Gambia: The Foundation of Dictatorship

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Toyin Falola

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Jan 27, 2020, 6:53:32 AM1/27/20
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Before our very eyes, the post-Jammeh leadership of Gambia is laying the foundation of Jammeh-like autocracy. If the citizens don’t rise up to this new challenge, they will experience serious political problems in the years to come.

TF

 

 

Subject: Gambia government press release
Reply-To: Community of Gambianist Scholars <COMMUNITYOFGAM...@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU>

Gambia government press release below:

 

Office of The Gambia Government Spokesperson

 

The Gambia Government Bans ‘Operation 3-Years Jotna’ with Immediate Effect

 

 Press Release Dated: Sunday 26th January, 2020

 

Banjul, The Gambia—The Gambia Government renders Operation 3-Years Jotna, a subversive, violent and Illegal Movement and hereby bans the movement from ever operating within the shores of The Gambia. 

 

Members of the public are hereby notified that in fact, the Jotna Movement was never legally registered but Government in exercise of its openness and adherence to the democratic rights of citizens, allowed them to operate so long as their activities were consistent with the law.

 

Tonight, The Gambia Government wishes to inform citizens, members of the public, the Diplomatic and Consular Corps that Operation 3-Years Jotna is rendered a subversive, violent and an Illegal Movement that has all the attributes of a subversive group determined to illegally unseat the constitutionally elected Government of President Adama Barrow and is therefore, banned forthwith.

 

Therefore, citizens and businesses or other groups and entities that are seen to be aiding and abetting the activities of this illegal Movement masquerading as a Pressure Group are warned to immediately seize their relationship(s). Henceforth, any person, Radio Station, business or group that chooses to do business with Operation 3-Years Jotna and or promote their agenda will be in violation of this pronouncement and will face severe consequences.

 

The Gambia Government also announces the suspension of Brikama-based Home Digital FM and Tallinding Kunjang-based King FM radio stations pending the outcome police investigations that these stations violated their licenses. Government notes with concern that the two FM stations have demonstrated notoriety for peddling incendiary messages and allowed their media to be used as platforms for inciting violence, fear-mongering and live broadcasts urging Gambians to join Jotna demonstrators all calculated to threaten the security and safety of The Gambia. 

 

Meanwhile, Pa Modou Bojang, the Proprietor of Brikama-based Home Digital Fm and Mr. Gibbi Jallow, the Manager of King FM are helping the Police in their investigations. The Gambia Government urges all citizens and members of the public to stay away from these stations. 

 

The Gambia Government also announces that police have arrested some 137 people among them, Executive members. Some are in hiding while others are attempting to flee the jurisdiction. Regional Governors, Chiefs and local district authorities are urged to report any suspects to the nearest police station and the public is warned that it is a violation of the law to harbor any fugitives from justice. 

 

The Gambia Government regrets to report that while there were no fatalities, some people sustained non-life threatening injuries among them 18 paramilitary officers and 7 civilians, most of whom have since been discharged. 

 

Accordingly, The Gambia Government urges all citizens and residents to remain calm and law abiding as the situation is under total control. The audio messages and false reports trending on social media about fatalities is all propaganda as not a single person died during today’s demonstration. 

 

Signed,

 

Ebrima G Sankareh

 

The Gambia Government Spokesperson

Bayo Omolola

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Jan 27, 2020, 12:43:19 PM1/27/20
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I doubt if President Adama Barrow will want to dance with a tiger. The lessons from President Yahaya Jammeh's political and leardership flaw should still be fresh in him. 

If l were President Barrow, l would remember how l became a president and the conditions that made it possible for me. 

President Barrow will become a hero if he keeps the promise that earned him his current position. If he does not, he may end up being condemned like President Yahaya Jammeh. 

It was not that Yahaya Jammeh did not do any good in The Gambia. It was just that he lorded himself over the country. He stayed too long and became a fear factor to many people. He ruled with iron hands, stepped on people's toes, but made some positive impacts in terms of develoomental projects. 

Was he corrupt? The answer lies in what his service was worth and betwen his worth at beginning of his regime and his worth at the end of it. Has any one done a serious research on that. 

President Barrow's political error may be more expensive than Jammeh's, and the consequence may be similar. Gambians are more politically conscious and human rights knowledgeable. They are more determined to deal with any situation that seems unwelcome to them. 

While political opponents may be kicking against Barrow just because they long fir power and want to be presidents, Barrow should d not be blind to the fact that most leaders with good intention easily y turn to the opposite because of the wrong notions they get from their supporters. 

Will Barrow fail the political acid test of his tenure? Only Barrow can determine abd give the correct answer. 

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Julius Eto

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Jan 27, 2020, 4:19:17 PM1/27/20
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Prof TF,

Thanks sir for your submission on this issue. Barrow, like Jammeh, is a religious bigot who manipulates Islam for power to subjugate non-Muslims and divide The Gambia, a country that the late Sir Dauda (formerly David) Jawara managed to hold together even as he desperately sought Arab aid and support against burgeoning terrorists.

Barrow, like Jammeh, closes his eyes to the ongoing colonisation and enslavement of blacks in the Arab world and other Muslim-majority (even minority) countries like Sudan, Libya etc. But today, President Barrow's The Gambia is in the forefront of the Rohinga's anti-Myanmar offensive at the UN. The Libyans, Sudanese (via the government-supported terrorist Janjaweed militia) and other Arabs are raping and murdering their innocent black populations. The Gambia is silent on this pogrom while pushing for UN resolutions against Myanmar which says the Rohingas are not citizens (Burmese) of the country (Myanmar, formerly called Burma) but accommodated migrants who are carrying out Islamist terrorism.

However,I have no dog in the Myanmar/Rohinga faceoff as I am a neutral observer.

Omokioja Kwame Julius Eto


Emmanuel Udogu

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Jan 27, 2020, 4:34:50 PM1/27/20
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I applaud Toyin’s (alias Kobiyesi in our profession) opinion on the political climate in the Gambia. Pan-Africanists and influential African intellectuals and activists should add their voices to resolving the political and economic issues on the continent. They must not wait until after the political and economic explosions in a country before they act. We saw what happened in Liberia with Charles Taylor. I believe that if members of African intelligentsia/activists had collectively condemned Taylor’s selfish military putsch before he struck, Liberia would have averted the civil war with its disastrous consequences.

It is high time that African academics formed a powerful civil society association that would monitor political and economic issues in Africa and warn incessantly of impending problems in any of the African countries. In this way, such an organization might be able to stop political and economic crises before they happen. More importantly, this group might be able to reduce Africa’s dependency on foreign help to solve problems that we can solve ourselves.

Ike Udogu   


Toyin Falola

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Jan 27, 2020, 6:39:11 PM1/27/20
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Prof:

To add to the urgency of the situation, we all watch as the White House devastates Nigeria, insulting us, abusing us.

No collective response.

You can abuse an immigrant and get away with it.

No collective response.

Trump has threatened to reduce the number of Nigerians who visit the US

No collective response.

 

Yet we have the number, but to our fellow citizens, because Ike is an Igbo and Kabiyesi is Yoruba, we cannot hold a meeting or agree to anything.

 

This is the first task: end tribalism and parochialism and collective change will follow. I use tribalism deliberately.

 

I am the recipient of the prestigious Udogu Prize and I carry it with pride, occupying a prominent place in my house than the Distinguished Africanist Award by the ASA.

 

Let us combine.

TF

Toyin Falola

Department of History

The University of Texas at Austin

104 Inner Campus Drive

Austin, TX 78712-0220, USA

Okey Iheduru

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Jan 27, 2020, 6:39:36 PM1/27/20
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Applause! Applause!! Applause!!! 

"Pan-Africanists and influential African intellectuals and activists should add their voices to resolving the political and economic issues on the continent. They must not wait until after the political and economic explosions in a country before they act." --- Prof. Ike Udogu. 

Can we start with Nigeria? Just imagine what an overwhelming nightmare 10 million refugees from Nigeria would be for West Africa! Or is it because The Gambia is a "small, small" country?



--
Okey C. Iheduru

Just publishedThe African Corporation, ‘Africapitalism’ and Regional Integration in Africa (September 2018). DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785362538.

OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Jan 28, 2020, 9:33:18 AM1/28/20
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Udogu prize underlines tribalism.  It is not necessarily a negative trait.  It can be combined with a cosmopolitan outlook.  For instance there is no reason a ' Kabiyesi' man cannot be the recipiient of the Udogu prize if they meet the criteria.  We can still combine.


OAA



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.


-------- Original message --------
From: Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu>
Date: 27/01/2020 23:46 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Gambia: The Foundation of Dictatorship

Boxbe This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (toyin...@austin.utexas.edu) Add cleanup rule | More info

Prof:

To add to the urgency of the situation, we all watch as the White House devastates Nigeria, insulting us, abusing us.

No collective response.

You can abuse an immigrant and get away with it.

No collective response.

Trump has threatened to reduce the number of Nigerians who visit the US

No collective response.

 

Yet we have the number, but to our fellow citizens, because Ike is an Igbo and Kabiyesi is Yoruba, we cannot hold a meeting or agree to anything.

 

This is the first task: end tribalism and parochialism and collective change will follow. I use tribalism deliberately.

 

I am the recipient of the prestigious Udogu Prize and I carry it with pride, occupying a prominent place in my house than the Distinguished Africanist Award by the ASA.

 

Let us combine.

TF

Toyin Falola

Department of History

The University of Texas at Austin

104 Inner Campus Drive

Austin, TX 78712-0220, USA

 

 

From: dialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Udogu <udo...@appstate.edu>
Reply-To: dialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Monday, January 27, 2020 at 3:35 PM
To: dialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Gambia: The Foundation of Dictatorship

 

I applaud Toyin’s (alias Kobiyesi in our profession) opinion on the political climate in the Gambia. Pan-Africanists and influential African intellectuals and activists should add their voices to resolving the political and economic issues on the continent. They must not wait until after the political and economic explosions in a country before they act. We saw what happened in Liberia with Charles Taylor. I believe that if members of African intelligentsia/activists had collectively condemned Taylor’s selfish military putsch before he struck, Liberia would have averted the civil war with its disastrous consequences.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
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Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Jan 28, 2020, 7:29:06 PM1/28/20
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Im so pleased to read the response from Falola on the anti-African/anti- Nigerian negativities emanating from Trump, particularly this- 'Trump has threatened to reduce the number of Nigerians who visit the US

No collective response.'


I understand the argument is that Nigerians represent a high no of overstayers in the US.


What do people think of that?


Toyin


Assensoh, Akwasi B.

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Jan 29, 2020, 7:50:54 AM1/29/20
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com, Toyin Falola, deji...@yahoo.com, Onyumbe Lukongo, kes...@yahoo.com, afaug...@yahoo.com, Ucheoma Nwagbara, Teaway Collins, Nana Amoah-Ramey, rig...@yahoo.com, Godwin Ohiwerei

SIR Toyin:

Many of us are like the "Living Dead", as we never knew that Almighty Trump has threatened Nigeria and Nigerians this way. Well, I also
learned recently from the Ghana Embassy in D.C. that tons of Ghanaian citizens, living in America for years, are now being deported in droves 
by ICE.  The Embassy has now become "Supervisor of Deportees". 

It is true: Let us combine! Amen Amen, Amen!
A.B. Assensoh.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu>
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 4:44 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [External] Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Gambia: The Foundation of Dictatorship
  

Julius Eto

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Jan 29, 2020, 10:36:33 AM1/29/20
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Ike Udogu,

I fully support your suggestion and believe this Prof. TF-moderated forum can start this noble pan-Africanist objective.

Omokioja Kwame Julius Eto


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