Möbius Strip

In the dark chambers of my past,

a part of me still calls

from the hollow silence of memory.

I hear the loud silence--

a boy of nine weeping within me,

aching to be a child

in a world painted with lies.

He longs for warmth,

but the nights were burning cold,

lit only by anger,

shadowed by loss.

What does happiness feel like?

Is it the warmth that lingers

after the lash of pain?

Does it give joy while hiding hope

in chambers of uncertainty?

Does it smell like petrichor,

when tears water the dusty road of hope?

Does it taste like the leftover potato-leaf sauce,

served in the morning to an empty stomach?

Does it sound like the womb’s first lullaby—

the primal hum that rocks a child to peace?

My nights are quiet,

yet they thunder with grief.

Even as I rest on the softness of my bed,

my heart drifts back

to the jagged stones of yesterday.

It seems…

the past is not behind me--

it breathes, whispering me into sleeplessness,

then shakes me awake

into oblivion.

©Amadu Wurie Jalloh 

02/09/25

Secret Society Forest: A Gem under Modernisation Threat

 No we should not move 'secret society forest' from city centres to remote or suburb areas. Just like cultural spaces we should make room for their existence and continuation whilst reform actions are taken to curb their excesses for a peaceful coexistence and public perceptivity change in our heterogeneous societies today.

Secrete society forests are more than cultural initiation passage, they hold many benefits, ranging from cultural specialization schooling, preserving medicinal herbs for various local diseases and (possibly) undiscovered ailments; ecological integrity through the preservativion of primary forests; cultural relics and sacred knowledge of cultures; and the dots connecting or linking cultural relation between ethnic groups in Sierra Leone and Africa at large [transnational relation] (example: use of Yoruba and Igbo language as sacred language for the membership of some Secret society groups in Sierra Leone). A lot more other benefits can be derived from preservation efforts to these forest.

What we should instead embark upon is preservation effort for these spaces in urban or metropolitan settings. Some preservation efforts are as highlighted below:

1. RESEARCH: It's fundamentally necessary to consider conducting research studies on the practices and conduct of secrete society groups in order to:

I. Help preserve potentially lost knowledge and document yet undocumented relics;

II. Study the herbal medicinal uses and their efficacy and application to local and more than ailments; and

III. Identify dangerous practices and advance mechanisms for reform actions.

The establishment of laboratory 🔬 facilities and collaboration efforts between traditional groups and academic/ think tank institutions can help shape the conduct of such studies and advance hidden but yet relevant knowledge in the use of herbal medicines and traditional therapeutic practices for economics and social benefits.

IV. Research efforts can also help establish the transnational link/connection between cultures in the subregion and Africa at large whilst also taking note of cultural losses or gains (through acculturation, assimilation or amalgamation) made since the establishment of modern African States. 

2. Recording and documenting folklores and legends: secret society forest may be the powerbank of knowledge, arts and culture. The tradition of narrative story telling is losing out and a whole lots of knowledge is draining down the blackhole because of lack of interest to document and preserve knowledge. Efforts must be made to preserve this form of knowledge base and document them. Cultural preservation spaces must be established to ensure access to and familiarisation to such knowledge. Our culture holds the key to technological revolution, economic and social advancements.

3. Funding opportunity: government should consider making provision for funds to preserving these forest. In many instances people engage in herbal medicine (herbalists) are considered witches and the practice is considered backward and irrelevant. Funding efforts to establish laboratory facilities for research, to fence these places; and give scholarship opportunities to herbalists to further their studies or research in places like China, Ghana or Nigeria (where herbal medicines are use alternatively to that of clinical med) can help in exchange and enlightenment processes. There are lots of economic and social benefits to the practice than seen today.

4. Reform actions against Violent and Dangerous practices: this is especially the case when it comes to how certain groups forcefully initiate some of its new members. One fundamental concern regarding secret society groups in metropolitan areas is the respect for human rights and the concern for consent giving for intakes. In many instances new members are forcefully initiated (for some groups) . This threatens the security of the unwilling members and general public who consider the practice alien or irrelevant or unrelated to their culture. Reform actions that conform to heterogeneous coexistence and acceptance must be taken. This will not only boost public confidence and security concern, but also help maintain best practices. Initiation materials should be inspected and regulation efforts must be shown to avoid harm or health related problems or concern.

What's your take on the concerns and strategies highlighted above. What's your advice regarding the safeguarding and preserving of cultural spaces and secret society forests?

©

~Amadu Wurie Jalloh

30th August, 2024

To Julia

I have come to discover thee, Julia,

At a time when the air was frigid

And the music in hearts: soft and timid;

A sad beginning and a happy ending in stria.

I have come to discover thy hair

Like an enchanted cohort 

On guard along the Congo with robes sewn with the secrets creeping from whispers of the night.

Thy face upon which every tale ensnare.

Thy breast, the mysterious pyramid

Where every Pharaoh yearns to rest enblamed. 

Thy navel a circular-moon with its silver looks to glow the night.

Thy waist

Aye, to me the book of wisdom lost to fools;

Thy feet upon thy ankles the batons of kings 

In the rising kingdoms in time not aloof.

Aye, I have come to discover thy glowing blackness in Africa rising.

As Written by: Amadu Wurie Jalloh

(SAWN archives)

Religious Tolerance

 After reading a post from my mentor Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba about religious tolerance, I feel like I should also share my thought on the subject.

I am a Muslim. I was born in a Muslim family, raised by Muslims. Socialized to believe that Islam is the true faith. 

As a Muslim growing up I have made friends with people of different beliefs. I even had some atheist (those that believe in no supernatural deity). We are similar in many things. We all wish to attain happiness. We could agree on many things. We could play and laugh about many things. The only time we could start noticing our differences is when we start talking about what each one believe in (our faiths). The discussion will start getting hot and eventually become boring as each side would do their best to convince the other that they are right and the other side is wrong. 

But the more I age the more I come to the realization that we should not identify by our religions alone if peace should reign. Amartya Sen would warn us against the urge to promoting 'solitarist' identity (reducing someone's identity to just one aspect). For instance, we share a nuance identity: I am a Sierra Leonean, a Loko, a father, a member of a community/ group, a member of a political party, a Muslim (or Christian), a bike rider, so on an so forth... The list can go on and your identity is elaborate. If I cannot agree with you because of your belief, I should make peace with you because you are a Sierra Leonean (for instance). If I cannot make peace with you because you a Sierra Leonean, I should find reason to make peace with you because of you are an African. And if I cannot make peace with your identity as an African, I should make peace with you because you are a human just like me. I just cannot afford to 'solitarise' to identity. 

We should understand the fact that it is not easy to divorce one's faith for another. It is years of invested interest. One has gained a lot of social capital in their faith. They sometimes risk losing close friends, family, opportunities and potential gains when they attempt converting from one faith to another. Think about the stigma and psychological pressure that accompanies the switchover process. It may be that the person you hate for their beliefs loves your ideas and wish to join you in worship but fear that they cannot handle what comes with it (the price they pay). You don't have to harm them, attack them, insult them, or cut them off for your belief sake. 

Anytime you want to drop a bomb on them or attack them for their beliefs, think about the fact that those people are more than their beliefs. They could be parents, they could be people of your lineage, they could be sharing a city with you and help pay taxes to develop that city that provides for your family, they could be breadwinners of their families, too. 

You don't have to hate someone for their belief. The same way you find it difficult to understand why they are rooting for their religion so deeply, is the same way they wonder why you are reluctant to convert to their religion. Our differences is what makes us humans. Because we have intelligence, we have different convictions. Humans are not computers that you programme (artificial intelligence). We reason and make choice. God has granted us that right. We have no right to deny a fellow human the chance to make a choice as long as that doesn't go against your rights.

©Amadu Wurie Jalloh

 Tree Genocide: The Intergenerational Robbery Skipped by the Audit Service Sierra Leone Report

The recently published Audit Service Sierra Leone's account on the Accounts of Sierra Leone for the Financial year 2019 have received many criticisms and spurred many debates, all of which centered on the financial mismanagement and the disregard for procurement protocols/rules.

The biggest surprise (quoting Professor #JosephTuray) in the report, however, is the scale at which our trees are going down. The report states that data from the Customs Department registered a total of *2,202,024.88* (over two million) cubic meters of Timber (valued at USD$5.5 billion) export from Sierra Leone for just 2020. The number is huge. But I assure you the consequences could be egregiously costlier. In our watchful eyes we witness the planet's lungs being cut down. There is no serious crime and robbery than depriving the future generation of this great nation equal (or better) potential to realize their needs. This is intergenerational robbery. Come to think of how many of our trees would have gone by the end of the activity. How many would have gone before we are satisfied (before we raise enough to fill our pockets)!

Now the figures featured in the report only featured timber logging activities and not the several other tree cutting activities carried out daily. We have those going in for boards, wood/fuel, agriculture and farm clearing, cite clearing for construction, and coal burning in a continent that is characterized as 43% extreme desert. We are selling our future for small monies and risk promoting desertification. 

You ask the question where these timbers are going, they say China (Asia) and Europe. But then don't they have forests to cut? They do, but they are preserved and well guarded. They want their forests to flourish in order to serve their future generations. 

We have to move from raw material export to finish product export. No country has grown this way. If you need tangible and sustainable growth you should add value. Invest in infrastructure, education, entrepreneurship, science and innovation. We have been doing this for decades and no progress has been registered. 

What about Bumbuna Phase II? If this carries on, can't we be inviting drought and flooding? Does not this mean we are risking the fruition of the long anticipated Bumbuna Phase II project that's supposed to generate enough electricity to every part of the country and boost business and economic activities?! Are we for real!!

What about Biodiversity!? Are we not endangering the various species that those forests host? Do you think they would stay after hearing the power saw on their doorsteps? How many species are we driving away from those places? Have you thought about the consequences it will have on livelihood and the ecosystem? 

What about agriculture that employs over 50 percent of Sierra Leone workforce? When the rains stop coming, can we afford to go hungry and continue relying on China for staple food import? The big trees are the callers of rain. We soon shall start seeing animality in rain pattern (what we have witnessed so far could be just the beginning). 

But of all that, how has that reflected in the lives of Sierra Leoneans? The cutting down of trees has the potential to destabilize communities and promote future conflicts (conflicts over resources). Come to think of when we would have fewer rivers running through and fewer animals dwelling in our forests. Come to think of when certain regions become deserts and how that will define migration pattern and conflict over resources. 

We should know better as a nation.

What about a report on the progress on "tree replacement." If I am not mistaking, for every tree cut down, three more should be planted. Did the Audit Service Sierra Leone consider that in their report?

If the project is on going, which agency is charged with that? And how much in value are we talking about here. 

For all I know, Auditing service will never be truly complete without giving it other dimensions like Environmental and Social. Monetary figures cannot account for every damages incurred. We need to incorporate other measures. Environmental assessments should be featured in as well as social impact assessments. Don't tell me the Environment Protection Agency should undertake that. In order to mainstream the SDGs, we should feature them in the most prominent reports of the nation. Benchmarking is key. We should be akin to social and Environmental happenings lest we betray ourselves. 

Photo credit: Professor Alhaji U Njai

~Amadu Wurie Jalloh

~The Emmanuel Ivorgba Foundation

~Students Analysts and Writers Network

The Limkokwing University Saga: The Issues

By now many of us would have familiarized ourselves with the Anti Corruption Commission report on late Dr. Minkailu Bah (former minister of Education, Science, and Technology) and the Limkokwing University (Sierra Leone chapter). We may have read how he singlehandedly entered into a deal with the university for its establishment in Sierra Leone (flouting due processes) and eventually committing the government with the responsibility of providing a space for the construction of its main campus and to a great financial burden of providing a scholarship for 1,200 students per year. He could go on to submitt a document stating the number of students to receive the grant-in-aid to the then financial secretary  without indicating the cost estimate for the benefit of parliament who should debate its structure when presented in the national budget. It came out that a single student offering a bachelor's degree programme would receive a grant-in-aid worth up to US$ 3,000; while Diploma students were paid for USD$ 2,500 (triple the amount offered to students across public universities). 

Even after granting an Executive Clearance to settle payment of financial obligations for the academic year of 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 of up to twenty two billion Leones (Le 22,000,000,000), the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) still has to pay an outstanding financial obligations worth up to thirty three billion Leones (Le 33,000,000,000) for the academic year 2018/2019. Reasons for delay of payment?: Well,"...fiscal challenges and the unfairness of incurring such liability for few students when compared to other students on government grants-in-aid in various Universities" (Thomas A. R., 2020-- Sierra Leone Telegraph). 

Critics Perspectives:

Several critics have called for a complete shutdown of the programme. They argue that the scholarship is costly (relative to cost of grant-in-aid across public universities in the country); and that its beneficiaries are mostly relatives or supporters of the previous administration, which to them is unfair. Call that pork barrel politics. 

Of course their claims are critical. But we I assure you we stand to lose woefully if we choose to end it abruptly rather than renegotiating terms. As the legal pundits would advise: a man dies with his indictments. So we should be careful lest innocent Sierra Leonean youths pay the price. The primary suspect in all this saga (former education minister) is gone to a place of no return. His indictments die with him. Hence, we should renegotiate terms to arrive at a win-win solution. 

The money spent is not refundable and in fact we are obliged to fulfil payment to the college for the remainder. Education is the flagship programme of this administration. We cannot deny the need for education to promote sustainable development (sustainable as in people-driven development). If we don't educate our youths, we would end relegating them to mere consumers (rather than producers). 

I am sure no one would reject an opportunity to study in a prestigious university on a scholarship opportunity. The youths are not the ones who created the system, in fact they are victims of corrupt system. The system is such that you tend to lose hope in any genuine progress making you believe that the only way to survive is to affiliate with a political party. The abuse and misuse of positions are not new and it's ongoing. We needn't target its victims, but the perpetrators. The youths of this country are almost hopeless and among the most underemployed. 

A Way Out:

Like I earlier on advised, government should fund already enrolled Sierra Leonean students  for one more academic year just so that everyone would be certified. New intake/admission (on grant-in-aid basis) should seize; those in year one should be graduated with a certificate; those in year two with diploma; qualifying students  awarded Higher National Diploma; and finalists be awarded with bachelor's degree. Without these papers, a good number of them (especially those without capital to start their own businesses) would have trouble securing a job. They end up becoming retarded and frustrated dropouts. Deviants are born; self-esteem is dampened; and mental health problems (out of frustration after hopes were raised) are bound to occur. And it will cost society more to tackle these results. 

Another way to address this issue of unfair treatment is making these set of students sign a memorandum of agreement to serve the nation (as volunteers) for a stipulated period of time after graduation (especially those with HND and bachelor's degree). Similar programmes are designed for youths in other countries; and the results are fantastic. The volunteers will have the chance to gain first hand knowledge on practical problem solving (regarding their discipline of study) whilst contributing to community development. 

I would also recommend that GoSL design similar programmes across public institutions and employ these graduates (especially those with degrees) to transfer the knowledge gained (since some of the programmes offered by the institution are new and critical to the job market). This way we can add value into our curricula whilst at the same time invest in the human capital development of the nation for a prosperous nation.

We all have one Sierra Leone to call home. We should not commit the same folly our forefathers and fathers committed. We should learn to take advantage of opportunities that will move this country. Instead of punishing the deprived victims (who are mostly relegated youths) we should emphasize on accountability and support the fight to end/curb corruption.  

#reopenlimkokwing

~Amadu Wurie Jalloh 

Students Analysts and Writers Network

Emmanuel Ivorgba Foundation

Do we need an increase in years of terms of service for a transformative development?

 No!! Length of service is not the reason why some African rulers are underperforming. They simply are incapable and are unpatriotic. 

In fact, you could find fewer countries in Africa where long serving leaders have managed to transform the state. Since 1960 (post colonial rule for most Sub-Saharan Africa) Sub-Saharan Africa has in total got ten heads of states that have clinged unto power for over thirty years. 

2020 is a symbolic year to authoritarian rule in the subregion as it marks more than three decades since Rulers like Teodoro Obiang Ngua Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, Paul Biya of Cameroon, and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda assumed power in their respective countries (Felter C., 2020).

The following is a rundown of some of the longest serving (or those that served the longest) heads of state in the subregion (this doesn't feature royal leadership) as presented by Felter C. (2020):

1.Gabon's Omar Bongo (60 years)

2. Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro O. N. Gbasogo 40 years

3. Angola's Jose Ed. Santos (38 years)

4. Togo's Gnassingbe Eyadama  (37)

5. Cameroon's Paul Biya (37 years)

6. Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe (37 years)

7. Republic of  Congo's Denis S. Nguesso (36 years)

8. Ivory Coast's Felix Houphouet- Boigny (33)

9. Democratic Republic of Congo's  Mobutu S. Seko (31 years)

10. Malawi's Hastings K. Banda (29 years)

11. Sudan's Omar al-Bashir (29 years)

12. Eretrea's Isaias Afwerki (29 years); and

13. Benin's Mathieu Kerekou (28 years).

Note, this does not include those who served more than the original constitutional mandate of not more than 10 years (the likes of Siaka Stevens of Sierra Leone and Lansana Conteh of Guinea served more than 10 years).

Any Meaningful Impact?

Well, some of us are familiar with the economic and sociopolitical atmospheres in these countries. It's safe to say these countries  are a bunch of underperforming states grappling with economic downturn and political and social instability. Length of service has not in any way helped bring improvement in any of these nations. In fact, there is a greater tendency for countries  with such leadership style to perform poorly in key development indexes/measures, especially on governance, accountability, human rights, freedom of speech,  and economic equality. 

 

Even as the occurrences of military coups  has reportedly dropped, constitutional coups are becoming increasingly widespread in the Subregion. Recent cases of this include Guinea and Ivory Coast where incumbents have managed to amend the constitution to award themselves more time to rule even as oppositions object. The legislature and judiciary have in many instances helped in facilitate that. And the security sector have been key in consolidating their stay in power. Leaders have used force to silence opposition and dissent.

And yet still, AU and other regional intergovernmental agencies have been slow in addressing the issue of constitutional coups. The continent is gradually regressing under the watchful eyes of its hypocritical and self-centered leaders. 

We should be watchful and protect our democracy lest we retrogress without noticing. Constitutional coup is the new strategy.

Constitutional coup is just as worse as military coups. 

~Amadu Wurie Jalloh

Students Analysts and Writers Network

The Emmanuel Ivorgba Foundation