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The infertility treatment

Monday, August 11, 2008

Throughout history, there has never been a time when men of extraordinary aptitude where allowed to execute their missions without being challenged; it is either for the astounding nature of their accomplishments or for some reasons rooted in what they stand for.

The fact remains that whatever extraordinary accomplishment is reported, has always had to attract some degree of repulsion from the concerned generation. And as wisdom would have it, what is destined to be realized, no man can suppress.

This was exactly the case with President Jammeh’s landmark announcement of his possession of herbs with the potency to cure some of the world’s most bewildering medical deadlocks. Prominent among these were HIV/AIDS and diabetes. Of course, the former attracted more if not most of the condemnation his gesture of supernaturalism earned him.

However, one thing that seems to have been overlooked by those that it concerns has been the infertility treatment offered to women, results of which have been coming up of late. We have already seen Baby Isatou Njie Saidy being given birth to by Mrs Aja Sumbundu of Nemakunku.

Another lucky family announced, last Thursday, the arrival of the newest member of their family, courtesy of the president’s infertility treatment. This latest breakthrough comes as reports of pregnancies, as a result of the president’s humanitarian gesture, filter through.

There is absolutely no point in making a fuss about whether ‘The Breakthrough’ is a reality or not; the facts abound. Even foreign citizens benefited from the show of Gambian dynamism.

What would be worth spending time and effort on now is sustainability of the exercise. There is a great deal of resources needed for the sustenance of this program. Regardless of who you are or what you are in society, your role is as important as anyone else’s. The man who is responsible for doing the curing clearly does not ask for a butut in return for what he is doing. He is neither doing it for popularity nor to attract money. All he needs is support to fulfil a divine mission.

Author: DO

23 leave for East Timor today

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A platoon of 23 officers of the Gambia Police Force will leave for East Timor in Asia today on a UN peace-keeping mission. The group will replace other Gambian officers, whose one-year term has ended.

Addressing the officers at a farewell ceremony held at the GPF headquarters in Banjul, Ousman Sonko, the secretary of state for the Interior, reminded the officers about the responsibility that rests on their shoulders and urged them to be good ambassadors of The Gambia.

“As you are leaving for East Timor, respect their [East Timorese] culture and customs. Always live up to expectation and maintain peace amongst yourselves in East Timor,” said SoS Sonko, while further urging them to stick to their assignment.

He then thanked President Jammeh for creating the opportunity for Gambian service men and women to take part in foreign peacekeeping operations, since 1994.

For his part, Ensa Badjie, the Inspector General of Police, said there has been a significant increase in the number of personnel of the GPF in peacekeeping missions throughout the world.

“We all know that it is very difficult to serve in some of the missions but I am very proud to mention that Gambian peacekeepers have already been exceptionally outstanding in all the countries that they have been present. The evaluations and feedbacks we normally receive from all the missions are very pleasant and encouraging,” IGP Badjie said.

Turning to the officers, the IGP challenged them all to keep up the good momentum and maintain the standards set. “Therefore, I will urge you to try and protect the good reputation The Gambia is enjoying when it comes to international operations.

We expect you to continue flying the Gambian flag very high. When you are there, respect the culture and traditions of your host country. Try to recognise their social norms and values, and respect their religion. If you do [that], I can assure you that you will never have any problem with them,” the police boss added.

Lt Col Yakuba Drammeh, the chief of Army Staff, described the mission as a noble one and urged them to work as a team.

FRI Jammeh, the adviser of GPF, told the officers to protect life and property, as well as the ways of the East Timorese.

Ansumana Sanyang, the contingent commander, asserted that the contingent will live up to expectation.

Author: by Omar Wally

Mingdaw UBS holds graduation ceremony

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Mingdaw Upper Basic School (MUBS), recently held its 1st Speech and Prize giving ceremony for the outgoing Grade Nine (9) students, at the school ground in Farato Village, Western Region.

Presenting his annual report,Marican Mendy, principal of the school, disclosed that the student enrolment stood at 1215, comprising 599 girls. He noted that since he took over from the previous administration some years back, a lot of improvements had been registered both in the students’ academic performance and extra curricular activities.

According to him, the school had registered 360 candidates in the 2006-2007 GABECE examination, out of which 149 students were able to cross the national cut-off mark with scores ranging from aggregate 8, 9 and 11 upwards. He further went on to highlight some of the challenges facing the school, such as lack of enough furniture, science laboratory and classroom blocks, among others.

Mr Mendy seized the opportunity to thank the Taiwanese Embassy in The Gambia for their invaluable support and urged them to continue the goodwill gesture. He then hailed the President’s Empowerment for Girls Education Programme (PEGEP) for their generosity towards sponsoring students from the school.

For her part, Isatou Ndow, Head of School of Education at The Gambia college, who was also the guest speaker of the occasion, dilated on the theme “Education as a tool for national development”. Ms Ndow congratulated the outgoing students for their hard work and dedication. She described education as a gradual process of acquiring knowledge and skills, adding that it can also be referred to as a preparation for better life.

According to her, the importance of education cannot be over emphasised, as education is the foundation for freedom, democracy and sustainable human development. For a nation to prosper and develop, its citizens must be educated she said. Madam Ndow, challenged the outgoing students to take their education seriously, as their is no need for them to rush out to Europe or America.

She finally thanked the schools administration and PTA to continue the good work and urged parents to encourage their children to pursue education especially the girl child. Other speakers included Kemo Fatty,school vice principal, Mariama Drammeh, outgoing headgirl. The vote of thanks was delivered by the headboy Abdourahim Jallow.

Author: Salifu M Touray

MSSS ex-students Association revived

Monday, July 07, 2008

The members of the Muslim Senior Secondary School Ex-student Association, on June 15, gathered at the school grounds at Banjul to revitalise and elect a new executive committee for the association. The revitalisation cames at a time when the members felt that the former executive members were not fuctioning as expected of them, due to their engagement in other activities.

The association, which has been in existence since 1975, has accomodated over twenty-thousand graduates from the school. Over the years, the association has also been playing a leading role in creating mutual understanding and relationship between its members and the school.

In an interview with the Daily Observer, Muhammed Bah, the recently elected vice president of the association expounded that the new executive members of the association are committed to their duties, because they feel that they owe the school an obligation.

"The association used to lobby for funds for the needy students of the school to continue their education and it also engages in cleansing exercises at the school," Bah noted.

He challenged the members of the association, especially those at The Gambia College and GTTI, where most of its members are, to come forward and embrace the association, citing that with unity, they can all progress. He then assured the members of the association that his executive members will do their best to deliver as expected of them, stating that it was out of trust and confidence that the members elected them as executives of the association.

He finally urged others to be attending the activities of the association because they are part and parcel of the association.

Author: by Amadou Jallow

Maj Gen Tamba urges discipline

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Last week, Saint Joseph’s Basic Cycle School held its graduation for its first batch of grade nine students at the school grounds, with Major General Lang Tombong, who was the guest speaker of the occasion, admonishing the students to nurture discipline in education.

Speaking on the theme: Discipline as a prerequisite to good education, the chief of Defence Staff of the Gambia Armed Forces, said lack of submission in education encourages the unpleasant attitude of unpunctuality, disobedience, irregularity and lack of commitment to school work. He said the probable result of such an attitude yields nothingness but poor performance.

Major General Tamba further argued that no student would achieve good education without discipline. He challenged the graduating students to remain steadfast and maintain discipline for a good future.

He told the gathering that in the military, people are promoted on the basis of their merits, in which discipline and dedication to duty are central.

“This is simply to strengthen the fact that discipline at all levels in indispensable,” he remarked, noting that attendance and good behaviour are preconditions for effective learning. Accordingly, tackling poor behaviour is as much part of improving pupil performance as good teaching. He, therefore, urged all to accept that education is about value, as well as knowledge and skills.

He advised the students to work harder, saying that the search for knowledge through education has no ceiling. “This is the beginning of transition of a life full of turbulence. Your success or failure would be determined by what you do today for tomorrow”, he told the students.

Major General Lang Tombong Tamba also admonished the students to recognise the efforts of their teachers in maintaining high standards of discipline in the school.

Speaking earlier, Mrs Emily Correa Gomez, the principal of the school, thanked the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) for its tireless efforts in supporting the school. Mrs Gomez used the opportunity to elaborate on some of the recent achievements of the school.

Present at the ceremony were Mr Jatta, the principal education officer for Region 1, Mr Jallow, the duster monitor for Region 1, parents, students and a cross section of the community.

Author: by SM Ceesay

National Youth Parliament Challenged to do more About Youth Drugs and Illegal Substance Abuse

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

An official of the National Drugs Enforcement Agency (NDEA), during the Kombo South Youth Preparatory Training ahead of the District Youth Congress, recently challenged the National Youth Parliament to do more in the area of youth drug and substance abuse.

Speaking at the forum that was organised by the young people and the NDEA, Mr. Essa Sarr, the NDEA Administrative Commander stressed that more action is needed in fighting drugs in this country. He called for closer collaboration and partnership between the National Youth Parliament, the NDEA and the general public in reporting suspected drug dealers.

Sarr expressed concern over the low rate of voluntary reporting of cases to the security officials. He indicated that with the total cooperation of the rest of the society the war against drugs would end in victory.

For his part, Mr. Modou Jobe, the NDEA Prosecutor who was also speaking at the occasion revealed that drugs are rampant in the country and that all nationals are being arrested, detained, charged and prosecuted if they are caught committing drug related offences.

He proudly told the gathering of youths that his institution is making tremendous achievements in fighting drugs in this country. He encouraged every individual to provide information to the agency on drug dealers, traffickers and abusers.

Pa Samba Bojang, in his statement, described drugs as any chemical or natural substance that affects the normal functioning of the central nervous system. He told the young people that the most common form of drug abuse in this country is that of cannabis, which forms 80% of all their cases.

Hon. Maimuna Sarr, the Deputy Speaker of the National Youth Parliament who was also speaking at the occasion called for the intensification of the community policy programme. She noted that more needs to be done to create the necessary awareness among the people of the communities. She expressed her institution’s willingness to work closely with the NDEA in attempting to create a drug free society by informing the people and enrolling their help.

Various youth speakers at the function thanked the NDEA for their work and called for the institution to provide periodic publication of it’s reports on drugs especially in relation to young people so that the extent of the problem can be widely known.

Author: By Bajen Camara

Blah Blah Blah Halifa!!! "Won Ma Magis Sonna Na Chi Wah Gi"

Friday, May 16, 2008

Editor,

ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS. I have challenged Halifa Sallah over a decade ago to participate in National Development in more pragmatic and proactive stance than merely offering lip service and mere rhetoric. I have challenged PDOIS at Father Farrell Hall, I believe in the 1980s to come up with a self sustaining program to engage youths in meaningful development.

Halifa and Co. have been making a lot of noise for a long time and I will challenge them to show me a proof of the pudding after all these years of Blah Blah Blah. I was much younger then but my views are still the same. We are all responsible for the development of The Gambia. Yaya Jammeh is doing a great job. The Wollofs say "Won Ma Ma Gis Sonna Na Chi Wah Gi". Jammeh has done more than Halifa will ever do, although Halifa has been around longer (Writing constitutional treatises – editor!). No more blah blah blah and big talks. Won ma ma gis.....

Sulayman Samba Jobe

Author: DO