By Khadi Mansaray
For as long as I can remember we have been happily dancing. We danced for Siaka Stevens, we danced for JS Momoh, we danced for the NPRC military junta, we danced for Tejan Kabbah and now we are dancing for Ernest Koroma. When ECOMOG 'liberated' Freetown people took to the streets dancing, after days of being under fire. We had lost people, property and even limbs, yet our first reaction at the end was to dance. The mourning was to come later. Ruthless rebels used our love for celebrations to lure some of us out by pretending to be ECOMOG soldiers and had shot those who came out to celebrate. For almost every state of emergency we partied through the curfews. As refugees in the Gambia we irritated our hosts with our zeal for clubbing. During the last elections songs were composed for the presidential candidates. Even political deserters got their own share of celebrations as the crossovers were celebrated with great enthusiasm. Sierra Leoneans have a reputation for throwing a good party. Alma mater organizations are well known for annual dinners and dances. Regional groups in the Diaspora do the same and now white parties are the new craze. Last weekend we celebrated another independence anniversary. Our diplomatic missions across the world marked it, and rightly so. Individuals got together to organise events for commercial or social reasons. Two years ago the celebrations were on a much larger scale. Since then at every independence anniversary we are spoilt for choice about which event to attend. They vary from grand style to grass style. But one thing is consistent: an enthusiastic crowd of Sierra Leoneans dancing away. Dancing is part of our rich cultural heritage. The lantern parade, Bubu music and Paddle are things to be proud of. But we have to stop and ask thus: what exactly are we constantly celebrating? Sometimes I think it is our way of handling difficult situations and experiences. Our capital city still lacks the basics such as food and electricity. We continue to make baby steps towards development but there are so many paradoxes. The internet connections are extremely slow despite fibre optic or talk about it. I grew up hearing the eternal promise of Bumbuna yet power cuts remain a fact of life. The efforts on education are focused on halting the decline and we struggle to produce graduates that can compete on a world class job market. If we compare our progress to other countries who gained independence about the same time as we did, we soon realise that there isn’t much to celebrate. Admittedly the war was a major setback but we were lagging behind before it started and even though it ended a decade ago we’re still crawling. Other war-torn African countries are making progress but no amount of foreign aid or assistance seems to make a significant difference in our case. Instead it is shamelessly used to explain our failures. How many of us would be satisfied with that pace of progress in our personal lives? The government has so much to do and we must help. Individually some of us improve our lives remarkably even in the most difficult circumstances. Impressive private homes spring up quickly, more so when the owners happen to be in government. But somehow the things that benefit the nation seem so difficult to implement. We pride ourselves on organising great parties. If we can mobilise our efforts for dancing then we can do the same for things with more tangible and concrete results. There are so many talented Sierra Leoneans who excel but our most recent world record was for Sampa Dancing and the one before that for thieving. I believe we can get into the Guinness Book of records for more than that. Some of us may have opportunities or resources to help more than others. We don’t have to do the same thing as our talents are diverse and our country needs them. Another thing we appear to be very good at is saying how great we are, compared to others. So many leaders have told us what a great job they’ve done yet the evidence speaks for itself. Our forums on social media are laden with the rhetoric of some of us who talk passionately about how extraordinary we are. A fundamental attitudinal change needed is for us to adopt an ethos of “show” rather than “tell.” President Obama doesn’t boast of how he made history by being the First Black President of the USA. Michael Jackson never called himself the King of Pop. Others make the reference. Sierra Leoneans, if you’re a good writer then write something inspiring. If you’re a great cook then cook a tasty meal. Instead of preaching about integrity demonstrate it through your actions. Don’t tell others you’re well bred, show them. If you have to shout all the time about how fantastic you are the truth is that you probably aren’t and you have failed miserably in making an impact. The voice of every Sierra Leonean is important but we must use it wisely. So to every one of us reading this if you’re ever tempted to boast about your awesome talent, stop and think first about how you can show them instead. What our country needs most is the showing not the telling and the doing before the dancing.
