I was born and reared in
Harper City, Maryland County; deep in the belly of the southeastern region of
Liberia. At the time, the community was
rich with love, full human understanding and compassion!
There I got my fundamental
training in the state of affairs of life.
I was privileged to see our
parents administratively run the County morally, politically and economically. And
that’s significant to know!
I learned and knew that during
the day of our parents, Marylanders enjoyed unity, peace and happiness. Unless I
was naïve, I did not see any level of conflict to crisis proportion amongst them.
Not that our parents did not
have qualms amongst themselves, but the fact of the matter is the qualms did
not reach crisis proportion. In any case, quarrels were not apparent. If I’m
wrong, then people born before my time, know something I don’t!
The first set of leaders I was
exposed to, as a lad growing up, were the ones I remember the most.
And that was when Maryland experienced
its “Golden” days thriving into the future with jet-like speed! Maryland was second to none in Liberia!
Hon. Fred Gibson was Senator at
The Liberian Congress; Hon. James Daniel Anderson, superintendent of the county;
Hon. Alfred T. Davies, Commonwealth Commissioner; Mr. Joseph Bush, Principal of
Cape Palmas High School (CPHS), Mrs. Irene Prowd, Principal of Harper
Elementary Demonstration School; Father Gray, Priest in-charge, St. Mark’s
Episcopal Church, Bishop Nyema Dalieh, St. Theresa Catholic Diocese, Rev. J.
Bolton Williams, Priest in-charge, Mount Scott Methodist Church and supervisor of
schools, Rev. Jones, Priest-in-charge of the Baptist Church. Along with many
others, these gallant men and women led the charge and steered the state of
affairs of the County successfully.
If you are a kid like me
growing up, you have to remember the “good old” days! Because, you enjoyed them
growing. They help to groom you in the pot of immense patriotism!
I was then a grade school student
attending The Harper Elementary Demonstration School.
And so I have a reference
point.
What that means is I view Maryland
of today from the lenses of our parents. So that gives me a strong sense of enthusiasm
and redemptive thinking on knowing what was and what is in the county today!
There’s an imbalance!
The imbalance is descriptive
of what Hon. Mary Broh, the current director general of The General Services
Agency of the Republic of Liberia once observed of Maryland as “Vestiges of
Life Once Lived!”
But today, things are different
in the county:
Our current leaders are now in
the streets and on the radio lambasting each other and sitting at each other’s
throats with abuses and antagonisms thus polarizing the entire county!
Disunity is so acerbic in the
County and in the Legislative Caucus so much so it is capable of dissolving
steel!
In the County, there is
leadership vacuum!
But there is still one hope for
redemption to this dilemma for now:
And that is to vote out corrupt and
bloodstained leaders from power as well as those ones who are conflict-oriented
and replace them with those who have seen the “Golden” days of Maryland and
worked along with our parents thus having a reference point as a motivating and
working factor!
For he who knows the difference
between what was in the County at the time – “Golden”- old days and what is now
– violence - the result of war and terror, can make a good decision in rebuilding
and redeeming the County to the level our parents left it with us!
Any attempt in the contrary is to
do anarchy!
We need to shape up or forfeit
the right to complain!
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