PEACE IN OUR TIME

The invitation to moderate a programme held at the Joint Officer’s mess in Kotu last Friday by the Youth Ambassadors of Peace as part of worldwide celebrations of Global ceasefire day, or simply put International Day of peace did not come as a surprise. It was originally meant for my senior man who was ‘too busy’ to take part in the programme, so he asked me if I was interested to step in.

It was the second time I entered the hall, actually the first one was some two years ago, when I went there to receive an award from the National Youth Council as the youth friendly presenter of the year.

So my second visit offered me a unique opportunity to come face to face with the audience, talking to them intermittently, I understand more than anything else that the body language of the participants as the main speaker of the day Dr. Abubakar Senghore of the University of The Gambia presented his topic: The role of Islam in Peace Building given that some people think Islam is synonymous with terrorism.

The striking part of the Dr. Senghore’s lengthy presentation was on discrimination, something that is always an issue in many societies. Giving an interesting scenario of two kids, Dr. Senghore explained that he presented two coins, fifty bututs to one chap. And presented a single coin of a dalasi to another chap. The first chap cried foul, protesting that he deserved two coins not knowing that the two coins he saw his colleagues carrying was just a dalasi – [ two fifty bututs]

Actually, he did this deliberately to see how these children will react, elaborating that no one would like to be discriminated against under any circumstances. The participants like the presentation, so there were no shortages of questions. And a drama performance by the peace lovers further highlighted how a war survivor came to understand the realities of the day.

Sighting the moon

Not many are skillful in the art of sighting the moon but what ever it is, expectations are high that the moon may be sighted tonite so that Sunday would be the big day -eating and drinking during the daytime once again.

The traffic along the main streets in the capital are choc-a-bloc, sometimes I tend to wonder where are all these people going, or whether I'm still in The Gambia and not in Delhi highways or Dares Salam. Where one is often waylaid by hawkers who would by all indications present themselves as innocent pals only to rob you off.

In the capital this morning, the ferries are traveling to and fro, getting all the money from the teeming crowd of passengers traveling up country. Elsewhere in the kombos, the situation is the same, the koriteh mood has grip the township and kids are warming up for the salibo.

THEIR FALL SIGNAL SOMETHING

Concerns have been raised in the country’s main towns why two baobab trees fell directly on residential compounds at two major settlements in the urban areas not far from the capital Banjul.

The first one was in Tallinding; the whole neighborhood stood watching wondering what had actually happened. It was one of the oldest baobab trees in the village, why and how it fell continues to nag the community. While there were no fatalities, the incident was perhaps a stark reminder of the myths that are often associated with the fall of big trees such as the baobab. Due to the size and structure of the baobab, some people believed the tree is spiritually connected.

Apart from the medicinal aspects of the plant, it is usually hard to witness baobab trees falling, what was more amazing was the time and place they fell – residential areas.

In Brikama, the seat of the administrative capital of the Western Region, one Francis Gomez, a Fire and Rescue officer lost his house at night when the baobab tree that stood close to his compound in Brikama Dirima Kolong fell on his roof following a heavy downpour of rain.

The affected communities are still contemplating what to do next, as for Francis; he told us when help come, he will start the laborious process of reconstruction at the end of the rainy season. But for now, other compounds with baobab trees are getting worried and jittery about their safety. If anything, the baobab trees that fell in Tallinding and Brikama did not show any signs that they were going to fall. Like in most cases, disasters would not give warnings to their victims when they are about to strike.

It’s a pity that the strongest trees in Africa are dying naturally, we may as well take caution or find out why.

Burundi badly needs it

For some reasons, I could not help but react to the comments made by one of his colleagues in Burundi regarding one of the last pieces published on this blog. While houses and communities in The Gambia are contemplating what to do next after unceasing rains swept away their homes. It seems this is the opposite elsewhere, well for some experts, this is as a result of globalisation or call it climate change. But whatever it is, farmers in Burundi would want the rains that are dropping in the country to water their crops so that it would once again make them happy.

Well, it would interesting to note that the rains are coming almost on daily basis in The Gambia,
the heavy down of rains recorded these days, is even making farmers optimistic that this year too would record another bumper harvest.

So lets pray once again for Burundi to rain, so Agatha and many of those who are worried in her country will be relieved from this stress.

A worrying trend

Last Wednesday's heavdown of rains in the country's capital Banjul have raised concerns among Historians where the City was haunted of the sceptre of the infamous September 1948 floods that killed and displaced several Banjulians.

Law maker Baboucarr Nyang told me had he not sat on the back of his elder brother, he would not have participated in last Wednesday's parliamentary proceedings or perhaps go to the parliamentary office with wet clothes, including wet shoes.

With the powerful waves of the sea, it seems the waves are surging towards the direction of the city, and who knows what will happen to the city in fifty years time? The government of President Jammeh should be commended for saving Banjul from sinking, one could not help but imagine those days when the powerful waves of the sea destroys parts of the city's cemetaries, and what is more, the coastal erosion project has managed to reclaimed the sand and put the water back into the sea.

The unceasing rains in the meantime are indeed worrying, especially families that are living in water logged areas. A number of houses have fallen of recent, thank God the National Disaster Relief Committee is receiving all the attention it deserves from Gambians and non-Gambians alike. It is all about the spirit of helping those are desparately looking for food and a place to rest their poor bodies.

hurrah Nigeria!

Last Saturday's friendly between the baby scorpions and the golden eaglets was a one all draw. However Bouba Jallow alias Meles made history when he scored in the 22nd seconds of the game being the first time a Gambian scored such goals in the country. The Gambian team was however humiliated by their Nigerian visitors at the Brikama mini stadium by a lone goal and it happened that Meles who was suppose to redeem his team failed to convert the crucial penalty won by the Gambia. So The Gambia should watch out, The Nigerian team has spoken.

Let's meet @ the Stadium

After going through a rigorous FIFA sanction test to determine their age, the super eaglets have finally jetted in Banjul as part of their preparations for the Under 17 world championship next month in Nigeria.

It is has been an exciting moment for the baby scorpions, bagging another title on top of the bigger crown they received in Algiers after winning the Under 17 championship.
Last month’s friendly against a brave and rejuvenated Senegal’s team was the first time; the baby scorpions tasted defeat after Algiers. Local commentators in the country started heaping what they call a lackluster performance by the boys in Dakar. But one thing some people fail to realized was the fact that the Senegalese team that had earlier come to Banjul put up a strong resistance and held the mighty baby scorpions to a one all draw.
Now, I believe tonight’s class with the Super eaglets could be considered one of the biggest matches for the Under 17, in fact, if anything, it is going to decide what each of the needs to do before the real championship start in October.
So meet me at the Independence Stadium for the results. What’s your predictions?

INVESTING IN POULTRY

Despite the challenges that are often associated with poultry, a small group of farmers in Fulabantang in the Central River Region of the Gambia are determined to make a mark in the business of rearing chickens and selling eggs.

The project is being managed by some influential members of the community, and so far according to Francis Baldeh, the eggs are selling like hot cakes. He explained that the price tag for an egg is D3.OO while, shop keepers sell it for D5.00.

Apart from the business of selling and maintaining the health of the chickens, Francis and his colleagues have to work on a daily basis to ensure the single house where the chickens are kept is clean and tidy.

Of course, they need to expand the structures so that the village’s single poultry project will serve other communities and if possible spur others to take up the initiative. But the high cost of maintaining poultry is scaring others, for example fishermen like Dembaru told me he has been contemplating of poultry but when he was told the high cost of feeding and maintaining the chickens, he put the idea on hold.

Dembaru may not be the only one in such situations, even rice farmers have attempted to invest in poultry but somehow they have changed their minds.

‘I would not be able to have people to take care of the chickens, and sell the eggs, even if I were to have the people, where am I going to get the money to pay them for the services they are rendering?’ said Gibel, who has been inspired by the Village’s poultry project.

Even for Francis, there are times when maintaining the chickens become a daunting challenge, especially when he has couple of other things to carry out. For instance, he would like to have more people come on board but as a small project, there isn’t enough money coming to pay for more people.

A good number of farmers in the country rear chickens in their backyards but what discourage them from taking part in a big time poultry is the outbreak of diseases and secondly, lack of capital or perhaps technical know-how is also contributing factor.

How old are you?

Hey that’s football age?

These days more than anything else, the main issues dominating the headlines from Nigeria is about the so-called scandal surrounding five of the country’s banks and the age cheating wahala as Nigeria prepares to host the junior Under 17 World Cup in October. These issues when put into perspectives points to a continent that has a long way to free itself from troubles and scandals.

No wonder, it makes headlines in The Gambia, because The Gambian team too, would sooner or later undergo such rigorous test to determine the age of the footballers ahead of the Under 17 world cup in Nigeria. The eaglets had to decamp some of their players when it was found out that some of them were more than 17 years old.

Some months ago, while watching the Champions League games, a friend of mine ignited an issue that was never resolved: the African players cutting their teeth in European football are too old and tired. But he failed to closely observe some of the European footballers who looked older than the African footballers he usually criticized.

In Africa
You don’t have to bother yourself to search for clues, a teenager growing up in village playing ‘warga, warga’ hardly attract headlines until he grow bigger in an influential team in the city and that would take close to three to four years. So by the time this poor boy is elevated to the senior team, he would have passed twenty-one if you go by his real age in some cases.





Then another issue crops up again, don’t forget some of the players would want to reduce their ages so that they can play for at least ten years and get all the Euros and dollars in their pocket.
You don’t need to stretch your neck that far, how many players on our screens and say at the back of our minds that these players could be older than his age. Yet, some of them have managed to stay on, but it will somehow dawn on them as they continue to kick the ball, the power would not be there.

So, I have a feeling that FIFA’s age test could finally teach some of us lessons: No matter what happens, let’s get the facts right and maintain the true age of our darling players, sometimes, we have ourselves to blame if anything happen.