MONROVIA: A Liberian educator and intellectual, B. Elias Shoniyin, say despite these perennial odds facing Liberia, “this year’s Independence Day commemoration comes with hope”.
He said the arrival of a new dispensation heralds a new day for Liberia and inspires hope, adding, “We now have an opportunity to take a new direction that promotes meritocracy and investment in the people as the ultimate goal for national renewal and progress”.
In his Independence Day Statement delivered July 25, 2024, the Dean of the School of Global Affairs and Policy, Cuttington University, urged Liberians, irrespective of political persuasion, religion, tribe, or creed, to abandon their differences and join in building a new nation.
“Let’s build and construct; let’s move our country forward, and let’s together recover the lost years,” Mr. Shoniyin, who is also Managing Director, Africa Development Management Associates (ADMA), noted, “Let no one lie to you that we cannot do this. There is still time to do so.”
He said Liberians should exhibit the highest sincerity to themselves, their nation, and to their God, “if we are to propel the engine of prosperity in our land, the land of freedom and liberty”.
He added: “The picture of our country today at 177 is not one that evokes pride, notwithstanding, it is a picture that reveals our wounds and struggles, and one that should inspire us to action as a proud people.
“If out of nothing we can preserve our independence for 177 unbroken years, then we as a people are obligated to build on it – we can develop and modernize it. This is a challenge I throw to all of us as the progenies of brave and resilient forebears. Let us respond to the callings beyond our narrow personal aspirations, to loosen the shackles of deprivation and abject poverty that have held us back.”
According to him, the future of the country is bright, “but we must seize it. We must be intentional as we approach the future. If we cannot find a way, let us make a way!”
He said this year’s Independence Day, Liberians should remember that in the face of daunting challenges, “our founding fathers exhibited courage, determination, and fortitude, pressing on with their lofty aspirations for self-determination and nationhood”.
“Today our nationhood may be taken for granted, but history reminds us of the struggles of our forbearers in the quest for legitimacy as a nation, causing President Joseph Jenkins Roberts to spend nine months of his first two-year term as president, touring Europe to seek recognition and support for the young Liberian state,” he reflected. “The founding fathers deployed all in their reach to sustain the inviolability of our independence.”
He said today, Liberians inherit this great endeavour, which behooves them to dutifully pursue national aspirations with caution and care, bearing in mind the devastating implications of failing.
“Lest we betray the sacrifices and struggles of our forbears, we should keep the torch of national unity and peaceful existence alive and carry the responsibility to preserve our common patrimony,” the Liberian intellectual also noted. “It is now our sacred duty to keep the flame of our independence and sovereignty burning and lifted.”
“We are truly happy and blessed to count 177 years of existence as Africa’s oldest independent and sovereign republic, but this is not enough,” he said. “We should meditate and reflect on the difficult questions.”
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