(JollofNew) – Abdoulie Sey was a former Editor-in-chief of the now closed Independent Newspaper in the Gambia. He is based in Dakar, Senegal, where he works as editor of Agence Press Africaine (APA).
Who is Mr. Abdoulie Sey?
A quiet, reflective human being who lives life without a timetable.
When were you happiest?
In childhood, holding hands with that first love – M
What is your greatest fear?
The future, fraught with uncertainties.
What is your earliest memory?
As a young boy feeling vulnerable right in the middle of a herd of cows.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
My voice, not deep enough.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Their smells.
What was your most embarrassing moment?
When paraded in school assembly for slapping a teacher.
What is the most expensive thing you’ve bought?
The complete works of Shakespeare.
What is your most treasured possession?
My children.
What would your superpower be?
God.
What is your favourite smell?
The scent of a novel idea, whatever that means.
If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose?
My childhood.
What is the worst thing anyone’s said to you?
“You deserve nothing but death” – while in detention [at the NIA headquarters in Banjul], 2003.
Have you ever said “I love you” and not meant it?
I do not trust that phrase.
Which living person do you most despise, and why?
I do not have it in my heart to despise.
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
My childhood sweetheart, her name begins with the letter M.
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
Kono Spark Road, Sierra Leone.
Which word do you most overuse?
OK.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
My inability to read Arabic.
How do you relax?
Idle evening walks around my village.
What is the closest you’ve come to death?
1989, almost at the end of a loaded pistol I stole from a close cousin to satisfy an early curiosity with guns
What single thing would improve the quality of your life? –
Confidence.
What is your greatest achievement?
Bringing children to this world.
What keeps you awake at night?
The right words to use for my thoughts the next day.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Faces don’t usually mean what they show.
Is it better to give or receive?
One can’t go without the other, since you have to receive first before you are in a position to give.
Which living person do you most admire?
Wole Soyinka, says at the right time the right thing that’s in everybody’s mind.
How would you like to be remembered?
Sweet, even-tempered and easy to please.
This article was first published in 2013.
