By Dr. Murphy Sirleaf Anderson
If someone were to tell
you that I, Murphy Vatikeh Sirleaf Anderson, a son of a traditional Kpelle man
and a former commissioned officer of the Armed Forces of Liberia would be
standing before you at this historic 170th celebration of our beloved country
independence, you would most likely be surprised and may think the one telling
you was crazy. But, the reality is, exactly four days ago, in a friendly
conversation with our President at a training exercise, she asked me to be the
speaker at this event. Initially, I hesitated considering the time that I have
to fully prepare a talk to address my fellow Liberians. So, I asked her to give
me some time to think about
her request. On my way home from work, I pondered over the idea of having this
opportunity to directly speak to this audience, maybe for the first and last
time considering this year ends two consecutive terms as Chairman of the Board
of Directors of this noble organization. "Fellow Liberians, it may seem too late to turn the wheels of history that have driven Liberia so deep into the oceans of underdevelopment, lack of creativity and innovations. But I have come to let you know that the University of Positive thinking, great opportunities, and creativity still exist. There are more rooms for new students and enrollment is opened to everyone. If anyone of you, Liberians under the sound of my voice is willing and prepared to enroll, the time is NOW!"
The Holy Bible teaches us
that the number “7” means completion and recognizing that today is the 170th
independence of our nation, I was honored but yet humbled by the kind consideration
of me by the President to address this audience. What a co-incidence! Madam
President and members of the Executive Committee, I would like to thank you for
affording me this opportunity.
My
fellow Liberians, distinquished ladies and gentlemen,
I have been asked to speak to you within the time frame of 20-25 minutes about three dispensations in the history of a
Country that I believe each and every Liberian within the confines of this
auditorium with the exception of our children born in this country have a
particular, if not personal identification with. Liberia yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,
is a unique selection of a topic that encapsulates our existence as a country
and as a people. 20-25 minutes may not be enough to fully take you on a journey
through the history of yesterday, today and the hopes and dreams of the future
of our country. Thank God that most of you are Liberians and are cognizant of the history
and activities of Liberia. Therefore, I would not waste our time propounding on
historical subjects but will do my best to highlight key events that left historical and indelible
prints on Liberia and its people. My hope is to use these highlights to
challenge all of us in becoming better and useful citizens of our republic. For
those of you, our friends and well-wishers of Liberia, allow me to encourage
you to do a little more research on this beautiful African country and its
unique history. I promise you will be glad you did.
Liberia
Yesterday:
Fellow
Liberians, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, according to the
Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, the founding of Liberia in
the early 1800s was motivated by domestic politics of slavery and race in the
United States as well as by the U.S. foreign policy interest. In 1822, The American Colonization Society
(ACS) was formed for the purpose of relocating freed African slaves from
America to the land of their forefather with the hope of giving them lasting
freedom from their slave masters. On July 26, 1847, Liberia declared
independence and Great Britain become the first country to recognize the birth
of a new nation on the dark continent of Africa. Throughout “Liberia Yesterday”, the nation signed and entered bilateral
agreements with other West African nations like the Mano River Union (MRU),
which was initially formed between Liberia and Sierra Leone on October 3, 1973.
The goal of the Union was to "accelerate the
economic growth, social progress, and cultural advancement of the two countries
... by active collaboration and mutual assistance in matters of common interest
in economic, social, technical, scientific and administrative fields. On May 23, 1963 in Addis Ababa, Liberia became one of 32 signatories to the
formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Amongst the primary aims
of the OAU, defending the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence
of African States and the co-ordination and intensify of co-operation of
African states in order to achieve a better life for the people of Africa became
paramount to member nations. “Liberia
Yesterday” was once known for its relative peace and harmony in Africa and
enjoyed a two-party political system: the Republican
Party and the True Whig Party.
Unfortunately, this lasting peace did not last forever; it soon became
overshadowed by “Liberia Today”.
Liberia
Today:
The introduction of “Liberia Today” was characterized by
series of uncalculated and unthoughtful events that destroyed the
socio-economic, education, health, human and infrastructural
fabrics of the nation and removed Liberia from its position in the community of
nations. Beginning with the “Rice Riot” of April 14, 1979 masterminded by few
Liberians belonging to the Progressive Alliance of Liberia (PAL) to the
overthrow of the democratically elected government of the late President,
William R. Tolbert, Jr. in 1980 led by 17 enlisted men of the Armed Forces of
Liberia. This was followed by the invasion of Liberia in 1989 led by the
defunct National Patriotic Party of Liberia (NPFL) under the leadership of Mr.
Charles Taylor. The aftermaths of these events have not only set Liberia
farther behind other developing nations in Africa, but it destroyed Liberia’s
dependable human capital.
According to the World’s
Bank 2015 Report, Liberia’s economy has stagnated over the past three years,
representing an average annual growth rate of 0% over the period 2014-2016.
However, prospects for growth are much better in 2017 as GDP is projected to
grow by more than 2%. Over the medium term, economic growth is expected to
increase to 5.0% on average, due to a recovery in mining and improvements in
infrastructure, particularly in energy and roads, and higher agricultural
productivity. In health, the recent
outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone,
affected the health and social wellbeing of the entire country and took
the lives of hundreds of Liberians. On June 9, 2016, the World Health
Organization (WHO) declared the end to the virus. Since that declaration,
Liberia continues to make progress in its health sector. Human rights abuses
and challenges in Liberia remain a major concern to other countries, especially
the United States. According to the U.S. State Department 2015 Human Rights
Report on Liberia, the most serious human rights abuses in Liberia were those
linked to deficiencies in the administration of justice, official corruption
and violence against women and children. Others include, police abuse,
harassment, and intimidation of detainees and others, arbitrary arrest and
detention, violence against women and children, including rape and domestic
violence, human trafficking, racial and ethnic discrimination, etc.
Fellow Liberians,
Liberia
Tomorrow:
“Liberia
Tomorrow” faces greater challenges than the previous two
dispensations. For Liberia to overcome
the pass and succeed in the future, it must embrace the following which, I term
the bedrock of nation building:
1.
Education
2.
Infrastructural and Human Resource
Developments
3.
Health
4.
Good governance AND
5.
The cultivation of a patriotic spirit of
“Nationalism”
Fellow
Liberians, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
Theodore Roosevelt once said and I quote, “the
future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”. It is imperative that the future of a Liberia
that all of us envision for ourselves and our children cannot, should not, and will not be built on the shoulders or by
the hands of weak-minded, corrupt or purposeless individuals who are constantly
devising ways to divide us and enrich themselves by exploiting the capital and human
resources of our country. I would like
to draw you attention to an initiative that was taken by one of the brightest
sons of our continent that has transformed and set on the paths of progressive
investments and developments of his country and people, at least in my view. In
2001, Flight lieutenant, Jerry J. Rawlings, former President of the Republic of
Ghana envisioned that Ghana would become the gateway to Africa, especially West
Africa, if the citizens would “Think
Big”. Not only did Jerry Rawlings envisioned the idea of thinking big, he exemplified his
believe in his vision, led the cause to galvanize all Ghanaians to believing
that Ghana could reach the pinnacle of its existence, if its citizens work
together in fostering and achieving a common goal irrespective of their
differences.
It is evident that Ghana
has not reached the pinnacle of its existence that Rawlings envisioned
initially, however, the paths that have prevented Ghana from climbing
those mountains to
achieving that vision is becoming much clearer in sight than it was years ago.
My
fellow Liberians, distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
allow me to remind you, especially for those of you who share the same faith
like I, that the God of our ancestors does not make mistakes. He has not
stopped blessing those who seek him with gifts that can be used to transform
our ways of life. In his letter to the Church in Rome, the Apostle Paul wrote
and I quote, “Do not conform to the
pattern of this world, but be yea transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good,
pleasing and perfect will. I may sound envious of the success
story of Ghana, but I am not. Liberia and Ghana seem to have walked similar
paths in history. Our struggles with tribal wars, military leadership,
socio-economic hardship, health, education, and infrastructure developments
during our formation seem almost similar, if not the same. No reason is found
to convince me on why the 21st Century seems more promising to Ghana
and other African nations than it is to Liberia. For a better reason, I am
mostly intrigued by the progressive socio-economic and infrastructure developments that have
and continue to occur in that part of West Africa while Africa’s oldest
republic lingers behind. I am convinced, if God has blessed Ghana to move
forward from the shackles of poverty, tribal strives, and economic hardships,
he surely has blessed Liberia but we are yet to position ourselves to receive
and benefit from the blessings as a Nation and people.
Fellow
Liberians, on May 25, 1961, President
John F. Kennedy announced before a Joint Section of Congress that he envisioned
that America would compete with the Soviet Union by being the second nation in
the world to send a man to the moon. “Wow’!
I would like to think, some Americans said and good leadership, others may have
thought also. I would like to believe that President Kennedy’s vision to send a
man to the moon was not intended to establish for himself a legacy that would
impress Americans and the world about his leadership and the country he belonged,
I don’t believe his intent was to advance his political agenda and set himself
apart from presidents before him, neither do I want to believe that his intent to
send a man to the moon was to position himself for re-election to the
presidency. I am convinced that President Kennedy’s vision to send an American
to the moon in spite of the risk and economic cost to his country was intended
in large part to position America to becoming the World’s greatest country ever
on the face of the earth.
Ladies and gentlemen, I do not need to
convince you further because the evidences are crystal clear and history can
testify to my conviction.
I believe when Nelson Mandela and the African National
Congress (ANC) rose up against apartheid in their native land, endured the
sufferings and injustices and sat between the walls of his prisons for 27
unbroken years, he knew that one day the dark clouds of oppression and
indignation that had captivated his people for years would eventually come to an
end. I don’t believe Nelson Mandela and the ANC purpose for standing up against
apartheid was for self-promotion but for the common good of all South Africans.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
I believe Dr. King and the civil rights movement endured the struggles
for equality so that all Americans including you, and I, and our children may
enjoy the immeasurable freedom that their struggles have blessed us with. I
believe they struggled and died not for their personal benefits but that their
sacrifices would ignite a fire in every American and citizens of the world to
perpetuate the fight and protection of human dignity, freedom, and equality
amongst us and around the globe. I believe if Liberia will become a successful
nation in Africa, meet the challenges of the 21st Century and play a
prominent role within the community of nations, there has to be among us J.J
Rawlings, Nelson Mandela, J.F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr
and many more who fought to change the ways of life of their people and
respective nations even at the peril of their individual lives.
* It
was not by mistake that Liberia is Africa’s oldest republic.
* It
was not by mistake that Liberia elected Africa’s first female President
* Neither
was it by mistake that today we celebrate 170 years of our existence as a
nation. However, it would be a mistake if
we, Liberians
·
Leave Liberia worse than how we received
her from those who fought and died to save her.
·
It would be a mistake if we choose to
become a disgrace to our heritage rather than promote the rich cultural and
ancestral values upon which the foundation of our nation was built.
·
It would be a mistake, if we ignore the desperate
need to become nation builders by investing and contributing to the
socio-economic and infrastructural developments of Liberia.
A
preacher once said, “God is not interested in renovating our past, he is
interested in brightening and securing our future”.
Like the Ghanaians or
Americans, if we the people of Liberia are to enjoy a prosperous nation and
secure a future for ourselves and our children that is free of corruption,
indignation, injustices, immoral and unethical values, poverty and diseases, ignorance, illiteracy,
laziness and disingenuous behaviors, tribal divide, hate, and intolerance, the
time is now for us to change who we are and how we perceive the world around
us. We must act now in order to position
ourselves and our nation to compete in the 21st Century.
Fellow Liberians, it may seem too late to
turn the wheels of history that have driven Liberia so deep into the oceans of underdevelopment, lack of creativity and innovations.
But I have come to let you know that the University
of Positive thinking, great opportunities,
and creativity still exist. There
are more rooms for new students and enrollment is opened to everyone. If anyone
of you, Liberians under the sound of my voice is willing and prepared to
enroll, the time is NOW! We may
secure a better future for Liberia, if we:
1. Invest
in the education of ourselves first and our children
2. We
may secure a brighter future for Liberia, if we cultivate and nature a
patriotic spirit of nationalism.
4. We
may secure a safe society in Liberia, if we resist ignorance and embrace our
cultural heritage and values.
5. We
may secure a promising future for Liberia, if we invest in the development and
protection of the nation.
These challenges do not
belong to one particular family, society or county but to all Liberians. Let me
remind you, fellow Liberians, “Education allows us to exhibit our humanity but
ignorance forces us to demonstrate our stupidity. Get educated TODAY!
Before
I take my seat, let me leave you with a “piece” that I wrote,
The
Elisabeth, a symbol of our heritage”.
IF
GOD IS WITH US, THEN THE IMPOSSIBLE SHALL BE POSSIBLE!!!
(Murphy
V. S. Anderson is Chairman,
LICI Board of Directors, Columbus, Ohio, USA)
No comments:
Post a Comment