By Sedia Trera West Palm Beach, FL USA
My recent visit to The Gambia has compelled me to write this letter to the attention of all Gambians, particularly those living abroad. Like many Gambians in the US, I have been away from The Gambia for awhile and not privy to the developments in the country. Until my recent visit my main source of information was from the Gambian websites mainly run outside the country. I’m sure most of you can understand how negative and backward my expectations were of what I would find in the Gambia. Suffice it to say that I was hesitant to go back home.
My recent visit to The Gambia has compelled me to write this letter to the attention of all Gambians, particularly those living abroad. Like many Gambians in the US, I have been away from The Gambia for awhile and not privy to the developments in the country. Until my recent visit my main source of information was from the Gambian websites mainly run outside the country. I’m sure most of you can understand how negative and backward my expectations were of what I would find in the Gambia. Suffice it to say that I was hesitant to go back home.I’m not a politician and nor do I aspire to be one and writing a newspaper article even mentioning any government is something I never thought I would ever do. However, I feel I’m obliged to write this contribution to express how impressed I was by what I saw regarding the recent developments in the Gambia. I am writing for the benefit of all those like myself before this, only had our online news websites as a source of information.
The government of the Gambia, under the leadership of the President Jammeh, has transformed the Gambia immensely such that every Gambian can be proud of our dear country. I have traveled a lot within the US and Europe and I have seen many places. I am finally proud to say that we now have quality roads and so much more infrastructural development than when I left the Gambia about 6 years ago. My friends who spoke to me 2 months ago (before my visit to Gambia) will be shocked to hear this coming from me but I’m very proud of the work that Yahya’s government has done in the country. You can appreciate more the work the President of the Gambia has done in these few years when you visit other African countries. The question I kept asking myself is how come these developments are never or rarely mentioned in our online columns & news websites?
After visiting the Gambia and other neighboring countries last month and comparing it to what I left back there about 6 years ago, I have come to the conclusion that despite his many shortcomings, the president is a hard worker and loves the Gambia. I think Gambians especially pseudo-journalists should refrain from personal attacks on the president & ministers, while hiding behind their online gossip columns. We just can’t sit here and criticize the president and who he hires. Some of us don’t want to stay in the Gambia and yet we’re eager to criticize every presidential appointment. It is absurd to see some Gambian online newspapers totally blind to the numerous developments in the country and yet dwell so much on personal attacks and gossip. Ultimately, the personal attacks and fabricated stories between Gambia and its neighboring countries don’t hurt anyone but The Gambia. Why do we tarnish the name of our country to settle personal scores with the president? Journalists and online newspapers’ dual capacity is to represent reality and satisfy the readers’ daily informational needs. Instead, most of our Gambian online newspapers use this power to construct an illusion of reality just because they hold a grudge. This attitude is an obstacle to the growth success of our beloved country and it is also cheating your readership of their right to the truth and thus betraying the trust they have in you.
In spite of our inherent economic sub-optimality, the Gambia has taken great strides towards infrastructural development. While this may not be the only yardstick to measure development, it is a prerequisite to any other development for this and future generations and governments. Therefore, the government deserves to be commended or at least acknowledged for laying the foundation stones despite the seemingly insurmountable constraints on the growth of the country.
My advice to news media, particularly online papers is to be professional, be objective and be honest to yourself and to your readers. Journalists should be responsible and should not be economical with the truth even if it means giving credit to someone you hate.
I would like to personally commend the Gambian government for its hard work. Keep up the good work and improve on your areas of weakness including human rights and justice without jeopardizing the security of our beloved country.
Sedia Trera
West Palm Beach, FL USA
Editors note:The views of the author does not represents the position of the Freedom Newspaper. This paper cannot be held liable for the author's content. His views are his views. Period. Thanks for your attention.
Editors note:The views of the author does not represents the position of the Freedom Newspaper. This paper cannot be held liable for the author's content. His views are his views. Period. Thanks for your attention.
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