Subject: Foday
Hi Foday,
sorry for my slow acknowledgement. A few days ago I made a modest proposal to the NPRC- "NPRC's top priority. My top priorities were listed in this order:
The wheel of fortune has not been very kind to us over the past few years,however, challenges exist to be demolished. In an attempt to weave through this conundrum, we put forth our best. The cornerstone of my recommendation is self-reliance. This war was started by Sierra Leoneans and it has to be settled by Sierra Leoneans. Right from the start the west had distanced itself from this disaster. They pacified us with token assistance and stayed only to mine and fish and to make us accept their own brand of democracy. Infact they have sucessfully made elections synonymous with democracy.
This noblesse oblige attitude has made us spectators in matters veryimportant to us. The goal of every democracy is to improve the conditions of it's people. Different cultures have different means of achieving this goal.
Democracy in it's ideal sense is not new to Africa- we just have to re-adopt it again. If we assume that the elctions will lead to democracy then the enviroment is not ripe for it. Democracy takes hold not in broken families, democracy cannot take place in violent neighbourhoods and certainly not in a dysfunctional nation. Any elections held now cannot be fair nor be representative.
Once the warring parties have settled their grivances then the people can be repatriated and hopefully they can deal with their losses and resume their old kindred spirits.
At this stage the government should help them with food and other vital necessities untill they are able to produce their own food. Sierra Leone is a very fertile country and it's people are very strong. Given the right assistance and the right guidance the people will produce. Just a few decades ago we used to have surpluss of food that were stuck up in our native silos. We had food in the ground, food in the air and food on our tables. Agriculture was a way of life; families farmed together from sunrise to sunset and they were completely independent and free on their volitions.
This will save us from the "benevolence" of donor nations and set up the right atmosphere for more virtue and happiness and democracy.