Deaths after
violence is further blur to national image
........bleed
poor nation, bleed
By Omar Jackson
Until the epoch and the ill-fated war to
redeem Liberia, Liberians were people who had regard for lives and
properties. The year of the war, which began from April 12, 1980, till
the emergence of the so-called patriotic war of the 90s, has arguably,
created the unfortunate condition for Liberians that as Chinua Achebe,
quoted in his Things Fall Apart, we can no longer hold together and
the center cannot hold. Why? Well, this is because things have fallen
apart.
Let me not sound like a pessimist.
The Liberian spirit is strong and since the 14 years of downright
insanity could not conquer it, none can. I have held on to the notion
that Liberia would rise and would not fall again. But why have I
developed such a positive attitude about Liberia's future? Am I not
aware that a whole generation has been turned into ex-combatants? And
should not this in itself be a serious cause for concern? It should by
all means. But to give up at this early stage of the national's
uncertain future is like giving up hope and losing faith that the war
destroyed every good thing in Liberia.
But to return to the deaths of two persons after the
violence, following Lone Star's 3-0 loss to the Senegalese, I must
state clearly that the worst is still ahead of us. Many teenagers who
were forced to grow up never enjoyed their teenage years. Many of
them, if not all, grew up by force and became accustomed to a
demanding what they never helped to create. So when the demand
that the national team, Lone Star, should win any encounter and
nothing but victory they want, then you can imagine the frightening
scene I am talking about.
Like the manner they demanded for a things that did not
belong to them, a they can be fierce and unyielding too. If
Liberian soccer players, on the national soccer team, Lone Star, have
such an unyielding spirit, I can bet my pen that there is no team that
can win victory over us. But since the spirit of “rebellion” is
only for evil, as we came to see, it should not be anything surprising
that on the practical face of things, the unyielding spirit is hardly
available for the good of the nation.
This is why I somehow agree with the police director, Chris Massaquoi,
that it will be necessary for Liberia's participation in continental
games to be temporarily put on hold. And as he said until the police
force is able to create the condition for safety for everyone for the
game. However, I am afraid that since a generation of Liberians has
lost their patience for the mundane things in life, Massaquoi's
suggestion may be farfetched. The point is those many thousands who
have lost their ability to remain patient as the world turns, no
matter how many numbers of people are in the police force, cannot
still eradicate the a rebellious spirit of those who lost the
precious part of their lives.
It is a scary thought that at this stage of our
nation's rebuilding we have reached a stage in the history of our
nation where we are being constrained to overlook some of the
developments that may be of great help in helping in de-traumatizing
ourselves.
I must state with certainty that I am not in no way heaping
unnecessary reproach on the section of those group of people who were
forced and misled against their will to do those things that have
turned our country upside down. Honestly, I sympathize with those
whose early lives were stolen away by the whims and intricacies of
politicians.
Meanwhile, the certainty of what sports can do for our traumatized
youths is so enormous that canceling Liberia's participation in
continental and regional matches may do more harm than good. But with
the deaths of the two persons, there is the likelihood that CAF, the
continental's controlling body, may impose some sanctions on Liberia.
So, then what can we do? I am not sure if there can be any easy
answers. And truly, this is where I trust the Liberian spirit. Even
when bombs were falling and murderous gangsters were killing many for
fun, there was that Liberian spirit that maintained the hope that the
country would overcome someday.
It is an encouraging thought that our determination to make good out
of a bad situation would provide the needed momentum to solve some of
these problems that seem insurmountable.
Like we all know, this is the time we need help from above. Why?
Because God on whose mercy we are able to survive till now will give
us the needed strength to move on. That is if we remain determined to
wade through this tragic period of our country’s history.
The Liberian spirit is alive. It only needs the positive imagination
to develop and make things happen. If “they” (politicians) were
able to develop the mind and create nonsense out of common sense, the
rest of us can do the same for the common good of the nation.
That is my utmost conviction.
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