In the recent weeks, there has been a lot of talk about the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi allegedly killed by his countrymen in their embassy in Turkey. Initially, the Saudi Government denied any knowledge of his whereabouts but under scrutiny and intense pressure from the International Community, they are said to have admitted that he died in an ‘interrogation gone wrong’. Incredible!
Earlier, US president, Mr Donald Trump sought to muddy the waters by saying in passing that perhaps he was killed by rogue elements. This was seen as trying to give a lifeline to the Saudis because the comments came shortly after speaking to the Saudi King who, he said, vehemently denied knowledge of the journalist’s whereabouts.
The question is, why would the president of the US, the self-appointed policeman of the world, seek to give the Saudis a carte Blanche over the killing of their own citizen whose only crime was to speak out against injustices in his country? The answer is simple: the petrodollars. Saudi Arabia is a key ally of the United States and buys billions of dollars worth of arms every year from them. Being one of the main producers of oil, they are key in maintaining a favourable price of oil in the world.
Addionally, Saudi is crucial in curtailing the growing influence and power of Iran which the US sees as an axis of evil that has to be stopped by any and all means necessary. It is becoming apparent that the US policy on human rights is cherry picking where to enforce it and where to let it slide. In most cases, this is determined by how beneficial a nation’s relationship can be to them or not.
It is now clear – at least to some people – that the United States’ quest for justice and human rights is tainted by their economic needs and greed. For, it is clear that there cannot be one rule for some and a different one for others when we want to ensure that justice prevails in the world. There has to be core values which apply to all countries and not just when it suits us. George Orwell’s Animal Farm comes to mind.
This now brings to mind The Gambia’ s dilemma. As we all now know that the choice former president Yahya Jammeh made when he fled to Equatorial Guinea was an excellent one. The country has a dictator who keeps a stranglehold on his country and engages in a lot of human rights violations. But because, like Saudi Arabia, they are endowed with a lot of natural resources in which the West is interested, they are unlikely to put any pressure on him to extradite Yahya Jammeh.
Last week, the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission was launched and it is wellknown that many of the perpetrators will point the finger to Yahya Jammeh, he might be needed here for prosecution. Now, when that happens, how are we going to get him extradited to face justuce?
This will have serious implications for our transitional justice prospects because if we can’t get him to come and face justice – if he happens to be the bearer of the greatest burden of human rights abuses as Justice Minister Tambedou puts it – the whole thing would have been an exercise in futility. The world is coloured in injustices which affect the day to day livelihoods of ordinary people and so it’s almost a hopeless case.
Looking at all these cases, the Gambia Government’s plans to send at least one thousand Gambian youths to go to Saudi Arabia to seek jobs is indeed worrisome. If Saudi can murder their own citizen with impunity, who is to say that they will respect and treat Gambians working there rightly? This agreement needs to be revisited and looked into carefully before we commit ourselves to it.
For the problem of unemployment, the Gambia Government needs to look critically at our education system. We need to change our education system completely to keep in mind our developmental aspirations instead of taking the easy way out by sending our youth to the Middle East where workers are not at all respected.
The answer to our problems is education – an education system which produces job creators rather than job seekers. If we can include skills training for vocational expertise, we will produce young people who can start working on their own even if they can’t find employment in the public sector. That is the way forward.
So, we should continue seeking solutions to this education problem. Last week, on my weekly radio talkshow on Teranga FM, Professor Gomez of the University of The Gambia spoke of the manner in which countries like China have used education to change their fortunes. He said that what we need to do as a nation is to make education the priority of the priorities. I totally agree with Gomez. Do you?
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A Concerned Citizen