Gambia national budget director says youths should be proffered alternatives to banditry

Mr Sabally

The director of the Gambia national budget, Momodou Sabally, has said youths should be empowered with lucrative skills to drive them away from thievery and banditry

This will help them to shift attention from immoral acts, for the society to live in holistic happiness, he says.

Sabally, a prolific author of inspirational books, says leaving these people to dwell in their miserable acts, an approach employed by some parts of the society, would ruin not only vulnerable youths but also “those of us who think we know better and could cater for our own happiness.

“So we have to reach out to that section of society who are seeking happiness in all the wrong places because they also think that what they do is what will bring them happiness. So we must go out there and have a respectful conversation with them,” he said, adding:  “Yet we must not stop there, we should also proffer to them alternatives.”

Mr Sabally was speaking on 19 May at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Kololi during the official launch of two of his recently published books - The Way to Happiness: Inspirational Essays, and Love Notes: Inspiring Poems. Both books were published earlier this year.

The author said the two books represent a comprehensive philosophy designed to save readers’ time and money as they learn to replace bad habits with good ones, and develop inner peace and self-fulfillment through perseverance and simplicity.

Sabally, an economist cum writer, said whatever people do in this world is motivated by the quest for happiness. “Whether you are finding out or doing things for yourself or others what you are doing is striving to increase your level of happiness,” he pointed out.

“You think the thieves and bandits do not want to be happy?” he asked rhetorically. “They also think that what they do is what will bring them happiness.”

The young author said further: “Even if you do things that turn out to make you sad, you still are trying to find happiness. Sometimes you may even make yourself sad but the ultimate goal is to be happy in the long run. For instance if you wail and lament at the demise of a friend or relative, you are not doing this because you want to cry and be sad.

 “You are lamenting the loss of someone that did add to your happiness and is now gone sending to ‘your processing systems’ a signal that your happiness is going to be lessened. Yet even that act of weeping and wailing is good for your happiness for it does release bottled-up tension, which, if not released, would hamper your state of mind in the long run.

“A young man may think that drugs are the key to happiness but he is mistaken. That stuff consumes you and while it may give you temporary excitement (which is different from happiness) it steals away your long-term happiness and consumes you literally.”

He explained that an hour’s excitement due to drug can costs someone six months or more of happiness.

Apart from his latest book, Sabally has authored and published three books, namely Jangi Jollof: A Memoir on The Gambia’s First University Programme; Secrets of The World Champions; and Instant Success: Ten Keys to Personal Achievement.