Even as the world is about to witness a somewhat tetchy but absolutely peaceful transfer of power from Mr. Obama to Mr. Trump in the United States; a poor west African nation of Gambia at this very moment is living the classic definition of a banana Republic.  The incumbent president Mr. Yahya Jammen fairly and squarely lost the general elections held last month, but he has refused to accept the verdict and hand over power to the opposition leader.  As the deadline to relinquish office has come and gone, in a bizarre move he has not only imposed a state of emergency across the country but has also got his loyal members of the legislature to extend his term for further three months!  When the neighboring countries and the international observers like the United Nations warned Mr. Jammen that this state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue and that he must respect the will of the people and allow the incoming president to assume office, he has reacted in the most baffling of manners.  The defeated president has got an airplane up and ready with a full tank on the tarmac and the pilot on standby to flee at short notice taking away all of the loot with which he has enriched himself over the years at the cost of the impoverished people of this unfortunate nation.  It will be interesting to see what happens next.