By Momodou Jarju
The National Assembly Member for Serrekunda Constituency has said that the young people of the country must know that they are unstoppable.
Halifa Sallah, who was speaking on Saturday 19th January, 2019 at Kairaba Avenue on the inauguration of the Indian Institute of Hardware Technology (IIHT) Gambia Limited said this can be done if knowledge is democratised so that the youth would take knowledge to be their property.
IIHT Gambia Limited the outcome of the vision of a Gambian expatriate, Ousman Bah with the support of Ebou Jobe aims to build a cadre of 1000 skilled professionals in the first two years to create the enabling environment for The Gambia to make progress towards achieving technological independence in IT development, services and security.
The NAM for Serrekunda made reference of George Washington Carver who was freed from slavery to become an agricultural scientist who taught and conducted research at Tuskegge University which led to the promotion of shifting cultivation to enable nitrogen fixing plants to restore the fertility of soils. Sallah anticipates that IIHT will not only teach but would examine the concrete problems the country is confronting and map out solutions to those problems.
“Examine the problems of the country in light to IT development, services, security, the concrete problems and start mobilising the students to engage in practical application of their skills so that by the time they come out they would know concretely what the problems are, the challenges of the country and harness the ability to address them,” he said.
Sallah described the institution as another building block of civilisation in the country.
The Serrekunda deputy said he had gathered wisdom from the intervention and would like to intimate to the Gambian youth that they are unstoppable “when they blocked you because they don’t want you, you must use that blockage to develop yourself so that they would need you”.
The human mind, he said, is the most powerful entity on earth and we must nurture it.
Sallah further said the country is in the era of democracy and therefore calls for the democratisation of knowledge so that people would own knowledge and transform it to liberate themselves from poverty.
Recollecting the history of people who had contributed to development of world civilization, Sallah said it is important to remind ourselves of who we are.
“The library of Alexandria in the Third and Second Century B.C. provided between forty thousand and four hundred thousand scrolls in literature which brought people from Greece, from all over Asia in order to gather knowledge for general application and that developed human civilization”, he said.
He explained that the initiator of this institute, Mr. Bah while in United States, lamented to him that he had the money, contact, and was ready to build an institution in The Gambia, but didn’t have someone on the ground to support him.
Hon. Sallah said he linked Mr. Bah with a Gambian scholar running an international college in the person of Mr. Ebou Jobe whose humility and dedication tends to inspire confidence and trust in order for both of them to build a partnership.
“I’m glad that Mr. Ebou Jobe and Mr. Ousman Bah from different origins, different ethno-linguistic backgrounds but being Gambians, who love their country decided to come together to make this day possible”, he said.
Sallah said Gambians have the brains. Initiative, he went on, is the key and opportunity the door to success, which he said Mr. Jobe and Mr. Bah exploited to make the day a success.
“Go to the lands office today you will find files from the floor to the sky. The country will need your service to put an end to that. It is not only learning skills but the application of those skills is what brings about development and civilization”, he said.
The SerreKunda Deputy was among those accorded the honour to cut one of the ribbons; his was the classroom for software engineering programs.
