By Ezekiel Nabieu
As a nation we have been so absorbed in Ebola matters that we tend to forget that there are equally important aspects of state that should be addressed concomitantly. In passing let us reflect on how this scourge could have been stymied in the bud in Kailahun full stop. Instead events were remotely controlled by square pegs in round holes ensconced in their ivory towers. We should not forget that it took only one bad appointment by a clean government to usher us into the mess from which we are striving hard to extricate ourselves with foreign help.
In Nigeria the Lagos State Governor suspend his foreign engagements IMMEDIATELY backed by the Federal Government and the scourge was stopped in its tracks without any major disruption of their economy.
Returning to the kernel of this piece let me state that “convictions are the mainsprings of action, the driving powers of life. What a man lives are his convictions –Bishop Francis C. Kelley.
While I agree with the opinion of Bishop Kelley to some extent I differ by opining that there are many unprincipled persons who do not live their convictions but are carried away by the convictions and sentiments of others. Moreover the American political saying that “In politics a man must learn to rise above principle” is hardly adhered to especially by politicians of developing countries.
Several generations of Sierra Leoneans including ours are the beneficiaries of the courage of early Christian missionaries who were daring enough to go on hazardous voyages to unknown and unchartered territories. Not only that. They encountered the anopheles mosquitoes whose malaria parasites killed off hundreds of them. Some of them only had to live in Africa for a few months before contracting the disease and dying.
Curiously enough others followed on their heels regardless because of the conviction that the danger could be overcome in spite of the hazards involved.
Turning to our politicians instances of the absence of the courage of their convictions are in galore. Time was in Sierra Leone before our current Constitution was amended that carpet crossing was the order of the day and that was always a one way affair towards the ruling parties. That was a clear indication that the carpet crossers were spineless characters whom the lust for money and power could buy.
The same syndrome applies to political employees who would not resign though they are implacably opposed to the policies they are tasked to carry out.
They cling on and grumble in unofficial circles with guilty conscience. In this case I may not be convincing if I do not cite the classical case of our erstwhile Head of State, Joseph Saidu Momoh who admitted that he had failed the nation but did not resign.
He was a trifle better than others who never admit failure. Some have commended his forthrightness but others have added that he would have emerged from the presidency with grace if he had the courage of his convictions to resign than to have waited to be booted out ignominiously.
Another example of a man who had the courage of his convictions was that of the then Mr. Siaka Stevens who was one of the delegates to our pre-Independence Conference in London. He stood alone and did not sign the instruments of Independence because he had the courage of his convictions. At the end of the day he not only became a minister in the ruling SLPP but ultimately became Head of State in the APC regime. Here I am also mentioning the cases of the late K.I Kai-Samba and the late L.A.M Mbriwa who, having been left out as party candidates stood as independent candidates and won their seats thereby altering the political landscape.
Eddie Turay
This is a name that has been emblazed in legal and political circles in this nation for decades though namesakes have been capitalizing on it. It is now clear that I am referring to Sierra Leone’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. In the first place he became known as one of the country’s prominent lawyers. He had the distinction of becoming leader of opposition in parliament at a time when few would have associated with the APC after all those heady years. That was the time when Ernest Koroma was finding his feet. The rest is history.
Fast forward, Eddie Turay came into prominence recently when he courageously opposed what he regarded as the untimely banning of Right Hand Drive vehicles. He cited instances of other West African countries which had the same problem. He argued that the government should allow the RHD vehicles already in the country to wear out or outlive their usefulness and impose a ban on new imports instead.
He even stated that he had discussed the matter with the incumbent minister of Transport and Aviation.
Unlike Eddie Turay there are thousands of government employees who concur with whatever line of action is taken by the APC even against their consciences in order to maintain their jobs. What Eddie Turay did not realize was that as long as a proposal is made by Balogun Koroma the author of Third Term it will pass (nef cut). All this is in spite of the hardship of unemployment and the shortage of vehicles for the commuting public. It will also be recalled that Balogun Koroma is the minister who promised to bring one hundred buses into Sierra Leone since last year. Where are the buses? But who cares. We are in dire need of citizens with an Eddie Turay ilk especially in our parliament where rubber-stamping is now the norm.
Hard Questions
- The following institutions have suffered changes of names lately: from Prisons to Correctional Center not knowing whether prisoners will now be called Correctioners or what you will; from SLRTA to SLRSA;EOC to NERC; and from Physically Challenged to Disabled or vice versa. Does this not prove that we have an indecisive government dabbling in trivialities?
- (a) Is the learned Director-General of the SLBC not impervious to public evaluation while calling for internal evaluation? (b) Where is Constituency 96 as announced by the SLBC without geographical location for a gift received from Australia? (c) Does the SLBC with all their galaxy of intellectuals expect citizens to memorize numbers of constituencies just because they have been numbered? (d) After that workshop recently are we now free from such trashy English as “By keep sending your contributions etc?
- Which is the most embattled ministry of government?
- Should the representatives of the Ebola hot spots in Portloko not be constrained to refund the sensitization monies given to them?
© Politico 10/02/15
