Gambia De Sunu Rew
My parents moved from Guinea Bissau
at a time when the country was ravaged by war and poverty. Dakar, Senegal was
the first place of relocation. After many years, the war intensified in Guinea
Bissau and hundreds of people were killed and many fled to neighboring
countries on a daily basis. Due to this fact, my parents finally decided to
give up the hope of returning to their country of birth, and decided to move to
The Gambia where my siblings and I were born. As expected, life was difficult for
a family that found themselves in a strange land with no jobs and limited understanding
of the language. My father was a house painter whose
monthly check never made it home. He owned neither a house nor a car. A bicycle
five years older than me, was his means of transportation but like many African
men, he was able to afford three wives and produce multiple children.
“Da ma uth
legay” (am looking for a job) was my mother’s only Wollof catchphrase. “Su ma mbendan bi” (my maid) became her
new name. She washed plates and bowls.
She cleans kitchens and toilets. She even washed undies and ironed female bras.
She ploughed hard lands until blisters
begin to form on her hands. She was always the first to arrive and the last to
leave the market selling “netettu ak kani
bu shew’.”
Affording rent means living in clay,
leaky, raggedy, house, where the roof creaks like the voice of a hundred
tortured souls and the shadows demolish even with the brightest light: one candle
for the entire house, one bed for four children, and one uniform for the entire
school year. Plain, cooked, white rice
with slices of onions and Maggie jumbo, splashed with palm kernel oil
and “cobo bu laka “ (smoked fish) at
the center that look like it is thanking you for eating it, because nobody
would wish to eat such a fish. But, we managed to survive not because of our strength,
but because Gambia was a country that invites and accepts every stranger;
citizens and non-citizens alike. And the term first class, second or third
class citizen was never an issue.
The story of my parents is not
unique. However, I tell this story in regard to the concept of citizenship. What are the views held concerning it? It
seems that either one holds the view that citizenship is the right to have
rights by virtue of being human, or one holds the view that citizenship is not
a right but a sense of belonging to a particular society or group in a specific
region, recognized by particular countries, as an
independent, sovereign state. One might also hold the view that there should be
no such thing as a country. That Mother Nature was made for all her creatures
to enjoy freely without borders. And that institutions—governments and
non-governments alike, have no right to draw a line and limit others the right given
to them by their creator according to the mind set of devoted fundamentalists. On
the other hand, skeptics and sacrilegious nationalists will argue that, “the source
of government was the people of a particular territory, not individually but
collectively. That the people’s sovereignty was proclaimed in the name of Man
(not God), so it was, in theory, reducible to man’s individual sovereignty.
However, it became clear that the so-called inalienable rights of men could
only find their guarantee in the collective rights of the people to sovereign government,
and a government is effective only with a well-defined territory.”
Often, when I tell people my father
is from Guinea Bissau, my mother is from Senegal, and I was born in Gambia.
Comments such as “you are not a first
class citizen then. You are a second class, or a third class citizen,” are what
I will usually get in return. But, who is a true citizen today, and what
actually make them one? Is it the “unquestioning support of their government,
or a love for a country’s founding principles of freedom, dignity, justice,
equality, and the rule of law for all?” Which of these three classes of citizens
do we hold to be superior and why? Where
does the line stop between these three classes of citizens? Can one be better
than the other? Should the superior one just be limited to those whose
forbearers were among the first settlers? Or should it be awarded based on merits
and determination to people with patriotic mindsets? Can one be a patriot and
not be a citizen? Should these two be
separated?
There remains to be examined what
should be the methods, procedures, and duty of a citizen dealing with his/her
country and government. However, knowing that many may disagree about this, I
am mindful that by writing about it, I could be judged as condescending and
presumptuous, since it is in discrepancy with the beliefs of the so-called
“patriots ”. That said, my intention is to write about citizenship, although many
under the category that I dub as “so called patriotic citizens” have their
governments mislead them believe that their exists no disparity between a first
class, and second or third class citizen. The reality is simply not that.
The true modern definition of
citizenship challenges every individual’s definition of a citizen. It has gone
beyond an individual’s place of birth. It emphasizes the core values that are
necessary in the growth and advancement of a nation and reminds us of the duty of
every individual. Citizenship also highlights responsible stewardship, shared
sacrifice on the time and resources spent on national development and puts country
above. But today, many who live by these principles are not granted the first
class ticket if they embrace the sheer principle of disagreeing with their
government. These are the ones vilified as unpatriotic individuals. However, a
broader view of citizenship challenges the rather myopic view of citizenship by
self-proclaimed “ patriotic citizens”. It has been co-opted by corrupted,
sacrilegious, and selfish few as a chest-thumping means to justify selfishness,
aggression, injustice, and to condemn the very convention and norm that every
citizen should be proud of. But how can
you blame them? What else do they have to offer? Their only means of staying
relevant is to create an atmosphere of “US vs. them.” Unless I start to sound
like them, I will help them understand what it means to be a first class citizen
and a patriot at the same time. And again, it ought to be read without
prejudice.
The true citizen reframes the concept
of patriotism and turns a country to what it should be: a public virtue and
responsibility that every individual hold as just and beneficial to the greater
majority, and is based on a progressive moral code, hard work, and paying
allegiance to a country and not an individual, or a few group of “Cabudos” with
selfish intentions. In other words, a citizen, a true inhabitant, is
reasonable, honest and truthful in the way he deals, communicates, and behave
with his fellow countrymen; acting with humility but also with a sheer set of
principles. Saying it is white because in truth, it is white and everybody will
agree to it. Saying it is wrong, because, in truth, it is not in line with the
law and would fight to make those wrong to be held accountable without fear or
favor. This is the gap between how one life as a citizen and how one ought to
live as a patriot. That anyone who abandons it is leaning towards the devastation
of his country rather than its preservation, and neither does he deserve a
first class nor a second or third class citizenship.
A first class citizen should be
judged by some of the following qualities: One should be considered a first
class patriotic citizen if he is a giver and not a greedy rapacious
person. One is a first class citizen if
he is merciful and not cruel to his fellow human beings; faithful and not
treacherous. Bold and courageous in sets of principles, and not effeminate in cowardly
lies and deceptions. Human in his
approach to others and not haughty, arrogant escape beast. Chaste not
lascivious, trustworthy not cunning, lenient not harsh, frivolous not serious.
These are some of the qualities worthy of a first class citizen. These are the
qualities necessary to move a nation forward. These are the qualities everyone
will admit, are praiseworthy and necessary for a first class citizen. But since it is neither possible to have them
nor to observe them all completely, because human nature does not permit it, a
citizen must be prudent enough to know how to escape the bad reputation of
those vices that are detrimental not only for him, but for the well-being of
the nation he/she pays allegiance to. And the more an individual starts to loose these qualities, the more
their level of citizenship falls to second or third or fourth class
citizenship.
