Africans in Germany. Young Gambian immigrants are changing the narrative in Europe by achieving the greatest levels of success in school and at their work places. Meet Jibril Bojang, one of the success stories that tells the narrative of going from a refugee to a university graduate in Italy.
Jibril Bojang was born in New Yundum, Banjul and upon completing junior high school at St. Peter’s, Jibril enrolled in Masroor Senior Secondary School, where he dropped out of class 10.
In 2015, Jibril left The Gambia to seek a better future, and after travelling through West Africa and North Africa, he finally arrived in Italy in 2016 to study ‘International Relations’.
JIbril has been following his dreams in Italy since 2016.
He completed his high school studies in Reggio di Calabria in June 2019 then worked as a waiter for two or three months over the summer to scrape together some money.
In September 14, 2019, he enrolled at the University of Law in Turin, Piedmont, Northern Italy to study ‘Global Law and Transnational Legal Studies,’. He travelled over 1,000 kilometres from Southern to Northern Italy.
During the summer seasons, he worked as a waiter to support himself. He also had the support of an Italian family who loved him immediately and became his family of reference while attending the University of Turin.
Jibril worked hard to acquire a higher education in order for him to improve his quality of life, and be able to return to The Gambia one day with skills to put at the service of his country.
He also worked as a part-time English teacher and social educator at the ministry community for minors. Jibril, the boy from New Yundum, finally made his dreams come true on December 12, 2022, when he graduated with honours in Global Law and Transnational Legal Studies (LLB) from the University of Turin, resulting in him being among the best foreign graduate students in its degree course.
Jibril’s lawyer, Barbara Cartella of the Court of Reggio di Calabria in southern Italy, said that the final dissertation by Jibril deserved special mention since he chose to deal with the theme of genocide with his thesis titled “Adjudicating genocide: the role of the International Court of Justice,” which focused primarily on the international law case: Gambia vs. Myanmar.
Additionally, Jibril received honorary mention for his university internship at the “Community Pope John XXIII” in Reggio di Calabria as a cultural mediator and social educator.
Jibril had shown, through his achievements, that he has the qualities of a leader and could be a guide for many very young foreign boys and girls who have come to Italy to make their dreams come true, as he did.
Avv. Barbara Cartella said “Throughout his studies and life in Italy, Jibril honoured the Gambia, his country of origin. The great dream of becoming the ambassador of his country has yet to come true for him. This is why he continues to study and work. It is our sincere wish for him to realise all his dreams, always with God’s blessings and guidance. We are grateful to Gambia for giving us such a wonderful son, ready to conquer the world.”