By: Yunus S. Saliu
The National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) is mourning the loss of Madam Binta Sidibe, a respected cultural exponent and historian, who passed away last Sunday.
She was in her early seventies. Describing her as “a cultural exponent and historian who was forthcoming in all activities of the NCAC,” Director General Hassoum Ceesay paid tribute to Madam Sidibe’s enduring contributions to The Gambia’s cultural and historical landscape.
DG Ceesay recalled that for many years, Madam Sidibe served as a research assistant to her late husband, the renowned historian Bakari Sidibe, founder of the Oral Archives of The Gambia.
“She supported late Sidibe in fieldwork, translation, transcription, and transliteration of hundreds of oral testimonies on Gambian history, which he collected from across The Gambia and beyond,” said Ceesay.
He noted that Madam Sidibe’s background in history made her well-equipped for the work. She graduated in 1978 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, home to one of the leading African Studies programs in the United States.
In addition to her work with her husband, Madam Sidibe also assisted foreign historians conducting research in The Gambia, including Dr. Winnifred Galloway and Dr. Sekene Mody Cissokho. She collaborated with many of them, co-authoring papers alongside her husband.
“Whenever the NCAC needed her support, she responded willingly,” Ceesay added. “Most recently, she played a key role in organizing the McCarthy Bicentenary commemorations in early 2024. She also contributed significantly to the 2022 International Symposium on the Historical Work of the late Bakari Sidibe (1921–2021), which celebrated the successful digitization of the Oral Archives. She attended the entire three-day event with her family.”
“We have lost a passionate historian, cultural promoter, and a strong supporter of the NCAC,” Ceesay concluded. “The NCAC extends its heartfelt condolences to her family and prays for her eternal peace.”
