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Part II
Alagi YorroJallow.
Blame the leaders — or the followers?
Fatoumatta: The Gambia society has been so traumatized by the political elite that being like them is now a life aspiration. After all, they live in the most beautiful mansions, drive the best cars, and prefer to date attractive young women, the ethnography of elite success and middle and lower-class failures producing capitalism in a rent economy. “The Elite Cultural Hegemony and State Capture,” the “predatory” ‘tangal cheeb political elites for the underdevelopment of the Gambia because their crucial motivation is personal comfort and not development. I distinguished them from the “developmental” elite primarily motivated by a “vision of society” regarding human, economic, and political development while not being saints or averse to personal benefits. I argued that the Gambia remains in a perpetual state of underdevelopment because the predatory tangal cheeb elites have hijacked government for decades. Therefore, I proposed that the developmental elite should “hijack” power to develop the Gambia to benefit tomorrow.
Fatoumatta: It is not true that only women gossip. Men do it too— especially about the other sex. For example, at a meeting of male animals, Lion complains bitterly that he is not lucky with the wife he has.
“My wife nags and nags,” Lion laments.
“My own steals and lies,” Tiger says.
“My own is promiscuous. She sleeps with any male thing who can muster an erection,” Buffalo joins in the lamentation.
However, another complains, and another, and another. Finally, however, an amused Tortoise laughs and tells the jungle’s beasts that they should thank their stars for what they have. His own wife, he says, is worse than all theirs combined.
“What does she do?” the congregation choruses.
“My wife has no shame. She is shameless,” Tortoise bellows.
A sober meeting ponders on Tortoise’s statement. They agree. A shameless person is the very embodiment of all the diseases of the world.
Fatoumatta: The Gambia is Tortoise’s wife. It is shameless –and that should explain the revelry which forever warms our destructive ways and manners. However, lack of shame can be the only explanation for the nation’s calm despite the rancid nakedness of these times.
“Where are the men of leaders of the Gambia?” Yadicone asked indirect exposure of the ball-lessness of all of the Gambians who claim to be leaders. She charged Gambians to stop “clapping” but stand up to fight the “bad leaders” running our affairs aground.
Who are these unseen potentates? She did not name names, but her hubby is not one of the two. The political leadership class is a hijack victim—like all followers, the unlucky, impotent voters. Just think about this: It does not rain in the Gambia. It pours. Adama Barrow has always thanked the Gambian voters for his 2016 presidential election seeking a second term? Was it the integrity man we elected who blocked the Draft constitution to make Gambian diaspora compulsory in our elections? Or should we consult the nation’s mother for the proper guidance on this matter too, and we ask her: who did it – and why? Refer to governments, politicians, and political parties of a geographical entity like a State or a country.
George Orwell, the legendary English writer and journalist, once said: “A people that elect corrupt politicians, impostors, thieves and traitors are not victims but accomplices.” Since Gambians collect rice and vegetable oil to vote leaders into office, many believe they have only themselves to blame. It is also said that when ordinary people celebrate obscene wealth and justify corruption, they encourage predation. In sum, people get the leaders they deserve. Period. Now, this is a fascinating argument.
I have heard politicians complain that their constituents constantly bombard them with requests to pay school fees, hospital bills, and rents. Constituents make all kinds of demands for “welfare.” Where do they think all the money is coming from? Many politicians’ contention that the people push them into accumulating wealth with their loads of daily requests. They say people expect public officers to steal, hoping to lick the “trickle-down.” Moreover, if you go into public office and fail to distribute the “goodies,” the people will not vote for you the next time. So the people are the architects of their misfortune. Right?
This is a great debate that will not end soon. It is certainly not a subject to be discussed in a 1500-word article, but I will put in my shift within the limitations. I think this leader-and-follower argument is like the classic chicken-and-egg case: which came first? The “chicken” question would be difficult to answer if you are an evolutionist — because of the complicated processes of natural selection, mutation, speciation, and such. However, if you are a creationist, it is not difficult to answer — God created the mother, and the mother gave birth to the child. So God created the chicken, the chicken laid the egg, and there you have it.
On that note, I would argue that leadership comes first. Leadership shapes followership. The dog should be wagging the tail, not the tail wagging the dog. I will make three arguments in this regard and then close my case for today. One, it is true that voters collect rice and cooking oil to “mortgage” their conscience at election times. However, we are talking about impoverished people who are still dealing with existential needs — what to eat, where to sleep, and what to wear. If someone is hungry, the person who gives him food becomes his God. Second, politicians understand that keeping people eternally indigent is a potent weapon of controlling their minds.
Fatoumatta: Conversely, politicians cannot buy the votes in advanced societies where hunger has been conquered. No matter how poor you are in the United States, United Kingdom, or in Germany, for instance, you will eat. At least 99% of the population does not go to bed hungry. Politicians, therefore, cannot entice voters with ice cream. When you go to Foni and in Niumi and see the poverty on the people’s faces, you ask yourself: how would these guys not collect rice from voting? They looked so battered. Until we conquer hunger, voters will continue to be vulnerable to gastro-centric inducements.
Furthermore, you know what? It is the responsibility of leaders to crush hunger. The chicken comes first. Two, politicians complain about being bombarded with monetary and material requests by their constituents. This encourages predation in public office, and they say—an excellent argument.
Nevertheless, why are American or British voters not bombarding their MPs with similar requests? I will tell you why: quality education is free up to secondary school, while university undergraduates can take student loans; healthcare is free, and there is free or subsidized council housing for the homeless and less privileged. No constituent can go to the MP and tell stories about school fees. Moreover, It is leadership that will implement these welfare policies. So, again, the chicken comes first.
Third, politicians and public officers’ brazen display of influence and opulence has damaged the value system that people have come to see them as demigods and role models. The astonishing transformation to millionaires and billionaires within a few months of being in office does something sinister to the brains of ordinary people. Public office is the sweetest thing in the Gambia. People think getting there is the highest height any human being can aspire to. Ants are naturally attracted to sugar. You can, therefore, understand the mentality of the drummers who think calling me a “senator” would be rewarded with naira rain!
In the Gambia, many people who failed in business go into politics and become millionaires. The people are not blind. They can see everything. If it were the other way — people make money in business and then go into public office to serve — the orientation of Gambians will also be slightly different. If politicians live modest lives or sacrifice their comfort to serve, people will also see it. Furthermore, when dealing with impoverished and disoriented people, it would be unfair to blame them for mortgaging their conscience and voting in the interest of their stomachs. You cannot pour sugar on the floor and turn round to blame the ants for invading your privacy.
Fatoumatta: When we blame the abjectly poor voters for their choices, we seem to assume that they are intellectually alert, politically sophisticated, and economically independent to make the right decisions. More so, we ignore the betrayal — that the politician’s campaign promises to better people’s lives and end up doing something else when they are elected. Imagine that a voter listens to two candidates and decides that one is better than the other with or without any inducement. He votes for the “better candidate” who eventually wins. However, many “better candidates” end up as predators in public office. This betrayal factor damages the psyche.
I admit that the political culture shapes both leaders and followers. However, leaders and followers also shape the culture. Humans shape culture, and then culture begins to shape humans. We were not always like this. Our choices used to be driven by values. Something snapped along the line and reshaped our values, and now we operate a cash-and-carry voting culture. The “transaction” political culture works thus: ‘You need my vote to become a billionaire? Well, pay me in advance — I may never see you again!’ People have become so cynical that they see all politicians as the same: they are all out to cheat us.
The developmental elite, the ones I have been campaigning for, are victims of this cynicism. They, too, have to pay the “transaction cost” if they want to get political power. The cost is very high because the field is very competitive, with the predatory elite ready to die in their bid for office. The “good guys” cannot compete, except they have godfathers, which comes with their price. The vicious circle is complete then! Of course, the people are not wholly blameless — I will readily admit that. Why is it that public officers who try to be different are disdained and described as hypocrites, “aka gum,” and fools by the people? Do you blame the leadership for that too?
Fatoumatta: Nevertheless, I would argue that when people’s psyche has been disoriented and their values twisted for generations, they are bound to begin to see what is wrong as right and what is right as wrong. We need a new vision of society, a new kind of politics, shared by both leaders and followers. Leaders and followers have to be on the same page if the Gambia will graduate from underdevelopment. Today’s real challenge is: how can the voters and the politicians sing from the same hymn sheet in the national interest? One thing is for sure: we need a complete reorientation. Moreover, this is best achieved through leadership by example. The chicken. Again.