hello welcome back to another video if you're new here I am billion and this is billion tv my guest for today's video is Doctor Ismaila Ceesay thank you very much billion okay and welcome to my humble house my humble home and also thank you for having me on your program thank you very much doctor first of all doctor can you introduce yourself to my advice my name is ismaela sisi i'm a gambian born in brikama i did my primary schooling in brigama and also the dara that is introduction to islamic studies in brickhammer after upon sitting my common entrance in 1990 i could not get the pass mark that would take me to one of the prestigious high schools at that time there were very few high schools at that time uh we had the common entrance system um so a pass mark was set that anybody who has that pass mark and above you go down to prestigious high schools like saint augustine's gambia high muslim high to some extent armitage but i could not get the pass mark to go to either of these high schools so the option was technical secondary schools which was only from four and i didn't want to go there because i was in a technical person so that forced me to quit school for almost one year i was in the neighborhood doing nothing then my mom decided to ship me off to sierra leone to finish my education so i went to sierra leone and did my high schooling in sierra leone up to form five which i finished in 1995. i came home back home to the gambia look for jobs i could not find a job another time the nav syndrome was very infectious every young person wanted to travel to the west to look for greener pastures because we thought that we had no future in this country so i was among the young generation of gambian that migrated to the west in particular to sweden to look for greener pastures to work and to help my family back home so i was in sweden i lived and worked in sweden for a couple of years and then i decided that i should study because i was so fascinated with the development of swedish society in the way they built their country in the way they cared for their society so i i also had the same vision for the gambia and i knew that the only way i could achieve that vision is for me to educate myself that was when i decided to study and live work to study i enrolled at the university of stockholm to study political science initially my application was rejected because they would not accept my high school certificate from here so i had to go to high school again in sweden another three years and then apply again at stockholm university and i got accepted studied political science for four years which i finished in 2006 and then i proceeded on to scotland in edinburgh to do my master's in african politics at edinburgh university which i finished in 2008 2009 then after that i had decided that it's time for me to go back home to gambia and contribute my own quarter to national development that the idea was that my knowledge was worthless if it doesn't help develop my country country that's when i came home to the gambia and i knew that i wanted to lead the vanguard of young ambiance to build the modern gambia and that i could not do it alone even if i was armed with the knowledge to do with the young people that i needed to come with me to do this fight needed to be armed with technology as well there was no better place to equip them with this knowledge done at the university was when i decided to apply to teach at the university political science at university and i got accepted and started teaching at utg for 10 years but in between i went back to scotland to do my phd in african studies which i finished in 2016. came back home and continued my work at utg at some point i was head of political science department at utg i was also the founder and then the director of the master's program in international relations and diplomacy i was also at some point the president of the staff and faculty association until recently when i took leave of absence to focus on politics that's that's that's that's a good move what uh an amazing uh background uh but uh with all this experience and all this you are living a good a good life already why running to be the fourth president of this country well for two or three reasons and i'll break it down for you one is my belief in the potential and the power of this country but however that potential and that power has not been matched by the leadership needed divisional leadership needed to transform that potential under power to make sure we raise standards of living and make sure we build a country where our resources can be harnessed and equitably distributed so that every government can live a dignified life so every gambia no matter where you are born in this country no matter from which parent no matter from what tribe no matter from which region no matter from which village or town or city you have access to the most basics you have access to clean water in your own house without going to fetch water in the well access to cheap electricity access to good roads that connect our communities no matter where you are if we have good roads connecting vigillo and kololi and cursing and backward we should have good roads connecting collier and all those villages in that surroundings in phony and in naomi so that every child that is born in the gambia no matter where you are whether you are born in colorado or callie or you have access to the same quality education it's unfair for a child born in color you can have access to good education while the child born in color doesn't have access to good education they will all grow up in this country but they'll not have access to equal opportunities so that every child has access to quality education every government has access to quality healthcare so when you are sick you are cured where you are you don't have to travel far for you to access healthcare and that is my vision for the gambia and also i thought that i have my phd but my phd is worthless if it doesn't positively impact my society in the government particular or the african continent in general if my knowledge and my expertise and my experience is able to provide me a nice house a good nice car a nice family going to private schools but it doesn't help lift my people out from poverty both in the gambia and in the african continent it doesn't contribute to coming up with the ideas to make sure that our young people have jobs where they can live a dignified life in their own country and make it here it doesn't help with the ideas that can provide clean water for every household it doesn't provide ideas that can ensure that our children have access to good education that we build the good roads that are needed that we build a good country that every other country can envy then my knowledge and my expertise and my experience is worthless it is useless and i thought that now it's time for people like us who understand the problems of this country and have solutions to these problems to also play that critical role it's at that juncture we have a dual task billiard the fourth task is to build a country for today to solve our complex problems of today they are young people they are 65 percent of our population they like jobs they feel deprived and frustrated they'll work all day all week all month earlier they cannot even provide the most bare minimum basic for themselves women are suffering in the farms in the gardens to struggle all day all night from 4 a.m to 10 a.m before they go to bed they cannot even get by all eight pensioners are living in in dignity some of them are forced to rent until they are living their families renting our children are not getting access to the education they need so they build they have a good life our people have access to clean water this is our problem of today but also population growth is telling us that we'll be five million people in 2050. we need to build a country for five million people we need to start thinking of the jobs we want to create for those young people who are coming in 2050. what kind of education system do we want in what kind of healthcare sector do you want to build in 2050 what kind of rules do you want to build what kind of society do we want to build into individual that works that style so we have a dual responsibility therefore we need every gambian with the expertise and the knowledge and the patriotism and the compassion needed to join politics and ensure that politics is about the competition of ideas to bring forward the ideas that can develop this country that is why i joined okay doctor you've uh not long ago uh visited europe and we've seen your post on facebook you visited so many places in the germany uh tell us about the outcome of the visa well it was a very successful visit the visit had two purposes the first purpose was to and that was the primary purpose in fact to visit gambians in germany especially the asylum seekers who are living in different times and in different asylum homes to understand their plight to know exactly what they are going through to talk to them to encourage them to also advise them to be law abiding in germany and to discuss their situation to see how we can help them because we've seen that uh the majority are living in anxiety fear of being deported we are just there to tell them that we will not allow any deportation to regain of any gambian young gambian from germany or elsewhere at this point in time our institutions are not strong enough to accommodate them our society is not ready to accommodate them we don't have the wherewithal to receive deportees from germany or elsewhere so i just wanted to talk to them to know their plight because i'm always been fighting for their course in the gambia and for me to able to effectively do that i need to get first-hand information about the applied their situation whether their rights are being respected and what they want and that was the purpose and i met a lot of young ambience in the asylum homes where they live in the streets at very intensive discussions with them now i have a better understanding of their situation i'll be more than ready to fight for their course and show that their rights are respected and that international covenants are also respected and they're not deported back to the gambia and instead gemma should pursue a policy of reintegration that is reinteg helping those younger men so they integrate into german or european society by providing them skills training and jobs that is the primary purpose of diversity the secondary purpose was to also visit critical institutions sector institutions like agriculture livestock and also energy in line with our vision to transform this country into 21st century countries when it comes to agriculture our vision is to transform the agricultural sector from subsistence-based agriculture to commercial like skilled agriculture with its value chain of manufacturing so the idea was to look at the new technologies the new knowledge understanding new knowledge that can help us achieve that goal and shall we also move away from seasonal agriculture which is every rainy season to run the agriculture how do we harvest rain water how do we make use of our surface water or underground water to ensure that we build the right irrigation systems that can water our plantations year-round but also the new technologies and the new machines and the new knowledge that can be used to make sure that there is large-scale commercial farming but also to understand the entire value chain and how it works and the technologies and the knowledge needed to to create that to make sure that we also transform our commodities into room into our raw materials and commodities into finished products in factories in the gambia based on regional what they call regional specialization for example if we know that phony as the right climate and the red soil to grow fruits we want to see plant a hectare as hectares of plantations of pineapple bananas mangoes in phony but also a factory in food that can transform those fruits into secondary products for example juice and pineapple um smart pineapples and teens and so on and so forth and also to understand the energy sector how do we transform gun based energy sector we shift away from using generators 100 hfo to making sure that we use indigenous renewable resources to provide energy and then so we have energy security within this shortest possible time to ensure that we start powering our industries and our homes with solar energy with wind energy with water energy and also with biogas i visited those companies those factories those institutions those universities that do cutting edge research in these issues to help me understand more these things and how they can help us achieve our vision of making sure we built a truly 21st century in the gambia okay uh you spoke about uh agriculture and energy these are the most uh important things that need to be fixed in this country but what do you think is the problem leadership leadership has been our sole problem since independence we've not been lucky to have the innovative visionary leaders that can have the right mindset to come up with the right ideas that can transform the capital we have into tangible benefits for our people if you have you can be sitting on a gold mine here with diamond and oil and everything if you don't have the right leadership with the right mindset that believes in itself that can inspire the population to work and sacrifice and transform come up with the ideas to transform those materials into world and that wealth is used on selfishly selflessly to invest in people then there's a problem like you said we had independence since 1965 that is flag independence let me just digress and tell that no country is independent today we live in a globalized world that's what they call global capital global production chains that's what they call global trade so no country is independent passage but we had flag independence in 1965 it was when the british handed over governance to gambians by lowering the union jack and raising of the gambian national flag and giving us our own national anthem and telling us that now we have our own constitution we are ready to govern ourselves being in charge of our own destiny and our own resources but again since 65 what have we achieved as a country we cannot feed ourselves everything we eat comes from outside even the staple food that we rely on everyday rice we cannot even grow it we only grow 19 of our rice needs that's very little oil sugar butter you name it ketchup mayonnaise everything we eat but we have the potential to make it here ketchup is made from tomatoes some tomatoes are spelt in women's gardens mayonnaise is made from eggs we even import eggs when we have the potential to have one of the biggest poultries in the world even milk simple thin milk we have to import when we have the potential to expand our livestock industry to provide milk that can be made to thin milk and condense the milk and yogurt and ship outside of this country to sell by boosting our terms of trade we have not been able to donate we can't even feed our people when we are sick the medicine that comes comes from outside we cannot even provide our energy needs for our people today power cuts power energy is erratic we cannot provide water for our people so we have not really achieved uh that's why i told you that the power and the potential of this country since 65 hasn't been marked by the leadership needed to transform this country um or to provide the dividend that is needed so leadership has been our sole problem and i think it's time for us to have a visionary dynamic innovative leader an effective leader who can come up with the right ideas with the right vision with the right mindset to inspire the population to sacrifice and work hard and transform our indigenous resources and harness it and make sure that we create the world needed and invested in our people dr you spoke of the migrants you visited in germany most of the young people who leave this country for europe in particular uh lose hope for this country and that is the same thing that's still continuing here most of the youth in this country lose hope in the system they don't think they can make it in the game so what do you think it's the problem well it's not a new phenomenon i lost hope in this country in 1995 when i left i did not get a scholarship to go and study in europe i left because i looked for a job for one year i couldn't find a job i left i lost hope in this country i thought that i have no future in this country but after getting my education in the west i came back to give hope to the young people but what is wrong is that we've neglected our young people we fail to invest in our young people young people must have the right skills and the right job the decent job so they can stay so they can feel that they are part of this country so they can have access to the most basic needs good jobs jobs that pay them good money so they can take care of themselves and their families so they can buy their basic needs so they can feel that they're part of the country but when they are neglected they feel deprived when there's so much inequality in this country when the country is not balanced you know it's like a skill a few people having all the wealth are up there the rest are having the population are down here that is why we want to inject the country with the social interventions and policies to balance the skill so we build a bigger middle class so young people can stay in this country and become what they want to be in a successful manner if you want to be a cameraman you're a successful cameraman you can buy your own compound and build it as a cameraman and have your own car and take care of your own family if you're a carpenter you're a successful carpenter you have your own car and your own house and take care of your family if a plumber you're a successful plumber you can buy your car as a plumber and your house and take care of your family if you want to be a footballer you're a successful footballer here in gambia by investing in the national league to make sure that all those who are playing they are professional and they are well paid once you don't create that environment where young people can feel that they have they have opportunities in this country to make it they live and these are the push factors that push them out that they feel that they have no opportunities here they feel deprived there's so much inequality you wake up in the morning as a young man you don't have even breakfast it that comes with the structural violence the jutsu nayar my name nobody respects you even in your home or in your community people look at you in disdain they see you as a failure even your younger brother or your friend who's been to europe and come back after two or three years with a car they're expecting more than you even in your own house your younger brother is more respected than you his breakfast is kept nicely and decorated for him to wake up and eat his breakfast if you wake up late there is no breakfast for you his dinner is also kept nicely on the table and decorated for him to eat dinner even if it comes at 1am if dinner finds you outside you'll have to go to the kitchen to scavenge and see what you can eat your sisters will not wash your clothes but they'll wash his clothes that is your younger brother they'll consult him on family matters they'll not consult you because you're a police officer or a teacher and your salary is not enough that is painful that is painful that dutina is painful that is why most young people that's violence that's structural violence that deprivation is what forces them to say you know what i'd rather die at sea than to face this humiliation in my own home in my own compound from my own parents from my own family from my own community from my own neighbors that is why these are the push factors what is the relationship of citizen aliens and these other political parties right now well we have a very good relationship when we got registered and i was elected as the party leader one of the first moves i made was to visit each and every party leader to promote peaceful coexistence among political parties and to promote you know to promote political diversity to make them understand that we are the same we'll have an objective to move this country forward the vision might be different the programs and policies might be different the way we understand the problem and the solutions might be different but we are all one and the same peoples we have very good relationship with every party we don't engage in insults we don't engage in political castigation we don't attack other parties unnecessarily we don't engage in insults we so we have a very good relationship with each and every part even with the ruling party what do we expect from a citizen alliance government from 2021 well what do you expect is development development and development i've said this before and i'll repeat it on your platform that in 1965 we voted for independence in 2016 we voted for democrats and the rule of law this 2021 is for us to vote for development because our independence and the democrats will be meaningless if there is no development we are going to ensure a promise or what you can expect from the ca government is that our resources will be harnessed to create wealth needed and invested in our people we want to ensure we have a society where we have a large middle class that every citizen must have access to the basics that there are six things that we must provide for our people and this is the contract we are going to have with the people one is to provide jobs for our young people that every young company has a decent job and they have paid the value of their labor that the cost of living is reduced so every gambian can eat three square meals a day our kids can have the nutrition they need so they can focus on school every child has access to quality education no more discrimination no more unequal normal disparities in access to education where some children have access to private schools and the rest are going to bad public school you're not going to allow that we're going to stop that we're going to invest in public education to bring quality to public education that every government has access to healthcare where you are you don't have to move away from any village to go to a big turn to access healthcare will bring healthcare to the village that every community is linked to the road good road networks the feeder roads are created that every gambian has access to cheap electricity which is clean as well the rest governments have to do it for themselves but this is our contract with the government people and we are going to fulfill it so this is what you can expect from the citizen science government doctor what's your advice to the young people who are looking up to you as a mentor well to believe in themselves first and foremost i remember that was a time when my education was most uh was spoiled but i don't believe in myself i was in i'm not from a rich family i never had a scholarship in my life everything i achieved today i worked hard for it by believing in myself so the young people to believe in themselves and to be ready to make the sacrifice for them to make it in life let them not wait for the government to give them anything let them demand it let them be disciplined let them know what they want and let them go for it they must believe in themselves let them not be discouraged by anybody the sky is the limit whatever you want to be you can be it if you work hard so i advise them to work hard to sacrifice to believe in themselves and to be disciplined and to be law abiding and not let and let them not allow any politician to use them politicians today the young people are currency in this country they decide who goes to state house on the 5th of december young people will decide so every politician will come for them but let them be very smart they don't allow politicians to use them give them t-shirts put them together let's take them around and play them around and then when they win they forget about their plight let them listen to every politician and ask them the critical questions what are you going to do for us as young people when you come to power and that question must be answered satisfactorily if not let them not give them their vote any politician that comes with the rhetoric of tribe and region and whatever don't vote for those politicians they have no ideas so young people will decide it's their election therefore it should favor them whoever wins in 2021 must work for the young people that is why i've said before that this election should be the election for young people by young people and nobody should take that away from them is there anything that you wish to say that i didn't ask you about no i think you've asked the right questions you became prepared with your questions i think you've asked questions that you want to ask so i'm yeah i think we are both satisfied with this interview thank you thank you very much thank you very much foreign
2021-07-30