(JollofNews) – I have never felt closer to the Gambian cause for liberty, justice and freedom than I do tonight. In my 15 years of walking amongst and talking with Gambians of all political, tribal and religious affiliations, the overriding truth of such a voyage of discovery was that Gambians do have an identity that sets them apart and above, the negative forces that have set other parts of Africa on fire.
The Gambian is a remarkable species of human kind that is born to accept suffering and poverty as easily as most people wear a suit of clothes. Yet within their daily struggles for survival, they are willing to share whatever little another hard day has provided as sustenance. I have had the privilege to happily share a loaf of bread with many Gambians. I say these things not out of patronage but out of respect. The English share far more with Gambians than just bread. Our poorest communities carry the same genuine people, who know a thing or two about poverty. But while the English emerged from the deprivation of the Second World War with only debt and food stamps, somehow we were able to create a nation worth the struggle.
I have lived to see all that and when I visited the Gambia, it brought me back to those hard but happy times I knew as a child. It was my home coming. Some people become bitter throughout there lifetime at being so under-privileged as a child. Wealth and riches, power and fame never seems to change these people. They wear a grudge against everyone. The hardship was never softened by a mother and father’s love and as they grow older, they become angrier and less in tune with maturity and its needy responsibilities. During school, they became the bullies of the schoolyard. Through adolescence, they became lawless. In adulthood, they show abundant discrimination and often become violent. Their communication skills are littered with foul language that is so offensive to delicate ears. But thankfully, they are indeed rare. Time and distance never changes them. In the end, they fade and wither amongst a sea of disillusionment. Forever abandoned, lonely and forgotten.
If you know such a person, forgive him for he knows not what he does.
