Someone once said that “nothing has meaning until we give it meaning.” People are looking for meaning: meaning in marriage, meaning in relationships, and meaning in what we do, believe and what we stand for. Most of us look for meaning in church, in Mosque: meaning in the scriptures, song, and prayers. As a congregation, we have enjoyed worship.
In the Church, Mosque, school, institutions and even our football teams we have different groups of people representing different ethnic groups, but when we sing, study, work and play together, we do it as one family. Sierra Leone has about 20 ethnic groups in the four regions, we all differ in our life styles and political views, but we are Sierra Leoneans so we are one.
The late Ronald Reagan in 1991, said, ‘government is not the solution to our problems, but they are the problem. This saying has been very correct especially in Sierra Leone. During electioneering process, some of us were red, green and orange, but after the elections it is now time for us to come together and work as a team to build the country that has been always rated last in the world. Why should we still be pulling here and their under the definition of party politics.
The country will never get better if we refuse to put aside our tribal links and embrace the principle of oneness. The government will always be the problem because they don’t work in our interest, that is why the MPs and the president have been asking for astronomical salaries forgetting that the masses are still being paid Le150,000.
It has been proved that we the people who so loved our country can change it. We stood our grounds against NPRC’s peace before elections; we did the same against AFRC, and gave ECOMOG success. Voices of men and women who have different stories but hold common hopes; they ask for what they had been fighting for so that they can make their lives what it should and to see their children climb higher than they did.
Sierra Leone is too small to be going through such bitter divisions even when politicking is over. The present government can win the hearts of all by bridging the gap between rich and poor between develop areas and under developed areas. They can ring the changes in the economy and improve our infrastructure rather than concentrating on who is red or who is green.
Likewise the opposition when called upon, should come out and help to develop the country as we are one family under the sun. If SLPP think staying away when called upon will enhance their chances come 2012 is a big mistake because posterity will always judge them.
The business of our nation should go forth as we are confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions. We suffered from one of the worst brutal war in our nation’s history. It distorts our economic decisions, penalizes thrift and crushes the struggling young and elderly and threatens to shatter the lives of millions or our people.
The government and we as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. When, then, should we think that collectively, as a country we are not bound by that same limitation? We must act now in order to preserve tomorrow. There should be no misunderstanding and we should start to act now to change the course of our history by working as a family to achieve our utmost goal.
The economic woes we are suffering dates back after independence. They will not go away in weeks or months, but they will go away if the government is ready to put into action innovations that are positive and viable. The positive innovations from the government and the people will definitely conquer these vices, because we have the capacity and what ever needs to be done to preserve this last and great bastion of freedom, will be done.
Sierra Leone is in danger of returning where it came from few years ago, but we should not be despaired of such thoughts as we have the capacity to avert it if we believe in ourselves that we can do it. The fortunes of Sierra Leone depend on us. We are to decide the important questions upon which rests the happiness and the liberty of millions of yet unborn. Let us act worthily as time is not on our side.
The economic crisis we are going through now does require swift and positive actions from the government, by making use of our natural resources, the virgin agricultural lands and the untapped human resources. It also requires our best effort and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds; to believe that together with God’s help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us.
I believe strongly in prayer, and I want to believe that if our leaders have the fear of God and are determine to change the course of our history, they will succeed with the help of God. I also believe in healthy relationships, in the empowerment of our youth and in the wisdom of our elderly. We should honor all of these, because it means something to us.
That is why we work hard, pray hard and believe in God with all our hearts, minds and souls. The government should know the people mean everything to them, as we are one family under the Coat of Arms, the green, white and blue flag and the national anthem.
Americans black and white celebrated the inauguration of president Obama and they remembered the late Martin Luther King for his speech that one day all Americans will come together as one family whether black or white. It did happen as they now have an African American in the Oval office.
The dream of Sierra Leone working as a team irrespective of political or regional beliefs is what we need to lift the country to higher heights. The economy is in bad shape, poverty is rising, infrastructure like housing, roads, and hospitals are limited, people are dying prematurely and the future looks bleak by the day.
When racism was suppressed in America, we saw how they developed to become the world’s biggest economy. They succeeded because they worked as a team whether black or white, Democrats or Republicans. This is what we have to do in Sierra Leone. United we stand, divided we fall. I implore the current president to think in that line as he has already called for attitudinal change, let him work towards unifying the country and know that not only people from Bombali are educated and wise enough to be cabinet ministers. Tribalism and regionalism will never improve the country; the only solution for development is working from a nationalistic point of view.
When the Late John Akar wrote the national anthem he did it with love and sincerity from his heart. He wrote it that every Sierra Leonean from the 20 or more ethnic groups and four regions would work in the interest of the country. He wrote it to unite us for prosperity and love, sincerity of purpose, respect for one another and to further enhance the development of the country from generation to generation.
Can we be happy to live in poverty, can we be happy to see our children are robbed of their precious childhood; can we be happy when we do not have jobs or food to eat, and can we be happy to die prematurely? No, we will never be happy until we are able to live with our salary and the basic fundamental rights are available to us all.
As we go through life, we’ll see there is so much that we do not understand. The only thing we know is things don’t always go the way we planned, but we will see everyday that we will never turn away when it seems all our dreams have come undone.
I say if there’s so much the president must be, let him just be himself and that is the way it should be to bring about the positive changes we are yearning for. Let him trust in his own heart or maybe he is just one part of the APC machine or some big plan to continue the down trodden path of his APC predecessors?
If the government is ready to change our lives for the better, we will stand by their side filled with hope and filled with pride because at that time we are more than who we think we are as we are one family. Tears of pain, tears of joy, one thing nothing can destroy is our pride deep inside because we are like the earth and sky, one family under the sun.
Finally I say to the government, all the wisdom to lead, all the courage that they need, they will find when they see us as one family because that is the time their journey will only begin.
By Austin Thomas
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