Commenting on this development, Mr. Dibba said that part of the story deals with the challenges of establishing internationally competitive indigenous industry in the Senegambian region in particular. He said the book is a fiction, adding that the protagonist is a Gambian character who lived in the UK as an irregular migrant and experienced the challenges irregular migrants face in the West. It is worthy to note though, he elucidates, that a different name is used in the book for The Gambia.
"The initiative to write the book has been inspired by my concern about the implications of lack of industrial development in sub-Saharan Africa in general and the Senegambia region in particular,“ Mr Dibba said, adding that it took him a couple of years of on-and-off writing to finish the book.
Mr. Dibba highlighted the desire to focus minds on industrial development, adding that Africa and Senegambia needs to promote industrial development as a prerequisite for economic development.
He thanked God for enabling him to conceive the idea of the book, and further affording him the opportunity to write the book. He also thanked his family for their patience, not to mention the support they accorded him while he worked on the book.
The book is available on Amazon via this link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWVKW2XD?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_7KWP8C5D60DRBGJGKTQG&language=en-US
Book Overview
Set in a fictional West African country in the neo-colonial socio-economic and political context of the Senegambia region, Native Warrior is an account of the travails, struggles and fighting spirit of an individual, a native of a fictional sub-Saharan African country who is especially driven by the urge to buck the prevailing trend. It is common knowledge that sub-Saharan Africa lags behind many other regions of the world in industrial and economic development, and as these two factors are mutually complementary, lack of progress in one adversely affects the other, such that Africa in general and sub-Saharan Africa in particular have a long way to go in attaining the level of development that the developed and even some other developing regions seem to take for granted.
This being the inspiration for the idea behind the novel, the hope is to highlight some of the challenges and tribulations that lurk for anybody or entity that tries to disrupt the status quo, which a certain group of people in the country in question seem hell-bent on perpetuating as it serves their interests at the expense of the majority.
However the protagonist - a former public official who travels to Europe and experiences the vicissitudes of irregular migration, before eventually regularising his status through grit and determination, even risk - return from Europe with chiefly one purpose in mind. That purpose, one he considers a holy grail, would pit him against this notoriously influential and equally dangerous group of wealthy businessmen and politicians who are renowned for their double-dealing and adeptness in political intrigue and even worse.
Fully cognisant of the dangers of embarking on his mission, the protagonist, who enjoys the support of some street-smart and politically aware individuals largely based in the country, is prepared to do all it takes to succeed against what seem daunting odds. Something has got to give if his country, a net importer of virtually all the important commodities the population depends on, is ever going to start manufacturing and exporting her own products.
The plot of the novel therefore follows the conflict brewing between a group of influential people unduly profiting from the country’s economic subordination, and the protagonist and his associates, themselves badasses in the true sense of the word.
An interesting subplot to this is the fact that one of these associates is the protagonist’s unsuspecting overseas business partner who, although not altogether ignorant about the challenges of setting up and maintaining a business in a rent-seeking state, has been kept in the dark deliberately about such a critical aspect (the potential for conflict with powerful and ruthless vested interests) of their joint venture, even though his share of the financial burden for the enterprise is more significant than the protagonist’s. Is keeping the foreign investor partner out of the loop of a malicious plot hatched by an opportunist, or a necessary imperative for the launch of the enterprise? Would the protagonist succeed in what he believes to be a progressive agenda where others have failed? These are questions and answers to which the story will unravel as the twists and turns emerge and disappear.
About the Author
The Author is a Gambian and a graduate of International Relations, based in The United Kingdom. Mr. Dibba is an independent Researcher with special interest in the challenges surrounding industrial development in Sub-Saharan Africa in general.
