The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Amadou Jallow
17 June 2009
The president of The Republic, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, has once again extolled Gambian women for their uncompromising stance on his development aspirations for The Gambia.
"I thank Allah, the Almighty, for the mercy He has on the women of this country," the Gambian leader told GRTS, last Monday, as part of an exclusive interview with the national broadcaster. President Jammeh was speaking at his home village of Kanilai on the level of preparedness for this year's farming season as well as other development areas.
"During my 2009 'Dialogue with the people tour," he said, "all the projects I visited were predominantly occupied by women, which has made me grateful to them." The Gambian leader also called on the menfolk of the country to sympathise with the women, observing the fact that they (the men) have left every work in the hands of the women. President Jammeh said that his aim for the Gambian women is to make them No. 1 in the whole world. "Anything I intend to do that will take the country forward I will dedicate it first to the women," he said, thanking the women folks for their undivided show of solidarity since July 1994.
On this year's farming season, President Jammeh disclosed his intention to grow Findi (a cereal crop), something he had intended to do before the first rains dropped. But this, he said, was now not possible as the first rains have already fallen. However, the president said that he will go ahead with the cultivation of the crop, and others such as Nerica Rice and groundnut. This he intended to commence last Tuesday, June 16, 2009.
People, he noted, might be tempted to think that last Monday's rain wasn't the beginning of the rainy season. But the president believes that farmers should start working on growing their early crops as last Monday's rainfall was just the beginning. According to him, farmers and the poor people suffer most between the months of July and August. But he assured the farming community that Findi can serve as an antidote against that as by September it will be ready for harvesting. The president also urged Gambians to consider growing early crops now.
On his usual call for people to go back to the land, the Gambian leader said that every Gambian should endeavour to at least have their own farm this year. "My aim is to eliminate poverty," he said. For the young people who have abandoned their villages for the city, where they are doing absolutely nothing, the president thinks they can make something better out of their lives by going back home and engaging in farming. But, he added, "When I say let us farm, I do not mean we should go and cut down the forest."
President Jammeh also delved on the relationship between food consumed and health. While reiterating his call for hard work, he stressed the importance of feeding on what we grow and know. A great many of the food stuff we consume in Africa, he observed, we do not know anything about. And this, he added, has resulted in serious unknown health implications for us. "Let us return back to the olden days" he urged.
According to the president, the world is changing and people, unfortunately, do not seem to fear God anymore. "All what people are interested in today is how to make money," he said, and added, "I will not say anything that will be of no use to people."
He went on: "My aim for Gambians is to make them independent and be admired by the whole world. I do not say Gambians should work for me, but we should all work to feed ourselves. Living on our own sweat is a part of worshiping God." Also urging Gambians to take charge of their territorial resources, President Jammeh reiterated his call for behavioral change, which he believes will be fundamental as a mechanism to usher in the much needed development for The Gambia.
Commenting on his Guinea Bissau peace initiative, the president said that the two countries are close neighbours who share a lot in common, citing the fact that whatever ethnic group you can find in one country, is also in the other. At a more global level, President Jammeh called on Africans as a people, to unite for the interest of development. "Anytime there is the talk of hardship, it is Africans who bear the brunt," he concluded.
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