Title: Sweat is Invisible in the Rain
Author: Cherno M. Njie
Reviewer: Toyin Falola (Prof)
Publisher: Pan-African University Press
SWEAT is Invisible in the Rain, by Cherno M. Njie, is better classified as a documentation of three interconnected stages of the author’s life, career, vision, and ambition. The book successfully privileges the historical and the factual over the literary. It deals with causation using a wide range of facts, explaining why events and actions occurred at particular moments in time. The principal figures and protagonists are revealed in ways that reflect their time, age and day. The book will surely assert itself as a book to read and be reckoned with, as it captures the commonalities of personal experiences in The Gambia, the shortcomings of the country’s political elite, the intriguing nature of dictatorship, and a wide range of dialogue on the degeneracy of political institutions. The antipathy that the leadership of the country aroused is captured with brilliance, as well as the responses to how to deal with unpopular power. I admire Njie’s voice and courage as he narrates the sickness of leadership, the weakness of followership, the limitations of state power, and the repetitiveness of calamitous history.
The book starts from Njie’s growing up in a relatively unknown and small African country, The Gambia, to his transition to perhaps one of the most popular migrant destination countries in the globe, the United States of America. The third stage takes centre stage of the events captured in the book as it details how the two previous life’s stages induced the author to embark on a series of moves that set in motion the process of acting as a change agent. Consequently, his first stage of existence during his childhood in The Gambia keys into the immense benefits that he experienced in his second stage of existence, the United States of America.
The title of the book aptly encapsulates all that the author went through, which were not noticeable when they were occurring, but which cannot be swept under the carpet simply because of their non-noticeability, disguise and secrecy. Sweat is surely invisible in the rain, but the labourer who worked hard in the rain knows that the rain just served as a camouflage to hide the sweat generated from his labour. And when rain falls, it can create its own problems, with the rain and sweat inducing unnoticeable pains and anguish.
Cherno Njie is able to map out in detail his personal travails, albeit in consonance with those of some others as they, over a period of more than a decade, embarked on missions, as well as developing various strategies to achieve an objective whose benefits are not personal in any way, but rather collective to a large, unsuspecting and ignorant populace. The sweat of the author and ‘his band of merry men’ might have gone invisible in the myriad of raindrops of events that happened in The Gambia between 1996 and 2016. However, with the expediency with which this book was written and the fact that the story was told by someone who played a significant part in the many facets of the plot, Njie succeeds in bringing to the fore, the invisible sweat that seems to have been lost in the rain with respect to the journey to free an African people from the reigns of tyranny.
Before going into the chapter-by-chapter review, a glance at the acknowledgments given in the book introduces the reader to the individuals who were instrumental in the course of documenting the stories as well as the major players in the events who took centre stage in the book. All these are carefully outlined and perfectly detailed within the confines of the acknowledgment page. The preface introduces the reader to the central event of the book: the failed coup attempt which involved the author and a handful of other patriots in the small West African nation. As with any proper preface, it gives a brief account of the reasons for the coup attempt as well as the aftermath of it, which saw some of the perpetrators killed, some captured, while some fortunately escaped but eventually made to pay for their actions on a foreign soil. The last set of the most fortunate who did not die includes the author. An attempt is also made in the following section to open the reader’s mind to the history of The Gambia, an effective step to equip the reader with some historical antecedents of the Gambian people concerning politics, governance, and leadership. This section traces Gambian history to centuries back. Also, credit should be given to the author for taking time to prepare the mind of the reader in advance to similarities of persons’ names who may or may not be related, but which is just a common occurrence among the Senegambian people. Without this, the reader would have been a bit lost in the maze of seemingly related nomenclatures of people who share no familial relationship.
The first chapter, details the city of Banjul where the author grew up, a careful comparison between the Banjul of old times and the one left behind by the evident antagonist of the book plot, Yahya Jammeh, the erstwhile dictator of The Gambia. Njie affirms that nothing seems to have changed in the 22 years of Yahya Jammeh’s rule, a common characteristic of most dictatorship governments in Africa. So that both the African and non-African reader can immerse themselves into the cultural settings of the first stage of the book’s plot, the author does justice to highlighting the various family settings that is ubiquitous in the capital of The Gambia; Christian homes having distinct attributes to Muslim homes with respect to composition and way of living.
The chapter also highlights the components of the Wolof caste system. Among the experiences of growing up in African communal settings is the issue of circumcision, which is also embedded in the book. Brought to the fore in this chapter is the disposition of Africans to hold on perpetually to superstitious beliefs, including beliefs in the existence of flesh-eating witches who are ultimately made to confess their sins, casting of spells, laying spiritual curses and the manifestation of evil spirits. For a book that details life in Africa, the absence of such a subplot would have led to the absence of a very pertinent aspect of African thought and mentality. Upholding some of these beliefs might be rational; however, as the book notes, there are times when these beliefs place more damage than good to the African people as became evident under the oppressive rule of Jammeh who exploited these beliefs to the people’s detriment. These beliefs, as the author notes, are in sharp contrast with the second stage of the book’s plot setting, the USA, a nation that is built on the ideology of secularism and scientific methods.
The second chapter sets the tone for the author’s transition from a small unpopular African nation to a massive and popular country far away in another continent, deep into Texas in furtherance of his formal education, which, as pointed out, was quite different in approach to what he was familiar with growing up in The Gambia. Affirming the frenzy that envelopes Africans moving to the western world for the first time, the book rightly captures the drama that goes with leaving one’s family in Africa for greener pastures, education inclusive. This practice has always been the norm for affluent families in Africa, as they held the belief that better and qualitative education abroad is a sure way to wealth and riches. This is not entirely a falsehood as later events in the book prove this assertion to be right. Settling down in a new country is not always going to be so easy, and the same was rightly captured by the author. True to the assertions, it took little effort for the migrant to afford a car, something that would have been close to impossible in an African student setting.
Making plans to go back to their home countries by African immigrants is a default disposition, but it is not always easy to go back, given the huge disparity that exists between African countries and the western world, economic, social, and developmental indices taken into consideration. Rather than go back, the norm is to stay and build up a better life. This is not lost within the context of the book, as the protagonist of the book demonstrates. While nurturing the ambition to return home initially, he ended up starting a new life upon finishing his tertiary education. The advancement of western economies seems to provide African migrants with a good foundation to build a better life; the author quite impressively infused this experience into the book, not fictionalized but in actuality. The American life is surely a dream for most Africans as they forever see a country that sets in motion the probability of a good life for its citizens as well as immigrants. This is an important context to understand African nations, and without it being captured, the book would have lost a great deal of credit.
In Chapter three, ‘The Jammeh Years: 1994 – 2016’, the story quickly moves to the central plot of the book wherein Njie brings to the reader’s awareness the introduction of the antagonist by telling the story of how Jammeh came to power. As with every good book, it is always necessary to accord the antagonist a grand entry into the plot, more so in a story that revolves around military rulership, dictatorial tendencies and ultimately the subplot of military coups. The author, within the context of the book, exposed the reader to the events that necessitated the grand entrance of the major antagonist of the book, Jammeh. Years of misrule by the first president of The Gambia, Dawda Jawara (who passed away on August 27, 2019), served as an impetus for the emergence of Jammeh as the new head of the Gambian government, even though he rose to the exalted position illegitimately.
In the very last segment, the book evidently captures the major essence of any postscript work, an additional remark at the end of such a major book. The contents here indicate the state of affairs of the Gambian nation in the aftermath of Jammeh’s exit from the leadership of the country. Given the fact that Njie, as well as others who were involved in the struggle to oust Jammeh, owe the duty of evaluating the current state of the nation, this section provides details on a return to their country of birth to assess any noticeable difference or progress. As the author notes, while there seems to be palpable relief with the departure of Jammeh, there is little progress in the area of reforms which would have moved the country forward. The present president of the country, Adama Barrow, seems to have reneged on the agreement made during the time the coalition was coming together to defeat Jammeh. The evidence from observations of financial misconduct and cronyism have enveloped the Barrow government while the allegations of non-accountability and lack of transparency are rife. Also, Barrow has begun to trample on press freedom using the same state paramilitary apparatus that his predecessor used. However, all these are concerns that Njie believes can be quenched by the Gambian people through the wits and resolve they employed to remove Jammeh from his 22 years of misrule.
Another noteworthy section of the book is the appendix that delivers a historical repertoire of the Gambian nation from the days of Portuguese engagements to the slave trade era and ultimately the colonization era. This is necessary to give the reader additional detailed information regarding the history of the Gambian people. It also contains the presumptuous speech that was to be broadcast by the coup plotters, had the coup been a success. The speech contains the commitments, concerns, and resolve of the major players of the failed coup as well as a charter that delineates the process of transition back to civilian rule. The document highlights, as the title implies, the justification for regime change, an archival piece worthy of being kept as a memorabilia of the 2014 failed coup. The last aspect of the appendix eulogizes the fallen heroes of the failed coup, a statement that makes the book truly captivating. The eulogy is very touching as the reader will come to see. It tells the story of worthy Gambian patriots who laid down their lives in the process of freeing their people from the stranglehold of a tyrant. As Njie states, “if I must die in the forest, let it be a lion that kills me,” this Wolof maxim is really a mantra for those venturing into dangerous missions, the kind that the author and his group of brave men embarked on in 2014.
While this book captures the true-life events of a particular set of individuals (including the author), it is worth noting that the central plot, as well as the subplots, document events that are often fictionalized by other authors. This creates an enabling environment to understand the theme of the book in order to appreciate the creativity of the author to tell a true life-story in a manner that will captivate the minds of the readers in much the same way as other works of fiction do. The major theme of the book follows military adventures in an African setting. The military theme, which is mostly encountered in African countries take the form of coup attempts; hence, it fits perfectly with other works on African military adventures.
Cherno Njie infuses into the book a careful use of Senegambia proverbs and adages that perfectly describe the events in each chapter. This particular tact is never an easy act as it reveals a vast understanding of the usage of such proverbs and the proper context to deploy them.
Of the lesser themes captures in the book, the first to be revealed in it is centered around life in Africa and the experiences that accompany growing up in a society that does not adequately provide for effective human capital development, resulting in its people nurturing the ambition of searching for better lives abroad. This particular mindset plays out in the book through the author’s disposition to move to the USA, first for education and subsequently deciding to settle down and make his new environment his home, as against his initial place of birth. The only part of the book that captures the culture of the author’s new home includes the correctional system. The book never gives any serious theme about life in the USA as it effectively captures that of Africa.
Another theme of the book which looks hidden in the shadow of the overall military theme is the propensity of powerful countries like the USA to follow up on the various happenings around the globe with respect to governments and regime change. The USA has been known as a nation that engages in intelligence gathering in virtually all countries in the world, and this makes the US government a prospective conspirator to acts that leads to political instability in other relatively smaller and weaker nations.
The plots in the book are interwoven, and they do not follow a definite order, as it is necessary to weave the story in a manner that will enable the reader to understand the expediency of events, actions and motivation that create a back and forth sequence of storytelling. Sweat is Invisible in the Rain allows the work to represent its author, and to speak to a tumultuous moment in the history of The Gambia. The book offers the fullest story of Njie’s life, in addition to a remarkable understanding of his mother country in both its volatile and remarkable moments. This highly readable and valuable memoir is one of the best to come out of West Africa. I admire his ability to tell the story so well and clearly. I can only hope that the people of The Gambia will get the justice they seek and deserve, and the progress that they dream about. With the humiliating fall of Jammeh, one can proclaim, as it was done centuries ago in another clime and era:
“How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!”
Holy Bible, 2 Samuel 1: 27.
- Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
104 Inner Campus Drive
Austin, TX 78712-0220, USA
http://toyinfalolanetwork.org/
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