Campbell's Commentary YOU EDUCATED FOOLS: Falla Backa Me
By Aubrey Campbell
NEW YORK, NY. Tuesday, February 18, 2020--Good day
folks. Let me see if I can cut through all the Monday morning mustard and get
to the heart of the matter, a Jamaican Diaspora in disarray.
Let’s start then with the lead story in the February 13,
edition of The Weekly Gleaner headlined in bold, red letters,
STEP DOWN, with a picture of Leo Gilling. The ‘tease’ to the story which is
published on page 4, says ‘Group cut ties with Gilling-led company, press for
his resignation from Diaspora Task Force’.
So, let’s get some context here. Leo Gilling is Jamaican and
besides that, he is many things to many people and organizations, including the
Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations (USA), Inc. Leo is big on education and
not because he is a trained teacher and a graduate of the Sam Sharpe Teachers
College, Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Whatever Leo says, UJAA (USA), Inc, does!
The aspiring politician that he is, he ran unsuccessfully
for office in 2018, for a seat on the Miramar City Council, South Florida,
where he now resides. His advocacy for things Jamaican started while residing
in California.
Gilling’s persona took on some national significance after
2002, when the government decided to change the narrative, somewhat, on how
overseas Jamaicans are engaged in the conversation on national development.
From there and at the many Diaspora Conferences, we had
sector/sectorial units being engaged on how best to channel the limited
resources into targeted areas such as health, education, public safety,
investment, agriculture, among others.
To keep himself and others in the conversation, Gilling
piloted the Education Task Force into something of a model unit for Diaspora
engagement. Other units followed to the point where, now, Gilling again led the
initiative for bringing all the task forces together under one umbrella, the
Task Force Network, including about 12 units.
Gilling has also found time to fashion his own space on the
growing global media network. His camera lens is always open as he invites a
global audience to ‘falla backa him’, or if you prefer to go one on one, online
with your radio DJ, he’s that person as well.
So, with all of the above and some, did Gilling not know or
realized that the higher and higher he was climbing, was the more his ass was
and would be exposed, for all to see?
Let’s be real here, for what it’s worth. Gilling had the
eyes, ears, and God knows what else, of the Minister of Education, Ruel Reid. To
say that Reid was at his beck and call, might be an understatement. The
education of Jamaica’s children was front and center of their agenda with
seminars, webinars, and summits with the Broward County Education system, to
shape best practices for students and faculty in an age and era when everything
and every methodology is under intense scrutiny.
In Florida, Gilling ran a damn good campaign but lost to the
better candidate, another Jamaican, someone who is tried and proven.
Gilling might have been a political neophyte but he knows
what it is to be transparent in the public sphere. That was part of his
political campaign platform.
So, how come now when the Diaspora is asking for
transparency, you are suddenly feigning ignorance?
Let me hasten to say, ignorance is not an excuse!
This matter with the MoE and the Caribbean Maritime
University (CMU), is one more reason why persons are willing into a paintbrush
Jamaica as corrupt, because of people like Gilling, Reid, Fritz Pinnock, among
others, continue to take people for fools!
All of a sudden, the Gleaner’s journalism is sloppy because
it attempts to uncover and lay bare, for the world to see, your sloppiness and
skullduggery, at profiting unfairly on the backs of a trusting populace!
The UJAA (USA), Inc, is jumping to Gilling’s defense and
might as well. The union is accountable to some 50/plus alumni associations in
the greater New York Metropolis and derives its keep from their contributions,
which in turn, is derived from every single one of you, who dress up and go to
the endless parade of dinner/dances and awards ceremonies, weekend after
weekend.
Is UJAA (USA), Inc, a benefactor or a beneficiary of the
MoE/CMU corruption scandal now before the Jamaican judiciary?
I know that the UJAA (USA), Inc role in the Education Task
Force is significant, pivotal, yet nobody is willing to ask the right questions
but all too willing to decry a news article, attempting to set the record
straight by calling for the head of the Diaspora movement, yes, and let me
repeat – for emphasis – head of the Diaspora movement – self-appointed or not,
to step down, step aside, step out the way, until the investigation is
completed!
See how fast we become like those folks blaming CNN for
exposing the lying and cheating that informs the administration of Donald J. Trump,
President of these United States!
Deal with the merits of the message, not the messenger!
What Gilling and company are accused of, is a disservice to
the Diaspora, plunging it into further disarray. Because now, the first order
of business for those who want to serve, is not to use any such post for
personal gain!
And mind you, Gilling is not the first!
Karlene Largie needs to be very careful of what she is
defending.
Go back and look at the Attorney General’s findings. It
points to an unfair and unethical advantage given to a company, established in
questionable time by Gilling and partners, again well-placed individuals in the
Diaspora movement, to outbid other entities that satisfied bidding and
procurement guidelines and all you can say is that your company winning the
bid was a mere coincidence…!
Because I’m an educated fool!
Reid, Pinnock, and others were hauled before the courts at
the crack of dawn, in shiny silver bangles. We wait to see who is next. And
that is why concerned and disappointed members of the Diaspora feel that in the
best interest of transparency, Gilling should fade to black, move to the
background, ‘tek whey yuself’, until such time that the investigation clears
you.
For now, you are complicit in what continues to be a
pervasive cancer of corruption, besetting our beloved island nation!
There are Jamaicans scattered around the globe, giving
everything, every day, and getting nothing in return. There are those who give two freaking red
pennies and get a national award in return. And then, there are those who, in
giving, simply ask for accountability and instead they get push-back of the
kind that challenges their nationality.
Go figure!
If the money paid to Gilling’s shell company has not been
shared and ‘kicked back’ already, it should be returned to the government and
people of Jamaica!
Imagine, the Jamaican government will lose millions of $
because its corruption index is not improving. This is part of the reason.
The same knife that stick the goat, it same one a go stick the
sheep…!
Tell me that this is sloppy journalism! Those who claim they
were misquoted while hiding behind a Social Media chat group, should now come
forward and set the record straight! And until you do, the Diaspora will remain
in global disarray.
Next week I will deal with that entity called the Diaspora
Voice.
You have the floor!
--end--
Aubrey, I am not sure why UJAA was singled out in your commentary. The organization has worked with Leo but it is not fair to suggest that we are/maybe a beneficiaryof the Leo Gilling/CMU situation. I am curious as to your rationale for asking this question.
ReplyDeleteDonovan Wilson
UJAA Vice President