It is vital for young Africans to have balanced facts, including Colonisation. In the wake of Queen’s Elizabeth death, I notice misleading publications from African media houses and young Africans echoing lies and fractional facts in anger. Human beings must see truth as our best friend, concurring or even above intelligence and kindness. Our common enemies are fear, greed, and arrogance– these three existed in Africa and other places way before Colonisation. They are the roots of evil, but the main branches are ignorance, lies, and cruelty. Colonisation of individuals and families existed in Africa, but Colonisation of countries is largely by Westerners and Asians. All evidence points to Africa as the origin of humankind, thus good and evil of humans likely started in Africa, but our Children of other races have become better and worse than us? Let young Africans choose the best and partner up around the world. Colonisation was a hard rescue for Africans with advantages and disadvantages, but are we optimizing even the advantages? Although financially deceptive, Colonisation brought Africa steps closer to unity, but many refuse to see even the opportunity, much more to push ahead. Slavery started in Africa and was much worse than Colonisation, but all enslavement were not equal; similarly all Colonisation were/are not equal and it is vital to differentiate them, without justifying the bad over the worse. Our character in the learning and working worlds must be gauged and improved to acceptable levels, not just our fun character … Remember sex is just one big aspect of fun, which can be play (ok/bad) or worse than play…
I have repeatedly criticised the English language, even though it is my favourite language and see it as huge blessing, waiting to be improved. Languages evolve or devolve within oral level, then similarly when written. English is no exception, the writers of old and modern English took English to a new higher level, but that does not mean squarely. The very word ‘Colonisation’ is actually closer to the word clone than colon. We colonise our clones may be right, but we clonise our clones may be closer to reality. We cannot say all humans had children due to fear and greed, but in all honesty most humans sought children (clones) due to fear and greed, sometimes arrogantly, from having to managing. Even such individual Colonisation have advantages and disadvantages; so where family problems grow big, an offspring may disown a last name or even a language. Colonising families is still in existence in Africa, including small Gambia. Sometimes they call a whole family ‘our slaves’, but the treatment is closer to Colonisation, deceptive relationship with zero or near zero force. Both are sometimes happily together in slave and master relationship…
Beside the questionable social level in old Africa, the pre colonisation Africa must be honestly studied to understand why God allowed Colonisation as hard rescue. Africa, largely, had very cruel Kings and under resisting populace. Now we have stupid than cruel leaders with under resisting populace? Beside cruelty, these African leaders failed to significantly develop learning and working aspects of Africa. As little as writing, over ninety percent of African languages failed to evolve to poor or good writing level. The cultures revolve around fun or play and abuse. A king that rules beyond the Gambia once reportedly built a house with four alive women as pillars, built around them. When my ‘uneducated’ mum was narrating it to me, she said, ‘it was good the whites came…’ My point is cruelty existed in Africa and needed to be challenged by Africans or others . When bad whites have to confront worse Africans, I will say be my guest, but understand how to confront the bad whites after?
Colonisation was done with near zero resistance in most part of Africa. The African Kings were lured with gifts, then told what they can no longer do. The whites were the new looters, sharing the loot with prominent Africans. The children of the Kings were offered learning opportunities above others, while slaves in America were denied learning opportunities. In places like the Gambia, some chiefs were reluctant to send their children to free school, many chiefs sent others until they saw it was beneficial, then they sent their biological children. Some ordinary parents allowed their children to go to school, but lacked the needed patience or changed mind. The very person I am named After is my grandfather, Jarga Kebba Njie, and was said to be an exceptional student, but his father forced him out of free school and the teachers appealed to no avail. The little school he got was enough for him to be a highly successful peanut trader, buying peanuts from the largely zero schooled farmers and selling to bigger traders and international world. The colonisers in a nutshell: ‘We will loot three million dollar worth of gold from Ghana, million dollar of sand from the Gambia, but we will give back one or two million worth to the Gambia as ‘free education’; we will determine the price of peanuts then and now, you get something and our people can taste and research on and beyond peanuts? Who forbid you to research on peanuts+ or force you to buy our value added products? We will address one or few cities as example, but how many years before your liberators do nationwide?
When God made man million+ years ago, some people respected learning and learners than others. When the God of heavens and earth revealed Learn( iqra) about 1500 years ago, some people misinterpreted it to mean learn only one religious knowledge, but the root word of iqra includes up to research. Reality and common sense reveal humans should learn to improve themselves and avoid hurting each other. That special book called the Koran or Recitation is also very balanced: it warned us about hypocritical Christians, but said other good things about Christians, including ‘they are lovers of knowledge’. A great Muslim must ask why such a verse and see it as challenge to love knowledge more than the best of Christians or at least average Christians. Such a verse also confirms not only so called ‘Islamic knowledge’ is knowledge to God or the Angels. The misinterpretations by some arrogant Arabs were sadly unquestioned by Africans, so when Timbooktu taught mainly one religious knowledge, others were respecting other aspects of learning. Nas, the hip hop artist, may not truly understood Timbooktu or ever visited there, but more important is how we can have high end universities all over Africa, through Black+ billionaires and millionaires. We must learn from Cuba and seek 100% literacy, but we must start and support higher end learning. SARJO Manneh and Mo Sallah can challenge other footballers beyond Africans, Akon and Youssou ndure can challenge singers, LeBron James and Jay z, etc but beyond their countries. A billionaire like Oprah Winfrey sponsoring a high school or even college may be too low; we need many high end universities in Africa, or just say thanks to slavery? ‘Lovers of Knowledge’ means they spend enough time and money to get knowledge and reward knowledgeable folks than praise singers and questionable marabouts and pastors. There is some good in Religion, but time must be balanced. When you scan African satellite TV and see mainly Christian channels, the Arabs are on questionable hadiths than Quaran, then few African entertainment than edutainment music channels, it is almost scary, except it is better than doing drugs.
Deception through culture, Religion, or government are all bad. Since our focus is Deception around Colonisation, we must narrow it due to limited knowledge and to avoid a book like article. We all agree, Colonisation was largely financial Deception, but the world is more than finance. A country like the Gambia happens to have near zero ‘raw materials ‘ to loot. The Gambia happens to be a unique country in Africa and the world! People may rightly talk about the Berlin Conference, but the Gambia was not discussed there. The Gambia is the only country in the world that was created to end slavery, the worst human treatment. The Portuguese came to the Gambia, but felt like Bissau was better; the French were in the Gambia and Senegal, but when the best of westerners wanted to end slavery, Portugal was not cooperative and taking slaves from Bissau+. Since the French were either cowards, not determined enough, or lacked equipment than Portugal or England, the English carved out the Gambia as the strategic point to confront slave traders. Thus was Gambia born. Forth Bullen of Barra have the evidence for Tourists who believes in facts than the fiction of Roots, Kunta Kinteh. I wish Gambians were freedom oriented and champion freedom around the world, but I am one Gambian who thinks we have a task greater than praising the past achievements.
The crimes of the western world post Colonisation is arguably worse than during Colonisation, except they have African partners in both eras. Murdering our best leaders and helping our bad to worst leaders is not minor. Like a good parent will not prematurely release an offspring; the west was suppose to have a quota of over 50% literacy before independence. Or set it as conditions within xyz years, through xyz of taxes and aids must be dedicated to education.
When you contrast how African Kings occasionally conquered tribes to how Asians did to each other, you will again conclude Africans are almost never best or worst, often in the valley of WWbogBB. The Whites coming here was much better than allowing Asians against us, especially then. The Loans our leaders are taking must be smartly invested in learning than education, through compensating achievements than research funding. The sick mindset our children ‘cannot repay us’ is harming Africa at different levels, including leaving them with mismanaged loans as ‘favor’. Remember the God who allowed lying whites to claim slavery as ‘favor’ is still alive and may allow Angels to do worse to you, if you refuse to repent. Let the African+ children take better route than our ancestors , whites, and others. God is not against Africans, but let us never think that we are above the universal laws.
It is very wrong to pay for a crime you have not committed. As much as I believe the west still have terrible criminals against Africa, I think good whites exist and we must never harm them in anyway, or become like the bad whites. Needless to beat on my Grandparents for failing to invest in learning or resisting bad Kings and bad whites; if the average yearly loot was one dollar per person during colonial days, I think it was much worse in the Jawara days of the Gambia. Worse than the looting, our education and working standards went down, except those who count quantity of schools. Then comes Yahya Jammeh, another hard rescue against Gambians and possible testimony of reincarnated Cruel African King and under resisting populace? Jammeh was not just cruel, but he was a hypocritical coward who enjoyed marijuana and feared legalising it. Despite his occasional political rages against the west, he licked their ass when a drug shipment was caught in Gambian waters and he was among the suspects. He worsen the Gambian law to include seizing compounds were marijuana was found, while he was using marijuana, according to many folks, including Jamaican musicians who wrongly praised him and claim to smoked with him. President Adama Barrow lacks respect for truth and yet to understand the dangers of oppressing the minority on personal rights. Although less personally corrupt as Jammeh, he simply does not seem to have the courage to crackdown on corruption. We need culture of cameras, people must stop stealing time through late, absence, and idle at work time. We pay taxes for work to be done, not simple attendance and bad work. We need thinkers in government, but also how to help thinkers outside government. He may arrogantly say, he greedily sold Land to success, and blind to the land reforms we need for humanity over business.
Loving knowledge is good, but how truthful and kind are the Christians, whites, and xyz? Keep trading blames, but we must know the race is not who is much worse, but who wants to be the best, squarely.
All of Africa should choose English as first language, but develop it to be much better than present English, then name it . This does not mean making it more ‘African’, but making it simpler, more consistent, and more stranger friendly. It may require doubling or tripling the vowels, harder start and smooth ride after. This means even the British will learn ours. As a lover of languages and knowing many western and African languages, I fairly know the weakness and strength of the languages I know or functional in. First, it is very important to know it is in our best earthly interest to have one primary world and African language. English is already the number one language, but if we can improve it, then why not? If the rest of the world choose our English, Uk+ will subdue, otherwise we will have a simpler English for our people and a much smaller percentage of Africans will learn the present English, French, Portuguese, etc. I do not recommend the route of taking one African language to develop it, because English took lot from African languages and we should be global, not just African. We should develop African languages to written level, but not separately as we are doing. Those languages should still be secondary to our new English. Beside our interest, the past shows the French and Portuguese were much more brutal in Colonisation, so largely abandon their languages. Rwanda ditch French and prospered. Guinea and Mali do not have the courage to ditch French, partly because Present English is hard, except French is harder. Our New English can be learned in six months, by average adults. I am highly functional in French, fairly functional in Spanish and Portuguese. So I don’t hate these languages and not calling for total banning, but switching the primary language. The leaders of these countries know very well that higher learning demands English in our age, so delaying English Learning is self delaying, especially against the poor. Haiti should ditch both voodoo and French, learn from Rwanda.
It can be a gradual switch and do not wait for grants from u.s , UK, or Australia. The English speaking Africans should help any African country willing to switch. The Language does not belong to the queen or new king, and we can use it to raise their conscience. Let the African union or a billionaire take enough of my type, pay minimally until we prove our worth or work deserve big bonuses. We can certainly produce a much better English, but the task will continue on all of us. How is our character on Showlove Trinity is more important than any language? May God bless Showlove Trinity: Let’s learn, let’s work, let’s have fun.
By Jarga Kebba Gigo
An Activist and Transformer
