Some Sierra Leoneans in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have vehemently condemned Sierra Leone’s main opposition party leader, Juluis Maada Bio. The condemnation comes a few days after he granted an exclusive interview to two newspapers in their region.
Mr. Bio recently told the Gulfnews among other things that: “The Arab Spring that brought changes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya would not have been possible without the power of social media and Internet.” He questioned further that: “Who would have thought such an end to Gaddafi’s reign?”
He also told the Oman Tribune in a separate interview that: “At this point of time, Oman and Sierra Leone do not have diplomatic relationship. We are in discussions to have representation in each other’s capitals.”
Well, just after the interviews in the Sultanate of Oman, three prominent Sierra Leoneans in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - two former presidents of the Sierra Leone Nationals’ Union, (SLNU) Ibrahim Y. Sillah and Unisa Kanu and the current Chairman of the All People’s Congress (APC) party, Saudi Arabia Chapter, Sorie Ibrahim Kanu reacted to Mr. Bio’s statements and below are their compiled reactions.
However, the trio argued that Brigadier (Rtd.) Julius Maada Bio’s preoccupation and priority at the moment should be about how to win the hearts of Sierra Leoneans; how to convince Sierra Leoneans that he can make a good and well-calculated president; and how to make the international community believe in his political maturity and vision for Sierra Leone and not to go to the back yard of a country and start preaching about democracy or diplomacy. He was also cautioned to be mindful of what to say in public, officially or unofficially, as long as he’s a holder of a responsible position.
First to Ibrahim Sillah (in photo) I think I should first of all like to abundantly make it clear to the public that whatever comments I am going to make hitherto have nothing to do with bipartisan politics. With my due respect to all the political parties in Sierra Leone, (especially the two major parties that have been alternately ruling the country since independence), I have not been affiliated to any yet. Hence, my opinion should be deemed personal and neutral.
I salute Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, the SLPP flag bearer for the presidential elections slated for 2012, for the courage he summed up in 1996 when he handed over power to the then civilian government of our former president, H.E. Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. That move of Bio was internationally acclaimed as a novelty in the African context. Although some observers would conclude that he had no other alternative at the time, yet he should be commended for saving the face of Sierra Leone internationally, as far as democratic rule was concerned.
However, it should be abundantly clear to all and sundry that the Sierra Leone of yesterday is non-existent in the sense that I believe Sierra Leoneans have grown mature enough to only elect a president who is well-rounded; who is diplomatically and politically seasoned; who would be a pride for Sierra Leoneans in both local and international arenas, (not a liability); and who would represent Sierra Leoneans as highly cultured and peace loving people.
Brigadier Maada Bio’s recent visit to the Gulf state of the Sultanate of Oman has unveiled his inadequacies as far as diplomacy is concerned. The statements he uttered as regards the Arab Spring have been bitterly and unkindly digested by Gulf States citizens. Maada Bio should have realized that the political nature of the Gulf States is totally different from that of other countries. The Gulf Region is not the right place to make such statements about suppression, repression and deprivation of civil rights. As a Gulf region dweller, I can confirm to Maada Bio that citizens of the Gulf Region are invariably content with the manner with which they are governed by their leaders, not because they are politically suppressed, but simply because their leaders are providing for them what is lacking in so many so-called democratic countries around them. Thus, it is unbecoming of any foreign visitor to make any utterances that could be deemed and construed as inciting; and, unfortunately, Bio’s statements were just of that nature.
Besides, I believe it is the task of UN officials and the world’s biggest democracies to make such dictates to leaders in their home counties, if need be. It is not the acceptable norm of a presidential hopeful to come to the back yard of a country and dictate what the citizens of that country should do to gain and enjoy their freedom. What Bio should be fully aware of is that making such sensitive statements in one Gulf country is like speaking to all the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which include: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, The United Arab Emirates, the Sultanate of Oman and Yemen. These countries are operating as one entity. So, what affects one Gulf state directly affects the rest.
Political maturity, thorough awareness of the psychology of people and thorough understanding of international diplomacy are a sine qua non for the success of any politician.
On the other hand, I think it was ironic of Maada Bio to ask a question that he might be one of the best people to answer. As reported by the Gulfnews, while preaching democracy, he posed to ask:" Who would have thought such an end to Gaddafi’s reign"? For me and for many others, I think that hypothetical question was out of place. Having been the catalyst behind the numerous brutal killings and liquidation of thousands of innocent lives around the globe, Gaddafi’s end was quite natural. It was what is called in literature “Poetic Justice". He died by the sword that he lived with. And every brutal and cruel leader must know that that is the ultimate end awaiting them.
In my humble opinion, Brigadier (Rtd.) Julius Maada Bio’s preoccupation and priority at the moment should be about how to win the hearts of Sierra Leoneans; how to convince Sierra Leoneans that he can make a good and well-calculated president; and how to make the international community believe in his political maturity and vision for the country that he is so eager to rule.
It is the right of Maada Bio, and any Sierra Leonean with political clout and prowess, to stand for presidency. However, every Sierra Leone presidential hopeful should portray the image that can assure Sierra Leoneans, beyond doubt, that he/she has the patriotic spirit, the vision, and the genuine concern as regards the progress and development of Sierra Leone in the general context. As Maada Bio rightly said in Oman, the social media has attained the power whereby no nation on the face of earth today can allow a politically handicapped and wanting character to rule for free. That era has fortunately elapsed. I believe that the politically and economically uneducated Sierra Leone of yesterday is totally different from the well-informed and versatile of today’s Sierra Leone. Thus, whoever has an aorta of desire to rule Sierra Leone today MUST be politically, diplomatically and progressively well-rounded and adequately equipped. All that Bio needs is to be properly groomed by SLPP so that he would not only know the rules of the game, but also know how to play the game genuinely. That is, if at all he is genuinely interested in becoming the next president of Sierra Leone.
Unisa Kanu
Whenever the issue of democracy is put on floor for discussion, I always wish there is a handy and concise definition that could help extinguish its ambiguities. The fact that, for every action and reaction on the political front these days, the word ‘democracy’ keeps popping up, one would surely do with some further clarification to get the word properly and contextually fleshed out in regional – if not internal or religious – perspective. But that’s what it is, just a wish! After all, I’m not in any capacity that warrants a sensitive reflection of my views.
But people in responsible political positions should be mindful of what they say in public, officially or unofficially - that is the interview given by the opposition Sierra Leone Peoples’ Party leader, Julius Maada Bio, that was conducted by Gulf News in Oman, details of which were first posted by Sylvia Blyden on her Face book page, might have gone down relatively unnoticed to the majority of our folks back home, but for us – Sierra Leoneans living in the Gulf, there is a tendency that the sensitive areas that Mr. Bio chose to dish out comments at this point in time could reflect on us negatively. However much one might attempt to downgrade the potential impact, the reality is that, the statements by Mr. Bio could be translated as an eye-opener to the region’s leaders and could help them identify those other nations that are prepared to understand their own brand of democracy. Personally, as the former secretary general and later president of the Sierra Leone nationals’ Union, I don’t think that Mr. Bio’s statement were very helpful to our cause in helping to cement good relations with the Gulf States.
Given the opportunity, there are pertinent questions that I would have loved to ask the leader of the opposition SLPP. We all know that leaders of the opposition worldwide, particularly those newly-crowned, are always invigorated and over-zealous about putting pressure on the ruling government. It comes as no surprise therefore to see a heated exchange of fireworks between the parties in the start of an election year. But the targets are defined between government and opposition. So some of us are left baffled as to what actually drew the Gulf States into fray!
Less we forget, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States have produced some of the best-known religious scholars that have returned home and contributed immensely in repairing and reconstructing our societies. A name that quickly comes to mind is the nationally acclaimed late Imam Bashar who graduated from Madinah University and played a pivotal role in uplifting the moral and spiritual values of our Islamic society in Sierra Leone. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States sponsored huge NGO’s and other relief projects that are permanently in place to help rebuild our shattered communities after the war. The least one would expect is a show of gratitude and solidarity in such times when one negative statement has a tendency of making these states review relations with our country. Not that we can belittle the sovereignty of our nation by this, it’s just that, one just wonders what was the original cause of all this after previous regimes have worked so hard to build strong bilateral ties with these nations.
Another point of assertion that I would like to make in comparison is that, change of governments have been taking place in Africa throughout the years after our independence, but from a general standpoint of the civil society, the changes didn’t result to better living standards – with the exception of a few including Ernest Koroma’s promising first term. With the kind of examples that we’ve seen, it thus becomes a thought-provoking point of observation for every sensible and peace-loving national to have to choose between assured national development and excellent welfare on one hand and an unnecessary, instability-risk-prone change of government on the other. I believe that most of the religiously wise gulf citizens have chosen the former.
It’s not that democratic reforms are entirely ignored in these regions! No, far from it! They are being done in such a subtly dynamic and structured manner, free from chaos and self-inflicting mayhem! The most impressive aspect of their democracies is the value it attaches to family life and its welfare. With Islam featuring in every aspect of their way of life, welfare and education of citizens are a national priority, security is assured, stable economies are preserved, heavenly-sent opportunities are always reserved for nationals.
If ever, Mr. Bio has to give lessons on democracy, the Gulf States are not a perfect place to start!
Sorie Ibrahim Kanu
The recent visit of the SLPP flag bearer Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio in the Sultanate of Oman and the exclusive interview conducted there posed several questions that need satisfactory answers.
To me as a citizen of Sierra Leone who firmly believe in democratic ideals, I have no objection to the visit. Mr. Bio has all the rights to go wherever he feels as a liberal human being living on God’s earth. The only pick I have is the amount of frustration I noticed in some of the nationals in the region and the statement he made during the interview he gave there when he talked about the "Arab Spring" revolution in the Arab World. My final word is that the Rtd. Brigadier has to be careful on what he does or says in this region. Lonta !!
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