Indeed, "what this continent of ours needs is resources to boost agriculture, not conferences whose resolutions are hardly implemented." These were the words of the Gambian leader, minutes after arriving from his latest brotherly visit in Guinea Bissau; a country whose peace and security has been his preoccupation.

The sheer rigor with which the leaders of these two countries continue to pursue their relationship suggests a throbbing death of the vestiges of colonial influence. This is indeed amusing as it goes parallel with the interest of Africa and what it stands for. Time and again, it has been argued that the concept behind colonialism deliberately aims at perpetrating a demoralised African continent, at the interest of an oppressive West. This is manifested in all relationships that bind the two countries.

But unfortunately, the history of our continent is dominated by tales of breeds of conniving leadership, thus the current dilapidated status of Africa. The stories have have always been corruption, nepotism, civil strife… all based on selfishness and egotistic grounds.

The question now is: For how long do we have to go in order to grasp the reality that it is only our own architectural design that can ensure an enviable destiny for our coming generations?

It is indeed auspicious that the continent has been blessed with a handful of dedicated breeds of leaders. All they need is a supportive people with uniformity of purpose.

It certainly does not take any expert knowledge to know that closer cooperation, and only closer cooperation, can save us from the vulnerable situation we find ourselves in as a nation. If, for instance, as President Jammeh argued, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry and a few other countries on this West Coast of Africa have the potential to make a big difference with regards to the ability to feed their people, one would ask what is it that is holding them back. The land mass is abundant; the climatic conditions are ubiquitous; and the human resource base is as certain as the existence of the heavens. All we need is attitudinal change towards farming, which reminds us of what the president told reporters at the Banjul International Airport, upon his arrival from Bissau.

It is shameful that the countries we tend to look up to for guidance in this largely materially conscious world, have been in control of our stomach all this time. It is only when they started bluffing us off about the crazy idea of food for fuel that we have come to our senses.  But let us hope that what has served as an eye-opener would serve its purpose in influencing our outlook to the realities of life and self reliance.

Gambians highly welcome the announcement of the possible formation of a battalion for agricultural productivity in GAF. This will certainly serve as a catalyst for the already morally equipped and professionally stable armed forces core of the country. Putting them in charge of food production ventures is an attempt to render humanitarian support, for which military forces around the world are known.