VOICE OF A PATRIOT

OPEN LETTER TO AUGUSTINE K. NGAFUAN

This comes with greetings of felicitations on your ascendancy as Minister of Finance of the Republic of Liberia , and a tease of your consciousness as you excel nobly in the service of the people of Liberia . I could have done this at our regular meeting points and times, but for the sake of historical documentation, and the provocation of the conscientiousness of the constituency you represent, the young people of Liberia , I thought it wise that their participation as an audience was necessary in this interaction between you and me.

In most instances, by the normal Liberian or African lifestyle, it is customary for those who desire to win the favor of great men to present them with things they value most, and sometimes shower them with praises and give them statuses of demagogues and demigods.

Thus, we often see people present gifts to great men, and sometimes unduly praise them in attempts to gain favors and confidence. When these praises come, most often with sycophancies and flatteries, they come with inclinations of terrible effects on the lifestyle of people. Unsuspectingly, those seeking your favor gradually turn you to a character of an imperial and arrogant leader. Very soon you become to yourself a demigod and to them, a demagogue. Then come the time of imperial control and the foundation of self-stultification. In less than a lunar revolution, you become a public enemy, wallowing in ignominy with disdains from all ends. Looking around you to find those that adored you and gowned you with the garment of absolutism, they are no where around; but found among the cycle of the weeping public, some perambulating with shifting blames.

Wishing therefore, to present my observations of your ascendancy with some commendations and appreciation of my own role as an activist for social justice and democracy in this country, I have not found among my belongings anything that I might value or prize so much as a gift to your professionalism, neither had I realized myself with a character of a sycophant. My orientation, like yours, is that of ebullient advocacy for positive social transformation of society. Though you are from a different school of thought, the ‘alleged communist-styled’ Student Unification Party (SUP- UL), I am trained in social-democratic ideologies from the Progressive Students Alliance Leading Movement (PSALM –AMEU)). But what remains a denominator is our principles and commitment to diligently serve this country and Africa .

May I now fulfill the second objective of this note: Your ascendancy as Minister of Finance of the Republic of Liberia was a monumental victory to the great cause of dismantling the wall between our generation and the ‘tainted’ generation. You are now caught in a web to serve in a senior level cabinet position to work with a generation tainted for its role in distributing poverty in this country through corruption, bad governance and lack of reverence for the voice of the popular people of Liberia .
You must therefore demonstrate a high degree of professionalism and ethical standards of public administration to defeat the vicious expectations of the critics and of those who enviously hold opinions that youths are not competent for senior positions.

While you work with those people, it is the aspiration of the youths of this country that you pave the corridor and brightens the light that those behind you may see prospects of reaching where you are or where your personal capability and humbleness may lead you to.

I believe that your appointment as Minister of Finance of this country is an extension of the confidence the Presidency enjoys in your service while you served as Director of the Bureau of the Budget. Hoping that you retain that record of credibility that men from all social orientations can repose durable trust and confidence in you, I urge that your life as a corporate governor remains demonstrative of the standards of financial management and passion for public service.

As your nomination had garnered applause from so many quarters, it is my prayer that your Creator endows you with the wisdom and courage to satisfy the expectations of the Liberian people whose ardent desire is to be liberated from economic incarceration and the vortex of abject poverty. This, I think you can achieve through effective corporate governance and perpetual advocacy for democratic governance as you have done in the past.

As I end this note please accept these words of Henry David Thoreau as my own gift to you: “I know of no more encouraging facts than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavors.”

Wishing you well in your corporate life as a public servant, I salute you for and on behalf of those who pursue social justice.

Progressively yours,

Ibrahim Al-bakri Nyei
pericle925@yahoo.com