back respect for his country.
The repression that Gambians endured for 22 years is difficult to imagine. Some years ago when I went to Banjul in the company of some other Nigerians, one of the first things our host told us that we should please not express any opinion about Jammeh, not even in private. Throughout our stay we saw ample evidence of why it was advisable to see no evil as, hear no evil and speak no evil. The country was one massive barrack and the commander of that barrack was Jammeh. Many of the young men in search of better life had become gigolos in the service of European women on sex tourism while their country’s president whose net worth was put at 2 billion dollars, acquired properties in the Middle-East and Eastern Europe.
Jammeh was the state – almost. Over the years, as he consolidated his hold on power, he added the spiritual dimension to the temporal power he exercised. He claimed to have esoteric powers and that he could cure cancer; he said he was a scholar, a Sheik. At a time, when his opponents queried the source of his wealth, he said he drew money from Allah’s bank which turned out to be Muamar Ghadaffi’s regular handouts. He further played the religious card on December 11, 2015, when he declared The Gambia to be an Islamic republic. He had actually become an emperor with dynastic intents.
What made Jammeh throw in the towel even before the formal announcement of the election results? Survival. The game was up. The people had simply had enough. The alternative this time was bloodshed. And then there was the spectre of ‘the Gbagbo treatment’, the fear of which had made Jammeh withdraws his country from the International Criminal Court, ICC.
Apart from stealing his country’s resources, Jammeh has also been alleged to be heavily involved in the illicit drug trade, arms deals and money laundering, using the high office he occupied to facilitate his crimes.
Last weekend, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Mrs Fatou Bensouda, delivered a lecture at her alma mater, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, where she received the Great Ife Global Award for Excellence in Law and Jurisprudence. The highly articulate lawyer declared that the days of despots were numbered, no matter the stratagems they orchestrated to evade justice. There can be no peace without justice, she said, noting that the only way people could achieve their full potentials in dignity was if they lived in an environment where the rule of law was respected.
There is so much anger in Gambia now that Barrow must appeal to the people not to go on a revenge binge against Jammeh and his acolytes. The last thing Africa needs now is another Rwanda. They have to pick up the pieces and rebuild their country, not turn against each other. That has been the appeal by social media activists since internet facilities which Jammeh has banned before the elections came back to life after his loss.
The defeat of an incumbent government as autocratic as Jammeh’s deserves to be celebrated. Africa is doing something right. Coming on the heels of such feats in Ghana and Nigeria, there is hope in the horizon. If we can strengthen our democratic institutions and hold our leaders accountable, there is a chance that we might be able to stem the tide of young people opting to embark on perilous voyages across the Mediterranean Sea to escape poverty and hopelessness at home. More than 10,000 Gambians have taken that option within the last one year alone.
US-based Nkem Ossai has been celebrating the Gambian miracle like many Africans in the Diaspora: “Something pleasantly elevating is stirring on the African continent, for sure! Hello, Western media! If President Yahya Jammeh does indeed hand over power to real estate mogul Mr. Adama Barrow, a definite trend in the direction of institution building and greater nurturing of a civil society culture would have been set in motion. And it’s a f- – -ing big deal (thanks, uncle Biden)! With the Gambia coming after Nigeria, back-to-back, it is a big deal!”
My Gambian friend who had endured so much oppression under Jammeh called shortly after the results were announced. He reminded me that Jammeh had told the nation that only Allah could remove him from office. “Well”, said my elated friend, “Allah has done it. Allahu Akbar”!
Congrats, Fatou and Badero
Congratulations to Mrs Fatou Bensouda, Dr. Olurotimi Badero and Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, worthy recipients of the Great Ife Global Award for Excellence, 2016 edition. Only the deep can call to the deep.