Tomorrow is the 18th day of February.

It was this day 45 years ago that colonial rule ended in the country. Every year on this day, Gambians at home and abroad take a moment of reflection to remember sacrifices made by our past leaders to free the nation from the shackles of colonialism.

Tomorrow, Gambians as usual will converge on the July 22nd Square to commemorate the event; the occasion will be punctuated by a march past by security forces, school children, and cultural dance displays; while the head of State, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Yahya AJJ Jammeh is expected to deliver a landmark speech on the future of the nation.

The first three decades of The Gambia's independence was a joyful moment as the genesis of self-rule witnessed the administration of the country by our very own people, the commissioning of development projects began and Gambians began having a sense of pride and dignity. We began realising the significance of our culture and our own civilisation as Africans and the culture of tolerance, civility and forbearance took shape in society. The Union Jack was replaced with the beautiful red, white, blue and green banner, and our children no longer sang "God save the queen". A structured economy was built with the engendering of our own monetary system and artifacts of imperialism gradually began disappearing.

However, despite all these pleasant stories, the First Republic failed to separate this country from its colonial master Britain. The country moved in a direction that the colonially carved father-son relationship continued between The Gambia and Britain. Our technocrats also failed in their capacity to educate, inform and enlighten the citizenry and develop a diverse economic base. All this and other realities pile up to conclude that our independence process remained unaccomplished.

The country began realising the fruits of the independence with the birth of a new Gambia in the Second Republic under the dynamic leadership of President Jammeh. Not only did the revolutionary leadership disconnect this country from the yoke of colonialism; indigenes have their raw aspirations defined and transformed into reality. Gambians were put at the centre of state advocacy accompanied by a proliferation of development projects all over the country.

Today, The Gambia is on the path of modernisation and development. We are therefore going to celebrate tomorrow with our heads held high because President Jammeh frustrated all attempts to maintain this country as a colonial entity and all decadent imperial thoughts that this country cannot sustain and develop itself because it is small are now a fallacy.

We therefore seize this opportunity to call on the entire nation to turn out en mass to commemorate this day of national glory . This is the moment that we should all put hands on desk as one people and move forward as one nation. We should wake up from our slumbers and move forward because victory is ours. The labour  of our past heroes and heroines shall never be engrained. Lets uphold their good deeds and accomplish our dear nation.

Happy independence anniversary to our readership and the entire nation.