What began as a gesture of purely noble intervention - the president’s move to venture into the infertility treatment – now happens to be the subject of national debate.

According to President Jammeh himself during last weekend’s ceremony marking the discharging of the 3rd, 4th and 5th batches of patients undergoing his treatment programs, about 80% of Gambians had raised concerns about his security, all because of the increasing popularity of his infertility treatment.

The fact that Gambians can make such a passionate appeal to their leader suggests the bond of love between the leader and the led, and it goes further to confirm the degree of appreciation of the people of The Gambia of the selfless service of their leader.

But as wisdom would have it, Allah would never entrust the affairs of such a noble people to someone that would not commensurate the integrity of his people. It was therefore not a surprise that the president responded in the most prudent of manners imaginable.

“The decision whether to continue with the treatment or not,” he told thousands of Gambians  at his home village of Kanilai, “rests on you, the Gambians”. In effect, the president has turned the decision-making baton over to the people. How thoughtful of a leader in this 21st century!

What we can deduce from this is that President Jammeh understands the feelings of his people, and he fervently appreciates their concern; but, obsessed with the urge to fulfil the promise of destiny, there is no way he is going to give in so soon. Caught between necessity and the need to love, all that occurred to him was to throw back the decision to his people.

Now this is one of the most uncommon gestures in today’s world. The president, apparently, is so much filled with humanitarian concern for the sick that he just cannot abandoning these people. The final point rests on the following question: “Should I leave them in their misery, or should I believe in the Almighty Allah and treat them?” This is the question Gambians have been tasked to answer. It is by no means an easy question to answer, let’s make no mistake about that.

We are talking here about 2,500 people who having registered for the president’s treatment for an illness that has denied them the joy of a whole life – childlessness. Until we come to a conclusion, the situation lies in the balance.

Members of the Taiwanese community recently retreated to President Jammeh’s farm at Kanilai Village, Foni Kansala, in response to his call for people to go back to the land for the attainment of food-self sufficiency.

The officials of the Taiwanese Technical Mission in the country and other Taiwanese nationals residing in the country took part in a weeding exercise at the rice fields in Kanilai.

The volunteers were led to the farm by the chief of the Taiwanese Mission, Ambassador Richard Shih.

When he visited the volunteers on the farm, President Jammeh thanked the Taiwanese community for their support. He described Taiwan as a true and genuine friend of The Gambia.

Apathy towards farming has always been associated with individuals’ reluctance to cultivate the land. But the campaign being spearheaded by President Jammeh has evidently  changed the face of the whole situation to a great extent.

Along the line, it has become clear that in fact, there is more to the problem than just attitude. Let us assume that 14 years back Gambians were not willing to till the land. Today, however, the enthusiasm is unequivocally tremendous. It makes the long term outlook of living in The Gambia pretty much promising.

However, it must be borne in mind that the realistic attainment of this promising prospect, demands that we maintain the momentum. Of course, the political will, which should serve as an overall motivating factor, actually does exist; we only have to pray that it remains with us for the next, say, five decades.

But the complexity of the system demands that permanent structures are in place if subsequent generations of Gambians would appreciate whatever we will be passing down to them. All this demands a massive investment by this generation; investment not only in terms of effort, but also in terms of agricultural infrastructural development.

Despite all the steps we have taken, we will not get anywhere or our explicitly genuine efforts won’t have any meaningful impact if we do not put in place the right mechanisms that would ensure sustenance of the practice. As a matter of fact, sustenance of a productive agricultural sector would require total commercialisation, and in this case, the intervention of the private sector would be paramount to that effect.

The private sector has an epic role to play here. Apart from provision of the resources, marketing, which forms a core factor in any sustainable business venture,  is a domain the private sector can help in. The call by the secretary of state for Trade, Industry an Employment was indeed quite well placed in this regard.

A prudent approach to this noble suggestion of his would not only ensure a sure and sustainable food supply, but will also make room for employment opportunities, as such an intervention has the potential to revolutionize the sector.