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BRITAIN'S LAST WEST AFRICAN COLONY - GAMBIA GAINS POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE !!BySainey Faye On February 18th, 1965 Britain relinguishes her last colonial possession in WestAfrica-Gambia by granting her political Independence.On this day, the Union Jackwas lowered and new Gambian flag took its place. Two years prior toIndependence, in 1963 it had what was called internal self government; thisstage of self rule prepared the grounds for political Independence per se.Buteven though this date officially made it a sovereign state; it still had toremain, and become a member of the British Commonwealth of nations(namelyex-colonies).Hence the creation of what continues today to be known today as theCommonwealth. Of course, the wealth is not common, at least not yet for Africans. Alongside with that, the Queen was still present through therepresentation of a resident Governor-General . Thus it was not until it becamea Republic through two elections, the former failed and the latter passed inApril 1970, making it a Republic with a consolidated House of Representatives.Historically, Gambia and Sierra Leone had been ruled and administered togetheruntil 1843; as if they were in close proximity.In the early 1800’s the twocountries were annexed up until 1843; when a charter was issued to separatethem; so as to make it easy to rule individually.Despite all the attempts madeup to the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, it was three years later that realseparation of a collective administration was in effect. Then a decade or more later, a governor rather than an administrator was put inplace.Things were not much different in administration and delivery of goods as colonies;even though Sierra Leone had much resources like minerals; the educationalsystem wasmore developed, and Gambians who needed higher education had to go SierraLeone.The Universities in Sierra Leone catered not only Gambia but other Britishex-colonies as well. Many African scholars , including Gambians had written indetail about its history; and our purpose here is just to touch on few minute andreminders on this date. On this date in 1965, the population was not large; approximating a little over300,000. Out of this, nearly 30,00 lived in the capital Bathurst , now calledBanjul.The rate of population growth four years later in 1969 was listed as2.2% a year. The population of children in primary school was 24%; whilstsecondary education was listed at 7.85; the latter was not surprising, giventhat other than Armitage High school there was no other in the provinces. Industries also were non existent apart GOMB, the oilseed plant atSarro or Denton bridge as is commonly known.It was also estimated that therewere nearly 7,000 so called wage-earners in the country, half of them employedby the state. Two thirds of the civil servants earned less than one hundreddalasis.Some worked 15 years or more and could not bring home sixty dalasis permonth. In historical perpective, Gambia and its river have provided its people andAfricans much more than natures beauty, immense resources and livelihood.It alsoprovided a conduit for external forces and enemies of humankind; through nofault hers; to exploit its strategic position on the Atlantic seaboard to launchslavery.Witness the slave trade !!!! Our beloved brother and cousin Alex Haley, who traced his ancestors to Juffurenext to Albreda; gives us an eye opening account as to what transpired acrossthe Atlantic ocean.This helped make it known better to the outside world. It is also valuable to note the contributions those encounters provide inbuilding societies in the Western hemisphere and elsewhere.Of special note isthe U.S.A. and Brazil; not to go further to the West Indies and the Caribbeanwhere they created societies, built families, and disembark their culturalbaggage; at the same time instituting a culture in Louisiana which still existstoday.So did Brazil,Haiti, Florida and South Carolina where they showed thecolonists how to grow rice, sugarcane,cotton to the futher south.Their cultureinfluenced not only the Anglo colonies, but The Spanish, French, andPortuguese.What would the Americas be without these peoples contribution to thedevelopment of these societies.

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