Our country celebrates the anniversary of its independence with great enthusiasm and solidarity, achieving a historic milestone in the country’s journey.
The MacCarthy Square, as usual, hosts another significant part of the celebrations, where distinguished citizens from across our country will be recognized for their gallantry, patriotism, and contributions to the nation’s progress.
Emphasizing the importance of unity and peace as our country continues to move forward, it is indeed through our collective efforts that we will also continue to honour the legacy of our independence.
Our nationwide celebrations will not only reflect pride in our country’s achievements over the past six decades but also help reinforce the importance of national cohesion for the future.
It is a time to honour the sacrifices made for our freedom, even as we reflect on the complexities of our history and what lies ahead.
As we stand together, united in our pursuit of true independence and justice, let us also, at the same time, cherish this milestone and commit to a future that honours all who sacrificed for our freedom.
Our forbears fought for our political freedom and now it is our duty to fight for the economic freedom of our children.
The fight that we now face is complex and requires intellectual and diplomatic knowledge and skills; indeed, negotiation and compromises in an evolving world dynamics and in the hope of a new and more equitable world order.
0f importance and as a nation, we need to invest more in the development of our education, health, agriculture sectors as we relentlessly pursue rural infrastructural development and the empowerment of our youth and women folks.
Similarly, we need to fight against the increasing lawlessness and insecurity as well as the huge misappropriation, across the board, of our national fortune.
Lastly, let us not forget that, we chose, of our own volition, to be independent.
Being independent means that one has the freedom and ability to make informed decisions in life without having to ask other people for permission, help or money and, above all, we also take full responsibility for seeing things through.
After 60 years of being independent, we have no more excuses to make but to set our country to rights and to get to where it should be.
The challenge before all of us is to build our economy to generate a prosperous and dignified life for the masses of our people, both for those who choose to remain within the country and for those who are tempted to take the “back way” at the peril of their own lives.
Hard work, enterprise, creativity, respect for the rule of law, public accountability and a consistent fight against corruption, especially in public life, will bring about the transformation that we all seek and continue to yearn for.
We will achieve all our lofty goals when we decide to move together and act together in our diversity as a united people.
Happy Diamond Jubilee Anniversary!!!
May the Almighty God continue to Bless our native land, The Gambia and make our people greater and stronger among nations.
