Our objection to the
appointment of Dr. Elliott Wreh Wilson as President of The William V. S. Tubman
University in Harper City, Maryland County, by President George Weah, is simple
and clear. The man has the academic credentials. But his morals let him down.
In mid-2017, he physically
attacked another professor who works at the same university. Both men are
Marylanders. This incident occurred in the open on the same University campus. It
was violent and provocative. It attracted the attention of tens and tens of
students who assembled and watched him try to humiliate Dr. Gardiner. Essentially,
physical violence replaced academic application!
We hail Science and technology
today. It is a giant medium of communication. It makes the process 10 times
easier in academia. By so doing, it consolidates the foundation for the growth and
development of any civilized society. So when violence occurs on a university
campus between learned men, academic priests become hooligans of the worse grade.
That being the case, in academia, violence is a “no, no!”
What happened on the
University Campus was morally wrong! Dr. Wilson’s physical attack was unwarranted,
unacceptable and uncivilized! Besides being a professor at the University, Dr.
Gardiner is a husband, father, uncle, nephew and cousin.
From this ridiculous
situation, several questions abound: Could Dr. Wilson not resolve a
misunderstanding between him and Dr. Gardiner through intellectual exercise via
scholarship? What would have happened if at all there was bloodletting or a
family person of Dr. Gardiner taking Dr. Wilson up to task? Would this not be a
proliferation of violence? Certainly, it would be!
To comprehend this, one has to
revisit history.
Samuel Kanyon Doe was
President of Liberia when Dr. E. Segbe Boley complained to him. Dr. Boley
informed him that Dr. H. Boima Fahnbulleh was in the “habit” of “undermining”
him (Boley) through his authorship. President Doe understandably was shocked. And
so he asked Boley if he and Fahnbulleh had the same level of academic degree.
Boley answered in the affirmative. President Doe then advised Boley to take on
Fahnbulleh through the same academic fashion: write and defend himself. For this
is what scholarship and academic inquiries is made of; not physical violence.
All things considered, Dr.
Wilson has no excuse to physically attack Dr. Gardiner or any student or
faculty member of the University.
The story is clear: Dr. Wilson
is as wrong as he can be to physically attack another professor! So my friends
on the other side need to understand that the suspension of Dr. Wilson was by
his peers at the University. And unless in a military coup d’état where decrees
are issued, Dr. Wilson cannot return to the same university while suspension
still hangs over him to become its President. It beats every ounce of the
University Policy Procedures.
To say a victim of Dr. Wilson’s
violence is not your friend or relative and so you care less, is a sham! That
could be Mr. Roosevelt Anderson’s attitude. I guess that’s why he asked if the victim
cannot speak for himself and why others, besides me, are not saying much. Maybe
Mr. Henderson has forgotten or maybe he doesn’t know, we are social justice
advocates. And many and oft a time we are “watch dogs” and “whistleblowers.”
And so, when we act, we do so purely on seeking justice. Without a doubt, if this
were the other way around and Dr. Wilson was violently attacked by Dr.
Gardiner, we would be defending Dr. Wilson as we do now for Dr. Gardiner. So
there’s no prejudice here! Both men are Marylanders, humans, professors and an
integral part of our society. So social justice advocates have the right to
come in.
Social justice advocacy is the
best thing that has ever happened to democracy. Its purpose is to influence
public policy outcome with and/on behalf of a vulnerable group or community or
indeed the wider public good.
Therefore, our appeal to our
Legislature is resolute! The appointment must be rescinded. Sen. J. Gble-Bo
Brown who now heads the Caucus has his first greatest task. He must take us seriously
our lose our support!
We seek nothing personal. We have
a record of advocacy that is unflinching and unbeatable: we were not wrong when
we sought justice for Sen. Morais et al when the Liberian government imprisoned
them on charges of ritualistic killings. We took the Liberian government up to
task to produce evidence or set the prisoners free. When the Government could
not provide any shred of evidence, it set them free. In 2009 we were not wrong
when we filed a case of Reparation for shipwreck victims. Some men, women and
children died in three shipwrecks. They were not our relatives. But were
humans!
Our advocacy was robust and undiminished.
In 2011, for the first time in the history of Liberia, the Government paid Reparation
to poor women and men some of whom lives and revenue sank in the bottom of the Atlantic
Ocean. We felt justice was partially served. The same applies to 2010 when Dr.
Elizabeth Davies Russell’s administration paid Honorarium to former William V.
S. Tubman College of Technology workers who escaped and returned after the war.
We also felt justice was served! When the Ivorian Refugees damaged 16 sugar
cane farms belonging to the poor people of New Half Graway and we took The
United Nations Commissioners for Refugees (UNHCR) to task including the
Liberian government, reparation was paid. Justice was also served! When in
2010, we help resolve troubling issues between the Kudemoweh and Numoweh
chiefdoms that had been in conflict for decades and reunited them, our advocacy
had reached the greatest height of God’s work.
Our friends on the left,
including Mr. Henderson, should not ask victims to speak when they don’t have
to. The trauma is enough for them to deal with as a consequent of the result of
violence against them! So Henderson et al must know we are not alone; God is
with us! For all those on whose behalf we stand are not related to us as family
or friend. They are God’s children like all of us! And we represent them pro
bono! We will not relent until justice flows like a mighty stream throughout this
country, even with guns at our breasts.
Dr. Wilson must resign or we
appeal to our pro poor President, H. E. George Weah, to withdraw the
appointment!
But if Dr. Wilson must lead
the University that he claims is named after a Congau man that he dislikes, and
that some of his victims at the University are Congau people who he claims were
hired by their Congau relative, Dr. Elizabeth Davies Russell, then he must
first come to grip with his violent and discriminatory behavior by attending
and graduating Anger Management classes and Sensitivity training.
There’s where we stand!
We hope we don’t have to
address Mr. Henderson and our friends on the left again!
T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell
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