SPEECHES
"SUNSHINE IS THE DAY"
Sunshine is the day
When the child on the refuse site
Will have access to quality education.
A day that child trafficking and molestation
Will be stories of the past.
Sunshine is the day
A day that African leaders will act
Leadership and not ruler-ship. A day
That African leaders will use their
Political powers to serve and not to
Witch hunt members of other political
Parties. A day that the rule of laws will
Be respected by all citizens of the African
Continent.
Sunshine is the day
A day that there will be a realization of
The African Unity. A day that Africa will
Be free from political insecurities, border
Disputes, colonial legacies and high command
From Westerners.
Sunshine is the day
A day that an African will not
See his fellow African as foreigner,
But brothers and sisters of one continent.
A day that there will be no discrimination
For the deaf and dumb, a day that albinos
Will be free from being used for ritual purposes.
Sunshine is the day
A day that the morning sun will
Rise and pierce the Continent of Africa
From the north to the south, from the east
To the west; shinning the glory of God upon
The African heritage.
This is my hopes
This the hope with which I shall
Return to Liberia. With this hope, we
Can achieve democracy, freedom of speech,
Freedom of religion, freedom of association,
Food security, economic empowerment and
Employment, infrastructural development among
Many.
With this hope,
We have the courage to stand
Up for what we believe. Taking the
First step of a different path, risking
Everything, stopping at nothing, to make
Today's dreams, tomorrow's realities.
With this hope,
We can achieve our goals through
Hard work and persistence. With this
Hope, we can look forward to a future
With joy, having expectations of better
Things to come. With this hope, we know
That a positive outcome awaits us.
Not only having a dream come through, but
Having a deep assurance that it is within our reach
Today, the sovereignty of Africa
Is bequate into our able hands, and
If Africa should become a cosmopolitan
Continent, if She should be respected and
Celebrate for Her distinct cultures, braverys
And heroism, then these hopes must become
A reality. A reality that will transform the history
Of Africa.
When these hopes become a reality,
We will have a continental song. A song
That will unite us as patriots of mother
Africa. With our hard works and and
Achievements, we will be glad to have a
Place to belong. A place of silent rest.
It will be a sunshine day.
A sunshine day for us all.
Speech delivered at the Flowers School of
Technology and Management / CCLDC
Banquet of Hope Intellectual
Dinner Night. - November 10, 2011 - GHANA
NATIONAL PEACE CREED - LIBERIA
( Petroleum, Education, & National Development )
My dear compatriots, a new day has dawn on the sea sore of the fishermen, that child on the refuse site, that teenage mother trying to overcome her past, that hustler on the street, that market woman in the market place, that school child in his quest for education, that man who has lost his wife and little boy across that red line, that boy and girl suffering from physical impediment and my old illiterate mother on her cassava patch somewhere in Grand Cape Mount.
Fellow countrymen, it must be unmistakably said that history has a way of repeating itself one way or the other. That is why there must be a new orientation to our ideology as Liberia ventures into the petroleum industry.
In order to efface egocentricity, the old land mark (s) must in no way be ignored . Liberia as a sovereign nation has a holistic and historic structure of its natural resources, especially in robber and mining.
" The Open Door policy of ex-president Tubman emphasized the production for domestic consumption. Liberia as a result, exported more rubbers, iron ores, timbers, cacao and coffee while the production of rice the staple food steadily declined, thus increasing its importation." ( SOURCE : A Short History Of The Liberian First Republic).
It is therefore important to recognize the historical context of our resources. The history of rubber does not begin with Firestone in 1926, but goes as far back as the ex-president James Cheeseman ( 1892-1896) who granted British Liberian company to collect wild rubbers in the country.
The Movement For Justice In Africa ( MOJA) held its second congress in Monrovia in March 1980 under the theme: Our Eyes Are Open: The Time Of Our People Has Come. MOJA stated in its program for social and economic justice like this:
" We want to recover ...our economic resources
and other aspects of our national life which
are totally in the hands of foreigners. We want
to negotiate with these foreigners the return of
this control.
When we provide work for our people, we will
be expanding our domestic markets; that is, we
will be increasing the number of our people who
can afford to buy the goods that our factories and
farms will produce.
To be able to meet our people's basic needs,
we will also have to put an end to social
inequalities, that is, the unjust ways and things
that are diving Liberia- justice for a few, injustice
for the majority; plenty of money and good time,
for a few, hard time and hell for the many etc.
In this connection, we want to abolish hut
taxes and all unjust taxes that are taken from
the people in the rural areas.
Lastly, the safety of our people's basic needs
we must stop wasting and misusing our
people's money."
Fellow citizens, county men of my country, a new discovery of petroleum has been announced. Will it be a curse or a blessing? Should we continue the Open Door Policy or invent a new order of change? Liberia, God has given us a second chance to carefully look at the past, correct the present and adventure into the future.
I would like to let all of us know that, the sovereignty of our dear nation is in our tender hearts, the future of our nation is in our class rooms, the prosperity of our nation is in our abilities to serve with diligence, a commitment to a new patriotic enthusiasm and spirituality, and the courage to do our best for our generation today and thereafter.
All hail, Liberia hail. May your flag flow over land and over seas. We hope this new discovery secure empowerment, education, infrastructural development , peace in our homes, our societies, peace with God and harmoniously lead us to a noble destiny.
'GOD BLESS LIBERIA.'
Delivered during the Liberian Students Association - GHANA
In collaboration with the Flowers School of Technology and
Management one - public colloquium
THEME:
Emerging Oil and Gas Sector and Liberia's Development
August 17, 2011.
"THE CREATOR. THE PENCIL. THE WRITER."
To every creation, there is a purpose. To every purpose, there is a reward. To every reward, there is a fulfillment. Like an architect, every creator or designer has in mind what he wants to create. He foresees the finished product which serves as a blue print for the sketch he wants to design.
Potters make some heavy demand on clay. Despite the high level of in flexibilities, the potter risks his hands and wrists in order to shape the clay for his use. Is the potter always perfect in molding the the clay? The answer is NO! Notwithstanding, he discovers the sweetness in his failure when he breaks the clay, takes it back to the wheel for spinning. There he discovers the rough edges, the unwanted stones and other particles that are not meant for his design.
Bill FitzPatrick remarked: "Life's winners accept that in trying, they may have to adjust and even start trying again and again."
As a building designer, the pencil has been my friend over the past years. Creating a building design out of nothing, but a pencil and a paper reveals the mind of the creator.
Sometimes, I have to stop drawing and sharpen the pencil. The pencil goes through the pains of being shaped. The pain makes the pencil better, brighter, and stronger.
What has really matter to me as a designer and writer is, not the beauty or exterior design of the pencil, but the tiny grey lead that is almost not seen.
In order to have a master piece of anything, it must go through stages. Thomas Edison, inventor of the electric bulb is said to have perform the experiment nine hundred and ninety-nine times before he got it right; and when he was asked, " How many times did you fail?" He said, " I did not fail anytime, I only discovered how many way it could be done." He saw his failure as a springboard to get him swimming in success.
Louise Boone noted: " Don't fear failure so much that you are afraid to try new things. The saddest summary of life contains three descriptions, COULD HAVE, MIGHT HAVE, and SHOULD HAVE."
Walking on the sea shore of Bojo Beach Resort on the cold evening of August 2010, I was inspired to draw a village of hope on the wet sand that the waves left me. I thought it would be a village that will rescuer our perishing world.
With my integrity and firm code of artistic value, the writer in me came out and pen the code of conduct that should maintain this great village. Within the snap of a finger, there came a mighty wave which took this great village into the ocean, leaving my wet hand with a pencil and a seashore.
As there is an eraser on a pencil, so we have to take the responsibility to correct our mistakes since complaining is a very weak way of communication. How are you writing your life? Are you writing your life on the seashore of your mind? Are you writing on procrastination like a brilliant writer who never sends the manuscripts, or like a perfectionist who writes a book but never finishes it due to continue revise, editing and rewriting.
The more you put your life on a scale, the more you synthesize information about your uniqueness, for having a purpose without a passion is like trying to breath under water without air. Failure is not a negative hurdle, rather a new chance to make the difference.
As a writer of your life, if you must become a good writer, you must have a clear defined purpose. With a pencil and a plain sheet, how do you wish to start writing your life?
Delivered during the Liberian Students Association - GHANA
In collaboration with the Flowers School of Technology and
Management one - public colloquium
THEME:
Emerging Oil and Gas Sector and Liberia's Development
August 17, 2011.
"COCKTAIL OVER NIGHTMARE"
Today is a sunny day in the busy city of Accra. The time is
6:15 p.m. As I stand quietly watching the sun sail on the other side of the
sky, people from all walks of life move in fast motion to meet the late evening
of the day.
What amazes my inquisitive observation is the way in which
women of today carry themselves in public. Is decency and modesty old
fashioned? What has happened to our ladies of today? Is integrity and good
morals just not in demand?
It used to be said that African women are the keepers of
their homes.
As I walk closer to the next bar, I was stupefied to see ladies as
young as 16s standing in the cold evening of 8:30 p.m almost naked awaiting
their preys like a lion out of its den. As I stood patiently in the silky
weather of June 20, 2012, I thought to myself that those were hockers. African
women hockers? For a few minutes, I had
to close my eyes. Should money take the place of love? Cannot believe that
today's women are money robbers instead of home care-takers.
As I critically articulated my clever imaginations, the
result was precisely a cynical scorn to womanhood. Though this is not to
disgrace the integrity of today's woman, my helplessness was like one who lives
where there is nothing to express.
A day of luck with a
man and years of broken mirrors going against them. I think to discover the
eminent death of one's culture is the worst thing that could happen to any
heritage.
Should life be lived with a reality of fatalism? Or most
probably; it is believed that we should wake up to the life of Western romance
which is utterly fissured with social graduation as a popular taste.
Beyond the sky of self - mockery, it is clear that the
attitude of today's women seems to be a cocktail, ignoring the ferocious nightmare
that lies behind the mask of happy people, happy faces. The central mysteries
of women are never questioned. However, there may be a crisis of conscience,
but no warning of beliefs. There is no remedy for temptation than to kill it
with patience.
An ideal womanhood is facing every challenge with honor and
dignity, not compromising the integrity of conscience.
An ideal womanhood is the trap with which women walk into
marriage as the prelude to the discovery of their inner - most desires.
It is based on the recognition that, feminine beauty of any
kind appeals to the male whose attraction for women is true and marriageable as
he has been with his mother.
I believe when self - consciousness is awaken and there is a
new birth of the African culture,
forbidden pleasures may discover a new knowledge of pleasure that is deeply
rooted in traditional values which will disentangle the dilemmas of such an
emotional drama of having a cocktail.
Wandering the street of Accra at almost mid night after a less
than satisfactory encounter with what seems to be the acceptable norms, I am
finally passing my observations through an unwelcome light of obscure guilt to
the existing conditions of our society.
"THE CREATOR. THE PENCIL. THE WRITER."
To every creation, there is a purpose. To every purpose, there is a reward. To every reward, there is a fulfillment. Like an architect, every creator or designer has in mind what he wants to create. He foresees the finished product which serves as a blue print for the sketch he wants to design.
Potters make some heavy demand on clay. Despite the high level of in flexibilities, the potter risks his hands and wrists in order to shape the clay for his use. Is the potter always perfect in molding the the clay? The answer is NO! Notwithstanding, he discovers the sweetness in his failure when he breaks the clay, takes it back to the wheel for spinning. There he discovers the rough edges, the unwanted stones and other particles that are not meant for his design.
Bill FitzPatrick remarked: "Life's winners accept that in trying, they may have to adjust and even start trying again and again."
As a building designer, the pencil has been my friend over the past years. Creating a building design out of nothing, but a pencil and a paper reveals the mind of the creator.
Sometimes, I have to stop drawing and sharpen the pencil. The pencil goes through the pains of being shaped. The pain makes the pencil better, brighter, and stronger.
What has really matter to me as a designer and writer is, not the beauty or exterior design of the pencil, but the tiny grey lead that is almost not seen.
In order to have a master piece of anything, it must go through stages. Thomas Edison, inventor of the electric bulb is said to have perform the experiment nine hundred and ninety-nine times before he got it right; and when he was asked, " How many times did you fail?" He said, " I did not fail anytime, I only discovered how many way it could be done." He saw his failure as a springboard to get him swimming in success.
Louise Boone noted: " Don't fear failure so much that you are afraid to try new things. The saddest summary of life contains three descriptions, COULD HAVE, MIGHT HAVE, and SHOULD HAVE."
Walking on the sea shore of Bojo Beach Resort on the cold evening of August 2010, I was inspired to draw a village of hope on the wet sand that the waves left me. I thought it would be a village that will rescuer our perishing world.
With my integrity and firm code of artistic value, the writer in me came out and pen the code of conduct that should maintain this great village. Within the snap of a finger, there came a mighty wave which took this great village into the ocean, leaving my wet hand with a pencil and a seashore.
As there is an eraser on a pencil, so we have to take the responsibility to correct our mistakes since complaining is a very weak way of communication. How are you writing your life? Are you writing your life on the seashore of your mind? Are you writing on procrastination like a brilliant writer who never sends the manuscripts, or like a perfectionist who writes a book but never finishes it due to continue revise, editing and rewriting.
The more you put your life on a scale, the more you synthesize information about your uniqueness, for having a purpose without a passion is like trying to breath under water without air. Failure is not a negative hurdle, rather a new chance to make the difference.
As a writer of your life, if you must become a good writer, you must have a clear defined purpose. With a pencil and a plain sheet, how do you wish to start writing your life?
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