Column | The Choice of a Native Gambian Language as a Public Education Medium
By Saul Saidykhan
The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education- MoBSE, is currently embroiled in a controversy over its unjustifiable choice of Olof as Gambia’s designated national language. Its dishonest response to critics has only worsened matters by exposing the decision makers as either mentally lazy people, or bigoted ethnic chauvinists.
I do not expect the Minister or any of the officials involved in this decision to resign their positions. To do so would be to assume they possess integrity or an abiding sense of shame they care to protect. Those character traits are now very rare in Gambia.
See, if the MoBSE officials were a thoughtful people who can see beyond their personal ethnic preferences, this isn’t a hard decision to make. The AU 2063 Plan (38 years away) is to have a unified Africa. Commonsense tells us that rallying behind a native language that is widely spoken will best serve our progeny’s collective interests a generation from now.
Even if we ignore ancient history completely, we can make a good decision if we’re willing or able to set aside our ethnic/tribal sentiments and focus on VERIFIABLE facts dispassionately.
At the west Africa regional level, Olof is only widely spoken in Senegal and Gambia. To underscore this, If we count PS Njie’s one year tenure as Chief Minister between 1961 and 1962, only the Senegambia states have had Olofs as their national leader. (Like other Bantu languages, Olof is treated as a fringe dialect in Mauritania the only other country its spoken.)
In contrast, the Fulbe – the fourth largest west African ethnic group are found in almost all west African countries under different monikers though deemed as newcomers in many of these countries. Regardless, To underscore their influence in the region, Nigeria, Niger republic, Mali, Guinea Bissau, and Senegal have all had Fulbe leaders – some multiple times.
Like the Fulbe, the Mandinka the sixth largest west African ethnic group are found in a dozen west African countries under different monikers.
Call it the Sunjata Keita, Tiramakan Traore or Mansa Musa effect if you like, but verifiable records show us that this is the only west Africa ethnic group that has produced more national leaders than any of the larger five groups: Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Gambia have all had or currently have Manden leaders. (I purposely leave out Ousman Manneh aka George Weah of Liberia.
So, what motivated the decision makers at our MoBSE to make the short-sighted choice they made? Ethnic superiority complex? Cultural narcissism? I ask because the MoBSE decision lacks merit based on numbers or spread of Olofs.
A more important question is: when will Gambia’s REAL TRIBALISTS set aside their bigotry and focus on what would best serve our long-term national interests?
Our politics is a mess precisely because of this attitude. Arrogant fools who out of ethnic chauvinism or ignorance of history including that of their own arrogate themselves the power to make decisions for all of us WITHOUT asking.
And without fail, when they are challenged, they gas-light by screaming tribalism when it is they who made dope-headed decisions out of tribalism. Somehow, anyone they cannot control or manipulate is a “tribalist.” The mendacity of the arrogance-ignorance combo is insufferable. We see this behavior not only in politics, but in arts and entertainment.
It’s the main reason they have now made it normal to invite Senegalese artists to play when certain Gambian stars schedule major events. And these are the people accusing others of being divisive? Simply disgraceful!
About the author
The author is a creative writer and financial professional.