By Yero S. Bah
The Gambian Chapter of the Professor Patrick Lumumba Foundation was inaugurated over the weekend, to purposely carry out the activities of the foundation in the country as it obtains in over 38 other African countries, since its inception 30 years ago.
The Chapter’s Country Manager, Mr. Alagie B. Drammeh, said it’s opened in Banjul on the basis of the need to inculcate the values and principles of the foundation in young Gambians, reasoning that The Gambia and Africa (in general) need ethical leadership and leaders to propel the continent’s much-needed development agenda in their individual nations, but also on the level of the continent.
“Africans have suffered a lot and it is the youth who can induce prosperity and rejuvenate the true sense of the pan-Africanism spirit to the letter, on the continent,” Drammeh remarked. The Foundation is involved in advocacy, the provision of scholarships to deserving pan-Africanists, healthcare and charitable work across the continent.
Drammeh explained that, among the visions of the foundation is to nurture young people with ethical leadership and integrity, promote pan-African and patriotism ideals among the youth, foster attitudinal change among young people, initiate projects and programs that empowers young people to realize their full potentials politically and economically, to just name a few, noting that the foundation aspires to be the flagship of excellence in the Gambia with the aim of “imbibing” young people with ethical leadership ideals.
For the guest speaker of the occasion, Mr. Bye Malleh Wadda, Africans must realize that they are human beings and that they owe it to themselves to keep the trees, animals, and fellow human beings safe. He explained that pan-Africanism comes after humanism in a sense that every pan-Africanist must have that humane sense of reasoning, nurtured in his/her personality before the assertion of a pan-Africanism ideology.
“We must find the undiscovered problems within us and the solutions, for if we are not the “solutionists” of our own glitches then we shall fail in our struggle,” Wadda.
Mr. Ebrima H. Secka, the deputy Country Manager said the youth on the continent and Gambia in particular, need to step up to initiate their development projects as well as promote the values of integrity, ethical leadership in order to restore the dignity of the African person.
On a video lecture, Professor Patrick Lumumba himself encouraged Africans, especially the youth, to break the circle of dependency and colonial mindset of the Africans; but also raised pertinent questions as when will Africans stop the importation of basic human needs of the continent such as food items and non-food essentials, lamenting that the continent virtually imports everything from matches, rice, flour to tissue papers and more.
The inauguration also saw the swearing-in of the new executive who would push the agenda of the foundation’s chapter for the course of their term.
