The Fullahs. They have the economic power and now they are looking out for the political colour to match that up. Since the time of the late Sheku Toure unto the present Lansana Conte, the Fullahs had and have been trying to gain political hegemony in neighbouring Guinea.
But their dream of wrestling power from the Mandingos and Susus resulted in many of them being thrown into the dungeons of Alpha Yaya by Sheku Toure. Or being exiled by Lansana Conte.
Now they are finding a virgin turf where they can try their luck. And Sierra Leone seems to be that destination. The formation of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) by Alhaji Amadu M.B. Jalloh is the first attempt by the Fullahs to test the political waters of this country.
It is now an undisputable fact that nearly half of the lucrative lands and board houses at spotty spots in Freetown have been sold to the Fullahs by the Krios (can anyone deny this? This is another thesis), which has made the presence of the Fullahs more pronounced than ever before. We have no quarrel with the Fullahs doing business and becoming prosperous here while our Temne, Mende and Limba brothers and sisters are imbibing trivialities. We also have no quarrel with these long, long, long time ago migrants who are now oiling the economic wheel of this country to stay here. What we do have quarrel with is the audacity of some of these people, who are believed to be holders of Guinean passports, saying that they are ready to take over this country.
The aspiration of the Fullahs from Guinea to try their luck in Sierra Leone is personified in Amadu Jalloh and his NDA. One of the things that have already disqualified this man is when he said he formed his party because: “I am an angry man. I have thought that the only way I can take away the anger out of my life is to vie for the presidency of this country.”
That statement automatically puts Mr Jalloh on the same pedestal with the embittered Charles Margai of the People’s Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) who formed his party not because he has any different manifesto from the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) but because he was and still is angry with the SLPP leadership. We want Mr Jalloh to define his anger. Is he angry because of the manner in which President Lansana Conte has been treating his ‘tribefolks’, so he wants to take this anger out of his life by vying for the leadership of this country just to tell the Guinean president that if it can’t happen in Guinea it can in Sierra Leone where Nigerians can just stroll in as church mice and become superrich overnight?
Another catch. In most of Alhaji Amadu Jalloh’s utterances, this man always uses phrases that point to his roots. That’s why when he talks, he makes references such as “Sierra Leoneans are not dedicated to their country”. He is simply telling us that he is an assimilated Sierra Leonean and wants to remain so! Why is he eschewing from using the “we Sierra Leoneans” or “us” catchphrases?
All what we want Alhaji Amadu Jalloh to know is that, while many indigenous Sierra Leoneans are now trying to right the present economic wrongs in their country they will never allow or stomach the ‘Fullahnization’ of their country. The earlier the NDA and its leadership get this at the front of their minds (we don’t want them to get it at the back because they will forget it easily) the better it will be for them.
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