Tribally and politically divided like the colors of my flag:
red, white, blue, white, green;
Celebrate my 59th year anniversary of independence with 59 problems.
I drive the best cars in the world but have no good roads.
I have a navigable river but cannot feed myself.
I am from a country that does not want any development at all.
Patriotically, I stop growing what I eat and do not eat what I grow;
Everywhere in the streets of Banjul, the gutters flow.
With all the dirt, the country even lacks bread and ordinary butter.
I abruptly stopped growing rice and did not pay my debts.
I have millions of electrons, but no water or electricity.
My ministry of communication is also my ministry of infrastructure.
Don't blame my poor infrastructural development.
Isn't failure too important to celebrate?
I am 59 years old this year; please celebrate me.
I have the best lawyers in the world and a weird justice system.
I was the former chief prosecutor of the ICC
But cannot prosecute anyone.
Stealing public funds is a palatable dish in my meal.
I eat corruption, scandals, lies, and allegations.
Because my current debt is around 1.44 billion US dollars, and I don't care.
It is me, the Smiling Coast of Africa. Smile for me.
I am from a country that does not want development.
I don't value talent and don't recognize knowledgeable people.
including Oustas Bun Jeng and Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara.
My Gambia College students pay D12,000 per year,
But they don't even have chairs for lectures.
All my intellectuals have gone abroad, and the rest are awaiting relocations.
I have many professors and doctors, but I am illiterate.
I want a future; please remember me.
I have hospitals without medicines.
But still, give ambulances to villages without hospitals.
All my youth have gone abroad, and the rest are told to stay
Because I promised them jobs that I don't even create.
Those who speak the truth and have visions are my enemies.
I don't even like this poem.
I only celebrate people when the world celebrates them;
Including Gina Bass.
Even at the Statehouse, I leaked public information.
Within my government, I am divided.
At my National Assembly, I do not make the laws.
My body is going through menstruation.
What have I not decided?
But don't forget, I, The Gambia, have decided!
What's On-Gambia? The students need scholarships, and the teachers don't even have salaries.
Should the doctors go on another strike?
However, I should not appreciate the stories written by my authors.
I don't have literature because my ministry doesn't have a minister.
If government officials are entertainers,
Why will my music grow?
I have the world's most blunt people,
and a future without a government.
For democracy’s sake, I vote in every election, including on Valentine's Day.
In my country, the press broadcasts the news.
And the news broadcast the press.
My journalism is about whom you know.
I like what I tell you. Tell me what you like.
My tribe owns the Gambia, and we are kingmakers.
We elect presidents, and you are not one,
Please celebrate me.
It is my birthday, let's cut the national cake.
I am ruled by men I can rule, but nobody rules me.
My youth has no past, present, or future.
I do not produce anything but import everything.
My rice is imported from China, my toothpaste is from Indonesia, and my palm oil is from Guinea.
My soldiers are Senegalese, my education is a foreigner, please eat my cake.
I sold all my lands to estates and have no estate.
But, of course, I am Gambian, please remember me.
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