TODAY, AT QUARTER OF century of existence, we give all thanks to God Almighty and to our business friends, fans and readership, as we quietly observe our Birth Anniversary, which we so cherish and adore. We do so with deep, sober reflection, not only on the checkered past, with an eager eye on the current trends of the national issues, and in a high determination to enter the future with greater dedication, but also with anxiety and trepidation as our nation goes for crucial general and presidential elections in two months.
THE OCTOBER 10 POLLS, and possibly a presidential runoff subsequently, are being conducted by Liberian themselves—mainly the sitting administration and the National Elections Commission—for the first time in almost three decades. From 1990, and up to 2018, our political affairs and contestations, including security, had been under the direct supervision of international stabilization force. The very presence in thousands of foreign military forces, alone with their logistics and political knowhow, had baby-fed Liberia for decades in all aspects of political life, until the Coalition for Democratic Change Government, headed by President George Manneh Weah, picked up this tenuous mantle without direct involvement of foreign forces with boots on ground.
INDEED, THESE ARE trying times for our nation. And we all have a responsibility to demonstrate sheer patriotism. As we celebrate today, we also do so with our eyes and minds on the challenges at foot for us and for the nation at large. We also however do so with the radiant hope that a collaboration by the administration and the international community is seeing a troubled nation and people through these difficult times.
With this hope in the morrows, we shall never waiver in our determination to side with the forces of good who desire a better Liberia; who espouse and aspire for greater democracy, freedom and peace in this country. We are not oblivious of the fact that we need our many readers and admirers that we will not walk alone, just as we have always been.
WE INVOKE GOD’S HEALING mercy on the nation, the people of Liberia, and the government of Liberia under the leadership of President George Weah and Vice President Jewel-Howard Taylor. It is our prayers that the Good Lord will take the reins of their administration and bless the works of their hands as we face the future together with brazen hopes of irreversible progress. The gracious partnership we have had with the Liberian people – their trust and support in our editorial judgment and counsel – without which we certainly would have joined dozens of our compatriots who only flashed on the horizon and withered away. In line with our mission to inform, educate and entertain – to trumpet the voice of the commoners – we will endure. This is the vocation for which we were born and for which in difficult political times we were deeply bruised and crucified.
MEANWHILE, WE LOOK into the future with Divine hope; we do so with a caveat that functional hope in the supernatural requires disdain for the vices that work against growth and progress of a nation. This is because having lived through a number of political administrations, each promising pie in the sky but coming out flat on their face, we come away through the years – through the experience age awards – anchored in the belief that hope is good works. With eye on the life of King Solomon of biblical time, many opine that age doesn’t matter – necessarily.
FURTHERMORE, WE RECOGNIZE age as the basic centerpiece of knowledge. In fact, it is a basic barometer by which one’s worth or merit is measured. That is why an elder receives more censure when he errs than the young. Like a fine metal or diamond that gets its purity or refinement by fire, man’s true caliber arrives from life’s journey – age. So is The Analyst today, minus the arrogance and condescension that often comes with age, is ever ready to learn, cooperate, and reason together for a better Liberia. At 25, we are aware that The Analyst stands on the judgment seat of the public – both Liberian and international. We therefore pledge today that we will henceforth build upon the plusses of that judgement and do all within our powers to eliminate the negatives, guided by our founding principles and journalistic best practices.
THE ANALYST IS not stranger to adversity. Our checkered existence occasioned by governments bent on self-gratification has endowed us with a grandiose hope for formidability on the media landscape of this country. The Analyst, fondly called the Nation’s Most Analytical Newspaper, was born on the island of tumult and sailed on turbulent seas even before it celebrated its third anniversary. We reflect on the regretful fondness upon the adversities of our two-decade-and-three existence, strengthened in our resolve, not weakened by the obstacles – then and now. Our offices were summarily shut down and our equipment seized several times without warrant. We were called all kinds of names: agent provocateurs; enemies of government; paid agents; rebel accomplices, etc. Most of our staffs, including the publisher/managing editor, were rounded up and thrown in common jails on mere police suspicion. In all of these, we were like sheep being taken to the slaughterhouse. We knew no despair then, and we will know no despair today.
THOUGH THE WEAH administration is yet to prove itself akin to the regimes of the dark days of the past when the Liberian media, specifically The Analyst, hungered for free expression and free press, we shall not bask in the illusion of final freedom to slack the bond of camaraderie with the public. On this day therefore, we solemnly renew our covenant with the people of this country for whom, after all, we got our birth, and for whom we have become willing preys of official lashes. The journey we have embarked upon is timeless and non-regime specific. As we said in our maiden editorial, the mindset and conviction that drove our rise on the media terrain is to serve and keep the public trust, to support and ally with those who strive to build a better Liberia based on the pillars of freedom, justice, equality and patriotism.
WE ARE NOT CONSUMED by the euphoria of ululation and joy of the day, nor are we amused and carried away by the so-called improved media environment. We shall remain a vanguard of the voiceless ordinary people of Liberia. We shall remain a paragon of professionalism, objectivity and instrument of peace and development. We shall never waiver in the face of intimidation even with guns at our chest. This is exactly why we celebrate today. We stood the test of time in the darkest of days because God, our Great Benefactor and the people of Liberia, our cherished constituents, were with us.
WE OFFER A hand of understanding and cooperation with the administration of President George Weah in this noble endeavor with the caveat that we will not budge an inch from the promises of democracy and principles of good governance and rule of law. Long live The Analyst! Long live Liberia!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US.
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