This Is Why Gambia is Lagging behind!

You ever wonder why, no matter how hard we try, we always seem to be failing in most of our endeavors as a country? I mean no matter how we effortlessly embrace globalization and western ideologies and best practices, we just do not seem to get things right. Ever wonder why corruption is gradually being accepted as a way of life, or why nepotism is becoming rampant among our institutions despite the high number of “educated” people serving as heads of institutions? Behold! We’ve been able to identify three key barriers/hindrances that stalking progress in the new Gambia. And what better way to discuss them than with you the people of this “Jamano”.

We all long for a positive change. But for any society to experience effective change, the process of change must first emanate from inside then eventually shown on the outside. This is also true from an individual perspective, you cannot claim on the outside what you’re not on the inside.  In this light, The Gambian society is lagging behind and may not effect positive change in the near future due to these factors:

Narrow Mind-set

To realize the life we dream for ourselves and our children, we need to first and foremost change our mind set as individuals. The belief that our problems as a country would be solved by European tax payers’ money must be eradicated from our heads. We should learn to own up to our messes and put strategies in place to clean them up. We cannot continue to make policies for ourselves, and for our countries, on the basis of whatever support the western countries can give us. It will not work. It has never worked and it would not work. What this would rather do is continue to build the already existing dependency and the master-slave relationship that’s been there since colonial era. Only that, this type of slavery is mental slavery and not physical slavery. And when you allow a person to control your mind, they ultimately own you!

Lack of Long term planning

This is another serious problem that we need to address as a country. We do not seem to have organized thinking collectively nor individually. Lack of planning is the major reason for failure. Most people fail not because they plan to fail but because they fail to plan. The current lifestyle of young Gambians is void of any form of long term planning. The problem is most people want to look successful without hard work. If A or B has it all, we do not want to know their source of income, we also just want to be like them at all cost, because all we see is material things. Without doubt the average Gambian salary isn’t enough to cater for all these short term unprofitable wants, and since we do not exhibit any sense of planning, we end up taking loans here and there eventually becoming massively indebted.

A life without a plan is contrary to all laws. When you break laws, they break you. When you work very hard without a plan, you lose direction like a ship on high sea without a compass. Be it a country, a community, an institution or an individual, a plan defines your destination and direction thereby preparing you for opportunities that lie ahead. Hence success can only be achieved when opportunities meet preparations.

Eroded Core values

As the building block of any society, a family, by default, is the first institution for every child that teaches him/her the basics of life. As an institution, and ultimately as a country, there should be core values that must be of central importance. Sadly, these values are rapidly fading away from our homes and our societies today. Manifestations of which includes the latest pasa pasa dances in schools, the street carnivals where girls are dressed half naked, public smoking and drinking of alcohols by underage youngsters, and the tagging of our country as “Sex Paradise for tourists”, to name a few. One may argue that the societal influence coupled with technology/modernization is the reason why people are gradually doing away from family values and or Gambian cultures. The fact however remains that, it is not bad to globalized, but one should not do so at the expense of your own true origin. There is nothing wrong with embracing your culture, while integrating, as it gives you a comparative advantage. We are swaying as a country because we’re disregarding our core values as people and sabotaging cultures that give us a sense of identity.

We love everything foreign and belittle anything local. From the grass root to the top, we seem to be much appreciative of western ideologies, lifestyles, doctrines, materials and everything else. Sadly and truly, this erosion begins in our homes. Gambian parents would literally worship their children that are abroad than those at home who are struggling to makes ends meet. Government and institutions would rather give contracts/projects to foreign consultants/investors rather than given it to the locals who can equally and effectively do make it happen. We fail to understand that no one understands your problem better than the person you are under the same roof with. It’s high time we start contextualizing our approaches to solving local problems!

What’s your opinion?

What do you think is staggering development as people and as a country in The Gambia?