Monday was Independence Day; 48 years ago, this day went down in the annals of our history as the beginning of the end of our struggle to steer our own political wheel.

Each year, on this day, Gambians both at home and abroad take a moment of reflection, to remember our forbearers, through whose struggle the yoke of foreign rule and imperialism was broken. On this day, Gambians rejoice and remember the debt with which we started nation building.

The struggle for independence was not a child's play. Our forbearers lived and tasted the brutalities and indignities of colonialism. They understood clearly that the liberation of a people institutes principles which enjoin the recognition and destruction of imperialistic domination, whether it is political, economic, cultural or social.

And to destroy imperialistic domination in this form, political, economic, social and cultural action must always have reference to the needs and nature of the liberated people.And it is on this foundation that together we build the pillars of The Gambia.

Moreover, with the birth of a new Gambia in July 1994, the course of our struggle took a greater dimension. The Revolution enabled us to realise the objective of our independence struggle and hence helped us build a Gambia of the people and not a state carved by neo-colonialism. It is therefore patriotism of the highest degree for us to celebrate our independence. Throughout colonial domination, our dignity was nipped, personality killed and our liberty confiscated. It was independence that brought us back our lost human dignity, personality and worth.