A Tales of 2 Mountains -Bility Contrasts Mounts Nimba & Wologizi in Sobering Lyrics

MONROVIA – Charles Dickens’ historical and all-time best-selling novel, “A Tale of Two Cities”, has found pal, admittedly quasi, in the moving nonfictional narratives of “A Tales of Two Mounts” by a businessman and politician who is gradually turning into a literary prodigy. Nimba County lawmaker Musa Hassan Bility makes an insightful delve in contexts and approaches about two great counties and their respective iconic natural bequests – insightful delve that churns the gut, but which most Liberians sitting on unique endowments would find not merely amusing but brutally frank in a fast changing country, in a fast-changing world. It is a must-read article, the latest under his column, “Letter from Saclepea”, placed BELOW:

Letter from Saclepea : Title: Mount Wologizi and Mount Nimba, A Tale of Two Mountains – Written from Saclepea, July 2025

In the vast and beautiful landscape of Liberia, two mountains rise, each majestic in form, rich in mineral deposits, and symbolic of our national potential. Mount Wologizi in Lofa and Mount Nimba in Nimba County stand as natural monuments, but the stories they tell could not be more different.

Today, we are hearing encouraging news from Lofa. The sons and daughters of that county are standing tall. They are making it clear that Mount Wologizi will not be given away without conditions. They demand that any concession must bring roads, schools, colleges, and real development. They insist that the wealth beneath their mountain must lift the people above it. And they are right. That is how it should be.

But as we admire this resolve, our hearts grow heavier in Nimba.

On the other side of the land lies Mount Nimba, a mountain used and abused for over 75 years, stripped and exploited, while its people remain poor. We have watched its riches flow outward while nothing flows inward. No paved roads, no functioning schools, no legacy for the generations who live in its shadows.

Now that Lofa is rightfully demanding its share, we support them. We commend the Deputy Speaker for speaking up. But we also say this, what is good for Wologizi must be good for Nimba.

We know what the people of Lofa are asking for in return for their mountain. We support it. But we also observe, with great concern, that some of the same voices now presiding over the fate of Wologizi were silent when Mount Nimba was being plundered. Some even preside over current negotiations that will once again determine the future of Mount Nimba.

So let it be known, we from Nimba want the same thing the people of Lofa want.

We want fairness. We want dignity. We want what is ours.

Mount Nimba has given and given, and for three generations, it has received nothing in return. That era must end. As the debate over Wologizi unfolds, we demand that Nimba be treated with the same urgency, the same respect, and the same justice.

Two mountains, two counties, one principle, our resources must benefit our people.

Let the tale of these two mountains become a story not of betrayal, but of redemption, for both Nimba and Lofa, and for Liberia as a whole.