By Abu Sesay, Paris, France.
Ahmed Tejan Kabbah (photo) was the worst leader Sierra Leone has ever had and the indigenes of the land should pray fervently never to have such a ruthless and unpatriotic leader like him.
Kabbah was a Guinean by origin (his grandfather was born in Guinea and the Sierra Leone constitution says to qualify as an indigenous Sierra Leonean, your grandfather should be born in Sierra Leone). That was one of the reasons why he had no pity for the indigenous people of the country. The late Siaka Stevens once fled to Guinea when the military overthrew him. The late Sékou Touré wanted to reinstate him by force but Siaka refused because being patriotic and above all, he knows that military intervention will lead to loss of human lives because the Sierra Leonean army by then will never sit idly. They must engage the Guinean army and an all out war will break between the two neighbouring countries. Because of that, Siaka Stevens preferred diplomacy rather than military intervention. Diplomacy succeeded and Siaka Stevens was reinstated as Prime Minister of the country without any shed of blood. Same with Momoh. As for Ahmed Tejan Kabba who styled his name as ‘Ahmad Tejan Kabbah’ because of the SLPMB affair in which he was accused of embezzlement by the defunct ACRM government, he, without any constitutional power, disbanded the national army and replaced it with Nigerian soldiers. What a shame and a slap to the sovereignty of Sierra Leone!
Worse of all he even nicknamed Kissy Street into ‘Sani Abacha street’. However Sierra Leoneans still call it Kissy Street because Sani Abacha is a villain, who, together with his henchmen, looted raped and killed the defenseless citizens of Sierra Leone. With his henchmen, Abacha killed many Sierra Leoneans, throwing bombs on defenseless civilians who were calling for peace. Kissy Street, Kissy Road, Patton Street and the other Streets were all littered with blood and debris perpetrated by the Nigerian henchmen whose mission was to keep Kabba in power no matter the cost. Kabba was happy, smiling happily in Guinea. He praised the henchmen, saying they are ‘restoring law and order’.
Had this fellow’s SLPP won the 2007 Presidential Election, the country could have moved from bad to worse. The citizens of the land might have suffered more but Allah be thanked that the APC came to power. However the damage had been done. President Koroma has done much for the country and is still doing so for the betterment of the nation. However there is something worth noting. No foreigner can be given permission to have a newspaper talk less of having a television station in Nigeria. The Nigerian government will never allow such a thing to happen in their country but in Sierra Leone it is the contrary. Nigerians have newspapers, television stations, banks and insurance companies. Why should such a thing be tolerated? It is time that President Koroma corrects the unpatriotic blunder of the late Kabba. Many Sierra Leoneans have fallen victims to Nigerian 419 criminals who pretend to be bankers and other personalities.
President Koroma has to reinstate the glory of the country. The name of the infamous and bloody Nigerian dictator, Sani Abacha should be wiped off from Kissy Street. This fellow, accused of killing thousands of Nigerians, including Abiola and his wife and many others should not have anything named after him in Sierra Leone. He never brought peace but war and destruction in Sierra Leone in the name of ‘fighting the rebels’ while it is for the reinstatement of his friend, Kabba to power.
Kissy Road, Kissy Street, Kissy dockyard, Kissy Shell, Kissy Mess Mess and so forth were destroyed by this fellow. Sierra Leoneans in general are kind and hospitable to foreigners but their kindness caused them their dignity and respect during the unpatriotic reign of Kabba, the servant of Nigeria. The brilliant Sierra Leonean educational system was changed. A Nigerian type of education was imposed in its stead. ‘Junior secondary school’ and ‘Senior Secondary school’ are completely irrelevant. They are primary schools and
secondary schools, nothing more. I am sure that, being a patriot and a lover of the land, President Koroma will reinstate the Sierra Leone educational system which makes many Sierra Leoneans known worldwide by then because of the quality of their education.
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