Born
in Banjul on October 29, 1954, Sheikh E T Lewis was a man of: all people, all
races, all creeds and all class. He lived his life positively impacting on many
other lives in the Gambia and beyond.
But
who was this gentleman of the finest character? Well, Sheikh Lewis was truly a
man of the people. He had championed human rights in the Gambia and across the
globe. He was one of the leading pro-poor human rights and development
activists. He was a leader par excellence who offered selfless service to the
poor, the marginalized and the vulnerable groups particularly children. He was
intelligent, smart in both thinking and in appearance.
He
was a founding member of International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) Gambia
and Director of the Gambia office. He was involved in New Partnership for
Development of Africa (NEPAD) activities in the Gambia. He was the founding
member of Amnesty International (AI) Gambia. He was a member of the Rotary Club
of Banjul. Sheikh was also the founder of Bakoteh-based Center for Street
Children and Child Trafficking Studies and its library. He was the founding
member of the Consumer Protection Consortium as well as other consumer rights
groups. He was a religious man with a big heart. In short, there is hardly any
serious NGO in the Gambia that did not see the participation of Sheikh ET Lewis
in its setting up stages.
My
first encounter with Sheikh Lewis was in 1998 when I was a young reporter at
the Point Newspaper published by late Deyda Hydara and Pap Saine. Henceforth,
Lewis would regularly grant me exclusive interviews at his then office situated
at Gambia Christian Council along the MDI Road in Kanifing. For over a period
of ten years, he would willingly talked to me on crucial and topical issues
affecting the Gambia and Africa at the time, particularly those revolving around
governance and human rights.
During
my numerous visits to his office, I would see children with bare feet carrying
begging pots walk into his office. I would see boxers, I would see religious
people, business people, diplomats, politicians, senior government officials
and virtually people of all sorts and classes would flock into his office
looking for Sheik. Despite his busy schedule, he would have time for all these
different classes of people with diverse backgrounds.
He
spent most of his life and time defending the weak, the poor and the
defenseless folks. Since the advent of 1994 military takeover in the Gambia and
subsequently the entrenched dictatorship going with massive human rights
violations and systematic dehumanization process, Lewis got busier speaking out
against the many injustices and social ills which were the hallmarks of the
reign of terror brought by the so-called 1994 revolution. I saw him,
investigate, monitor and campaign against many difficult and different cases of
rights violations.
He
refused to be silent in the face of tyranny and malgovernance. Like the
Nigerian literal giant and Nobel Prize for Literature Laureate, Professor Wole
Soyanka, once said and I quote: “The Man died who kept silent in the face of
tyranny,” So, Sheikh persistently struggled to survive the more than
two-decades-long dictatorship and tyranny that the Gambia went through in the
recent past. In fact, Sheikh championed
human rights principles of: inclusion, participation, equality and respect for
the rule of law.
Sheikh,
consistently defied dictatorship convinced that the logic of peace should
prevail over the logic of violence. He spoke truth to power when many of his
compatriots preferred to remain silent or look the other way.
I
saw Lewis fiercely condemned and campaigned against the April 2000 massacre of
innocent and peaceful protesting Gambian school children. I saw him bravely
condemned the shooting of Lawyer Ousman Sillah, I saw him calling for justice
in the December 2004 cold-blooded murder of Point’s former managing editor,
Deyda Hydara and also I saw him campaigning for justice in the numerous
killings of soldiers and other people that happened on Gambian soil.
Also,
I saw that through Lewis’ personal intervention and activities many cases of wrongful
arrests and detentions of innocent people were later resolved. Likewise, many
folks eluded arbitrary arrests/detentions and kidnapping cases thanks to the
efforts of Lewis. So, the list goes on and on but to save time we can just
summarize on the life, times, activities of a fascinating and fantastic
character of this man of all people of the highest order. Of course, we all know that there was none
and still no perfect human being on earth, but Sheikh Lewis was a near-perfect
gentleman of the highest order who touched on many lives for good.
So,
I call on all to pray for his departed soul, so that the almighty Allah will
forgive him and grant him the highest stage of heavens, ameen.
Before
I take leave of you, I will like to share with you three messages from just
three individuals who knew Mr. Lewis:
Firstly,
this was from one Lamin K Saidy who remarked shortly after Lewis demise: Child
Protection Alliance Board Chairperson and The director of International Society
for Human Rights, Sheikh Lewis was a renowned human rights activist who also
championed issues of children within and outside the Gambia. He has served the
Gambia with distinction... May his gentle soul rest in peace!
Then
the second message was from one Mariama Saine who wrote birthday wishes to
Sheikh Lewis on October 29, 2016.
It
went like the following: Happy birthday Grandpa (Lewis was also fondly called).
Live
longer for us to tap from you river of wisdom. Wishing you good health and long
life.
And
the last but not the least is from Omar Ousman Jobe and I quote: “Sheikh was
always ready to confront injustice whatever the consequence. What struck me
from the time I got acquainted with him was his temerity, his openness to new
ideas, his willingness to go all out to support the vulnerable and marginalized
people. He was a man with a heart of gold. At some point, when the unjust tried
to ride roughshod over people, he was ready to “take a bullet for me. The
amazing thing is that at the time, he did not even know me well. What Sheikh
told his colleagues was: “we will all be accountable for our acts in the grave.
Let us do the right thing and have peace. That was when I became so Sheikh
Lewis attached. Today, he has departed this world. We pray that Allah
Subahanahu watalaa grant him Jannah for all the good work he has done in the
service of humanity,” end of quotes.
I
thank you all for you kind attention.
NOTE:
This was the statement delivered by Momodou L Jaiteh, the Secretary General of
Consumer Protection Consortium (CPC) at the University of the Gambia where
Sheikh Lewis was honored on Tuesday March 11th 2020 by The Gambia Consumer
Protection and Competition Commission as part of activities marking this year’s
Consumer Rights Day observed worldwide on March 15.
