It appears ‘THE DIE IS CAST’ between the Liberian Media on one hand and the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Africa’s first female elected President, Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who is currently visiting the United States.
This feud is over threats issued against Liberian Media practitioners, by Mr. Othello Daniel Warrick, the President’s Chief Body-Guard, or Director of the Executive Security Service (EPS),
This episode provoked a very serious crisis situation between the media’s governing body, the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) and the Liberian Presidency.
The President backed her Protagonist, Director Warrick, against the Media, in spite of his unprovoked outrageous attacks fraught with threats, in which he described Liberian Journalists as “TERRORISTS” and threatening to arrest them without warrant.
Warrick made these wild allegations without any iota of truth or adducing a stride of evidence at least in the Court of Public Opinion (COPO), to substantiate his claims.
On the other hand, the Press Union of Liberia moved swiftly in defense of its potential victims, its Members, by imposing a news blackout against the Johnson-Sirleaf Administration for an indefinite period.
The Media, of the entire West African sub-region, wasted no time; they were firmed in standing behind their Membership Union, the Press Union of Liberia, whose Members are being threatened.
In the face of the near unanimous media blackout against her administration, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf chose a belligerent posture against the media.
While en route to the United States, she tormented the independent media, before her departure. She informed the state-owned radio Station (ELBC), when asked about the blackout saying, ”I don’t care about the blackout. I am enjoying it and I hope it continues for the next one year.”
Despite all this bolstering posture and arrogance, the President managed to get her Public Relations piece in some of the American media. The Public Relations paid advertisement from the President, was published in the Washington (Reuters) Newspaper, claiming, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won international acclaim for her “ZERO TOLERANCE” stance against corruption.
We, the Editorial Board of the Independent Eye News (IEN), dismiss this claim as nothing but a public relations piece. We consider this kind of classification as a HOLLYWOOD movies assertion, which beats our imagination and is the subject of this Editorial.
We consider this a Hollywood movies classification because, it is far from the truth and reality. While we do not blame the President for corruption in the Liberian body politic, we hold her solely responsible for her total lack of political will, to fight it.
If President Johnson-Sirleaf were demonstrating “ZERO TOLERANCE” stance against corruption, her declaration of corruption as “PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE” would not have become a miserable failed policy, during her first six years in office.
If President Johnson-Sirleaf were demonstrating “ZERO TOLERANCE” stance against corruption, hundreds of government officials would have been sitting in jails today. There are uncountable number of corruption cases, which never saw a courtroom, solely due to her lack of political will to prosecute.
These and many more reasons are why we, the Editorial Board of the Independent Eye News dismiss and classify this as a HOLLYWOOD movies classification. After nearly seven years in office as President, there is no stride of evidence of a fight against corruption order than paying lip service, by the Johnson-Sirlleaf Administration.
On the other front, the paper also claim that “President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf turned around a country devastated by 14 years of sporadic civil war that ended in 2003.” This claim is very highly questionable and debatable.
Whenever one asks about progress made by the Johnson-Sirleaf Administration since coming to power, there are always narratives that the administration renovated old streets and bridges and paved of a few streets in Monrovia and its suburbs.
This is absolutely laughable because, after receiving SEVENTEEN BILLION United States (US$17B) over just a six-year period, this so-called development is absolutely nothing, comparatively. We must state in categorically terms, that even if the claim were true, Monrovia and its suburbs alone, do not constitute the Republic of Liberia.
Liberia has fifteen political sub-divisions, therefore, carrying out renovation in Monrovia and its suburbs alone, does not mean that Liberia is being developed in its entirety, as was anticipated by our acclaimed Harvard University Graduate.
We hold this conviction very strongly because, President Johnson-Sirleaf is yet to use her good governance expertise to formulate policies that will reduce the high rate of unemployment by at least a percent, just a percent.
We must also underscore the fact that the fourteen year old war initiated, planned, executed and exacerbated, by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s US$10,000.00 initial voluntary donation to an armed red-tag rebel National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), created a brain drain.
As a result of the fourteen year old war, a major vacuum was created most especially in the educational arena. Thousands of Liberian youths were deprieved schooling opportunities during those years of carnage. The youth knew nothing, but war and enjoyed murdering innocent people.
It is not enough to just whine and criticize the very youths for being unemployable because they lack skills. Oh! Yes! It is absolutely true. The youths lack skills because our “ACCLAIMED NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE,” stole fourteen precious years from their lives.
She armed and drugged them to kill, if possible demolish Monrovia, if that is what it takes to get her in power. She has being in power for nearly seven years now. So, she is responsible and must now find the solutions. Not only that. She pledged to reconstruct Monrovia in twenty-four hours. That mandate to her NPFL fighters, is still riveting to this date.
Howbeit, We the Editorial Board of the Independent Eye News (IEN), are willing to help her in the process by earnestly suggesting what solutions need to be put into place. However, we wish to remind her that although she usually boasts that her children are qualified because they are educated, a reason which accounts for offering them multiple lucrative jobs, the poor Liberian children can only afford vocational training, just to survive.
We are not saying she should send them to Harvard, John Hopkins, Yale, with Wall Street experience as she and her children had the opportunity to do by acquiring education from such advanced educational institutions of learning. We, the Editorial Board of the Independent Eye News, are only appealing for the least, just the basic vocational training such as carpentry, mechanic, electricity, mason, pluming, agriculture, etc.
While we are prepared to help in every way possible, she must now put into place solutions with her good governance expertise and policies, because the presidency she has craved for since her birth has been donated and delivered to her on the silver platter, with two hundred fifty thousand lives of Liberians and other nationals attached.
This was also backed by SEVENTEEN BILLION United States dollars (US$17B) from the International Community, to her government, during just her first six years in office as President. That money could have been used to build vocational institutions, or equip existence vocational institutions to provide skills for the youth, who is condemning today, for lack of skills.
We, the Editorial Board of the Independent Eye News, hold this conviction very strongly because additionally, she is yet to reconcile the nation, after the war she initiated with her US$10.000 United States dollars initial donation claimed the lives of two hundred fifty thousand Liberians and other nationals, according to the United Nations estimates.
We hold this conviction very strongly because the Johnson-Sirleaf Administration is yet to undertake a major national project that will have a lasting impact on the country, after she shall left office. Again, we wish to remind her and her fanatics that Monrovia and its suburbs alone, do not constitute the Republic of Liberia.
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BY: TARNYON NYENON
PUBLISHER & MANAGING EDITOR,
INDEPENDENT EYE NEWS (IEN)
TNYENON59@YAHOO.COM- (763) 226-3634-CELL