13/08/2026
When Elders Fear Young Leaders
Across our communities, a dangerous pattern is repeating: talented young people who speak for justice, human rights and development are being silenced not by law, but by fear.
Some elders who have held influence for too long see potential young leadership as a threat. Instead of mentorship, they offer mockery, bent on undermining them by playing the old blame game jimicks, intensified during their politucal seasons, as scapegoat to cover their buts, as the proverb says: "the failure of the wiseman start when he starts blaming others for his failures. Instead of guidance, they deploy propaganda. They use media, security structures, work/office mates, fake enemies call friends, families, and even religion to turn society against progressive voices. Whispers become weapons. Lies become policy. The goal is simple: make young people look dangerous so that the old can reign forever.
This is not leadership. This is the politics of jealousy. It is a vampiric system that drains a nation of its future. When we teach people to hate their own youth, to laugh at talent, and to fear change, we kill innovation before it is born.
I have felt this firsthand. I have been subjected to discriminatory language, harassment, and campaigns designed to make me an element of mockery. I have been cheated and defamed for daring to believe that The Gambia can be better.
But suppression cannot kill ideas.
Our country needs an intergenerational pact. Elders must be custodians of wisdom, not gatekeepers of power. Youth must be partners in nation building, not enemies to be buried.
We cannot fight for rule of law, agriculture, health, entrepreneurship, and climate adaptation if we crucify every young voice that rises.
The future will not wait. Let us choose mentorship over mockery, truth over propaganda, and succession over stagnation.
Lord bless all of us, Ameen. Have a blessed night.
Madi .S Njie
