What legacy are we building for the young generation ?
Contributed by Mohamed.C.Bah : Guest Writer : Ex-President Sierra Leone Community, Atlanta, GA
Friday, 20 February 2009
Legacy is a historic footprints of our long standing public works. It is a log book that records the personal journey we took
on life's highway and how we amazingly traveled to reach to the destination of serving others for the common good of
citizenship and love for our country. In the process of building our legacy, we may encounter the challenges of "selfless
love", the agony and burden that comes with it but at the same time, discover the passion and self- fulfillment of doing
good.
Others, through our works, may be inspired and motivated to relentlessly pursue our dreams by promoting the vision of a
better society, where people live together in the pursuit of peace and happiness.. The importance of legacy is not only
the tremendous and contagious effect it may have on the conscience of people, but the power it has on dictating the
course of history and raising the mantra of public service to the highest standard. Legacy, invariably,is a watchdog
against people who may seek political office to enrich themselves at the expense of public and government resources.
Indeed, when the desire to put the interest of the citizens are front and center,legacy becomes the driving force and the
ultimate political will to achieve basic human progress for Sierra Leoneans.
By and Large, where ever there is a legacy oriented society, a track record of national developments are inevitably
bound to take place on a maximum scale. Not only will succeeding generation benefit, but a "DNA" of a social and
political thread lines are establish in a distinctive pattern to show why we must advance the common well being of our
people. The United States, Europe, China and other developed nations are the melting pots of many legacy makers,
whose contributions of ingenuity and excellence followed the human trail of progress that subsequently made their
people the most prosperous in the world.
LEGACY BUILDERS
Do legacy build the person or do the person build the legacy?Generally, public service to the people of Sierra Leone
have been a failed phenomenon in terms of the overall impact of the general welfare and living condition of our people.
As good as the institution of government has been from ushering political independence to the creation of some small
basic infrastructures to the representation of our country as a sovereign entity,our governmental echelon have divided us
into a Northern and Southern hemisphere, incubated a culture of tribal discrimination, politicize the appointments of
public servants,presided over a non- transparent judicial system and alienated the masses into a gloomy future of
hopelessness. The inaction to fight against poverty have not only created human suffering, but have manifested a wide
spread culture of corruption.
The challenging question is: have public service in Sierra Leone model itself on the concept of raising the legacy bar so
high for the young generation that they have no choice but to be performance- driven or do many of our fellow citizens
still see "politics" as a road to wealth creation?Since the birth of our nation, over forty seven years ago, our new
generation have been grossly deprived and denied the opportunity to emulate those before them because of the
increasing shortages of "legacy builders" in Sierra Leone.
However,I am not alluding to the short history of our past presidents and national heroes alone, but a serious case study
and detail understanding of their works. Their accomplishments as well as their failures have not being incorporated,
studied and adapted into the main political frame work of today nor have our new generation absorbed the values and
purpose of public responsibilities. Service to our people have been relegated to a state of "plutocracy" and the nobility
associated with it have increasingly disappeared since the end of the Sir Milton Margai era.
Realistically,we have not recycle the polluted legacy of corruption and ineptitude into a new energy of building a political
climate, where the future of our people transcends our personal ambitions and loyalty. We have not applied the lessons
of promoting a legacy base on political and economic prosperity for our young generation. We have not even attempted
to learn from the mistakes of the past and exemplify a new way to change our society. If we have, to those who may
disagree, why do we still have a political structure that depends on "donor Aid'?Why do we have a system that has not
consistently deliver to the people?How effective have we been able to reduce corruption and mismanagements?Have we
being able to utilize and adequately manage our human and natural resources to advance the betterment of Sierra
Leoneans?
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Indeed, do we think that we can fight against corruption just by appointing an anti-corruption commission?When the living
standards of our police forces, civil servants and government officers are not improved,when their pay rates are not
adjusted to the current cost of living and paid regularly, when working conditions are deplorable and the resources to
perform their jobs are inadequate, when there are no ethical and policy compliance guide lines, the anti-corruption
commission or any apparatus of government entity, would always be a toothless bully dog that barks but does not bite.
The anti-corruption commission or any other investigative body would not be able to serve as legacy builders, nor the
effective enforcers of the law and neither the flag bearers of justice to the people.
HUMAN INDEX
I understand that some, who do not believe in divergent views, would question my writings, maybe, as too negatives and
unworthy. What they may fail to realize is that we can only find solutions by first of all, identifying and knowing the root
causes of our national problems. That small gains made,as encouraging as they may be, does not warrant a "no-criticism
approach' to our elected officers/governments. I am not asking for statistics of how the ratio of human index have
improved in Sierra Leone compared to the past years. Our dependency on the world financial institutions and the UN
poverty programs are not the long term and permanent solutions to our economic and political predicaments. We cannot
defined "progress" by what these institutions described and what relatively the poverty program we are classification into.
We can create our own dimension and standards by how much we have up lifted our people from the entrenched cycle
of poverty.
Since,our nation became independent,what tangible progress have we made on a substantial scale to alleviate poverty,
develop a quality and affordable health system,improve and expand our public infrastructures,provide a better
educational system,create jobs for millions of our people and making government a trusted partner in nation building. By,
honestly, answering a Yes or No to these questions, we can definitely measure the level of growth and progress we have
significantly made without any artificial standards. Even though, we have seen some few "national development"
initiatives, more needed to be done to keep up with the pace of population explosion and the global rising cost of living.
The philosopher, William Ellery Canning, beckoned us to practice "self-culture" a behavior of self- determination to help
ourselves rather than rely on others. Today,we are heavily addicted to the dependency of Aid or financial support from
the outside world. We have failed to design, develop and spearhead a home grown initiatives and public policies to
shape the destiny of our country. The late Sir Milton Margai was the only Prime Minister who practice William Canning's
doctrine of self-determination, by fighting for Sierra Leone's political independence. Since then, we have lost the battle of
economic independence from the West and the people of Sierra Leone are paying the price of human hardship every
single day and night. We have fallen further and further behind the industrialized world due to a decade old civil war that
was evil and unnecessary,poor governance from previous regimes,rampant corruption and the lack of pragmatic
leadership. Former President Siaka Stevens, with his legacy of corruption, seem to be the only President whose
infrastructural developments are still the old land marks of progress in Sierra Leone.
A LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP
Abraham Lincoln one said: “Public service is a noble profession”.Unfortunately, in Sierra Leone, the legacy
of our past political dynasties have been built around falsehood and empty promises. In retrospect, we have not build a
legacy driven politics that would shiver the spines and impact the souls of the young generation to do great things for our
nation. Rather, we have taken away the nobility and prestige associated with the value of serving others. Sierra
Leoneans have been immersed into perceiving public service as a "mining field” and a catalyst to wealth building.
Many are overshadowed by the old adage of the "do-as-the Romans-do" mentality. And evidently,only few public
servants, business leaders and other working professionals are making a giant stride towards building a legacy of good
works to our fellow citizens.
Sierra Leone could be the "New York" and "Berlin" of Africa if our political philosophy hangs on a legacy driven culture.
That Sierra Leone would become a center of economic development where the democratic institution of judicial
transparency, investment in education health and technology would take an impressive foot hold, if we model our
governing methods on the premise of working for the common good of everyone, including our grand children. Our
struggling citizens would not have to live in darkness,poor housing, inadequate health care and the lack of hope for the
future.
A LIBRARY OF LEGACY
Can a good legacy trigger more followers? Are we leaving something for the young generation? Today, Sierra Leone
cannot boost of even a small or modest Presidential Library, where our future generation can study and emulate both
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their accomplishments and failures. If we documented and archived the works (good and bad) of these notable leaders,
we can understand how to proceed in a strategic way to solving repeated problems and challenges that have affected
our people for four decades now. Our young people would be motivated to take a new approach and better insight on
how to steer our nations to the mighty shores of prosperity..
I must,however, commend President Koroma for recognizing the rights of former President Kabba to live and move freely
in Sierra Leone. The significance of such good will gestures demonstrated a new political civility that past Presidents
could still be assets to the future of the country. Jimmy Carter, for instance, was not an effective President while in office,
but when he left, he made an indelible impact around the world.
From a patriotic stand point, i am promoting the concept of a "legacy culture" in our political system-one that influence us
to perform our sacred obligation and commitment to our people whenever we are trusted and privilege to represent them.
We cannot educate a generation of new leaders if we don't have role models in our country. When government does not
work, the welfare and livelihood of our fellow citizens are in peril. The future of our young generation are sadly reduced to
a world of inadequacy and disparity. The only way they can believe in serving a greater cause is: we must reinvent a new
political dimension which is to leave a master piece legacy trail for them to follow.
Until, we begin to confront our fears and guilts that we are doing less or nothing to change the future of our nation,that
we are on the cross road between promoting the principles of a legacy culture or working for our self-interest and political
ambitions. Until we become sensitive to addressing the plight of the suffering masses and knowing that we cannot build a
legacy by flooding government with cronies and party loyalists, that we cannot operate government through work shops
and conferences;that we just cannot wait for donor-money to run the machinery of government. There can be “no
legacy” in an environment where those in power do not show compassion and selfless love to those who are
voiceless and powerless.
CONCLUSION
However,our fledgling democracy under President Koroma are showing some signs that they are willing to learn and
respond to some formidable challenges. The implementation of the performance contracts and regular reviews with
ministers about their goals are steps in the right direction. The signing into law of the anti-corruption bill and President
Koroma's declaration of his personal asset are high marks of a promising future. The improvement in power provision,
free press and the overhaul of various ministerial responsibilities demonstrates that President Koroma may be a legacy
conscious public servant.
On the other hand, our present government seem to be struggling in tackling multiple challenges. Inexperience, the lack
of resources, lack of direction and sometimes poor judgment have created a road block to sustainable developments.
Other problems like the rocketing food and fuel prices are global problems and beyond the government control.
According to the Chatham House Report, a royal institute of international affairs from London,the shortage of skilled
administrators, a product of the decayed educational system and the destructive impact of the growing drug trafficking of
Columbia and other drug cartels, who are seeking to use Sierra Leone and other West African nations as an access
route to Europe pose a serious problem to our country. Sierra Leone still have a large unemployed youth population,
poorly paid military,police and civil services. An average Sierra Leone lives on one dollar a day.
But for the benefit of the doubts, more time is needed to assess President Koroma's new government.. As citizens, we
can contribute in many ways to support the development of Sierra Lone where ever the political spectrum we may find
ourselves. Historically, it is valuable to note that our nations have few past and present leaders, who left or are leaving a
golden foot prints on the hall ways of their political careers.
That our new generation do not have enough 'role models” to inspire them to do great things for our beloved
nation. Obviously, the big question of what legacy are we building and leaving for our youths would continue to linger and
hunt us for many generation to come.
Send your comment about this article to mcbah4440@yahoo.com
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