Back and Next - Back and NextSallah, Tijan Momodou (1958 - )
INTRODUCTION
An intellectual who values his birthright
The euphoria of meeting a president or a king evaporates in time. However, the euphoric feeling stays either before, during or after meeting an intellectual. My Father used to tell me “There are three things to search for in life on earth: Wealth, Position and Knowledge. The first two are temporary and can be acquired by anybody. Knowledge, however, brings wisdom and respect. That is what everyone must crave to have for it makes the being out of the human.” An intellectual is one who has not only acquired knowledge, but has the ability to use that knowledge to benefit mankind.
Tijan Momodou Sallah is an accomplished Economist and Poet/Writer. Most of all, he is an intellectual. The knowledge he has acquired has served the world in many aspects but it has particularly served the Gambia. Tijan, despite his prominent role as an international economist and as an internationally recognized writer and poet, is very modest and open. He has been interviewed all over the world and numerous articles, in several languages (notably French, English, Arabic and Japanese), have been written about him. Students in several countries have chosen to write on the Life and Works of Dr Tijan M Sallah for their thesis.
Though numerous articles have been written about him, Gambians should have their share of knowledge on who Dr Sallah is. Like several other Gambian writers/poets living abroad (Sally Singhateh, Essa Colly,), they may be known in the environment they live in but Gambians will still find their names strange. However, unlike those mentioned above, Tijan made enormous contributions that need commendation from Gambians. Therefore, the article, which will be far from being exhaustive, will be divided in two parts: On Life and Works, and On Gambian Literature.
ON LIFE AND WORKS
“The person who belittles his birth right diminishes his dignity” Tijan Sallah, in an interview with Sandra M. Grayson, Netwook 2000: In the spirit of the Harlem renaissance
Tijan was born at Fana Street, Serrekunda, on March 6, 1958. His father, of Halpulaar origin (Tukulor), was a fervent Muslim who inculcated the strict pulaar upbringing on his children. Ali Malhani, a student of Sana’a University in Yemen, preparing his Master’s thesis on Tijan Sallah, quoted Tijan as saying his father was “a strict disciplinarian” and that “he believed in spare the rod and spoil the child”. One can therefore understand why the Sallah family is admired for the discipline they radiate. Tijan’s mother is of Serrer and Wolof origin.
Fana Street, where Honorable Halifah Sallah lives today, was then full of fanafanas and a mixture of different ethnic groups. This explains the rich cultural personality Tijan became and how it reflected in his poetry and writings.
Tijan has two sisters (Ndey Isatou known as Aisha is the eldest of the family but she passed away and left behind three children, and Sainabou known as Zeinab) and four brothers (Habib – lecturing, Halifa – politician and a National Assembly Member, Musa – presently working in Atlanta, USA and Mawdo Malik believed to be studying or working in the states).
Tijan attended Serrekunda Primary School, then St Augustine’s High School before leaving for the United States. Some of the prominent Gambian teachers he still remembers are Mrs. Hariette Ndow fondly called Auntie Harrou or Mrs. Ndow, Mrs. Cobola Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Forbes, Mrs. Sarah Secka, Mr. Dawda Faal, Mr. Danso, Mr. L. K. Jabang and Serign Njai all during his primary school days. In high school he remembers other Gambian teachers particularly Ms Ralphina De Almeida (World History), Mr. Sait Touray (Latin, English & Science), Mr. Sola Joiner (Geography) and Mr. Marcel Thomasi (Literature). He was also taught by Irish teachers : Rev John Gough fondly called later Father Gough (English and Literature), Rev Father Murphy (Bible Knowledge), Rev Tammy (Mathematics), Rev Comma (Chemistry), and Rev Cleary who was then Principal of Saint Augustine’s High School. Tijan did not forget “the Scotland Belt” which Father Comma never spared on late comers and unruly behavior.
‘“The person who is afraid of the sun is afraid of what benefits him” meaning enlightenment can be shunned only towards one’s own detriment.’ Tijan Sallah, in an interview with Sandra M. Grayson, Netwook 2000: In the spirit of the Harlem renaissance
Tijan proved to be an excellent student. Desperate not to break his education at High school yet faced with financial difficulties, Tijan will resort to working. Working as an audit clerk first at the Customs Department then the General Post office with barely the fare he needs to go to the United States. As he could not pay for his tuition, he will finally go to Rabun Gap high school where he is required to work for his tuition and study at the same time. His outstanding performance there earns him a scholarship to proceed to Berea College, Kentucky where he bagged his B Sc in Business Management and his B A in Economics. He was no doubt an outstanding student so it was no surprise when he was awarded the “Berea Senior Award for Economics and honored as the Berea College Student Nominee for Carnegie Endowment for Peace Internship, both in 1982.” (Ali). Tijan proceeds to Virginia Polytechnic Institute where he obtained his M A in Economics and subsequently his Ph D in Economics in 1987. He also gave lectures on Micro and Macroeconomics as he was preparing for his doctorate. After completing his Ph D, he started his professional career as a lecturer at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. It was in 1989 that Tijan Sallah joined the World Bank. He has since supervised and managed many development projects in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. He is currently responsible for the projects on Natural Resources, Water and the Environment in Egypt, Jordan and Yemen. He will soon be moved to oversee projects covering the southern part Africa.
“I believe in poetry as talking words, as possessed words, as words that most find an object to move, as words purged of the impurity of excess.” Tijan Sallah, in an interview with Sandra M. Grayson, Netwook 2000: In the spirit of the Harlem renaissance
The first poem Tijan published is entitled 'The African Redeemer'. It was printed on SUNU KIBARO, the Saint Augustine’s High School magazine, in 1973. Commenting on how he first started writing spurred by Father Gough who encouraged him to try poetry, he says: “I thought it was purely and simply rhyming, so I tried my hand first time on a rhyme – ‘The African Redeemer’ – a poem written as a tribute to the continentally admired, Pan-African nationalist leader and first head of state of Ghana, Dr Osagyfo Kwame Nkrumah The poem turned out excellent and brought a new recognition for him. He continued writing poems. His inspirations were the Negritude Movement – Leopold Sedar Senghor, David Diop, Aimé Cesaire etc. Another inspiration was Lenrie Peters who already published two collections of poetry (Satellites and Katchically) and a novel (The Second Round). Tijan frequently consulted Peters, who was at the time a surgeon at the West Field junction, and seek for his advice. One thing Tijan remembers well is being told to scrape out all the old Shakespearean English and stick to simple language. He will continue writing poetry but his motivation will increase when he arrives at Rabun Gap Nacoochee High school in the United States. Among his teachers was Harry Lloyd Van Brunt known as H. L. Van Brunt. With a summer program meant to harness creative writing among young students and aspiring poets, Tijan succeeded in easily gaining recognition. Tijan confesses having leant “real poetry” from Van Brunt. That was when Tijan leant that “poetry is trying to express ideas through the use of images”. Tijan, however, was energetic in writing as he started an active role as editor for the student newspaper – Silent Runner. He publishes his second poem in his life, but the first in the United States, 'Worm Eaters', in the Atlanta Gazette of February 17, 1978. It was a public satire on people who portray in public quite an opposite image of what they really are.
Though he is an Economics and Business Management student when Tijan arrives at Berea College in 1978, he continued developing his skills in writing. Two years later he succeeds in publishing his first collection or poetry entitled When Africa Was A Young Woman.
'The publication of a book is like the christening of one’s newborn. Only it’s more gratifying because the child may phases away your name as the generations multiply yet the book stays loyal in rendering immortal'.
New African Poetry: An Anthology
Tijan reviewed three literary books: The Tragedy of Platitudinous Piety by Bill Best (1981), Summer of Pure Ice by William White (1985) and Gem Within by Rosemary Wilkonson (1986). He receives an honorary doctorate in literature from World Academy of Arts and Culture from Taipei, Taiwan in 1984.
ON GAMBIAN LITERATURE
“…the impact of English culture on Gambian society, and the fact that the system of economic remuneration favored those with English education, helped to marginalize this literature” Word or Rice? The state of Literature in the Gambia by Tijan M. Sallah
These literary pioneers, however, suffered one major syndrome: cultural marginality.
Literature can do much for a society. It can create a vision where one does not exist. It can make people self-critical, to find out what is retarding their progress and what they can do to change their condition. Literature is a mirror – through it a society can see its blemishes and beauties.
See Also - See Also