Despite millions of dollars spent and the big media hype on education which was government’s flagship for the past five years, the project fails as government cannot point at tangible results.
It is against the backdrop of such naked failure that the FEED SLAONE initiative has been predicted to fail again as signs have already shown. With all splendid promises for the improvement agriculture, a 50kg bag of rice currently stands at Le1.5m while prices for other food items also are too costly.
Ahead of 2018 elections, President Julius Maada Bio declared FREE QUALITY EDUCATION to revamp the education sector with over-reliance on donor support. He made the pronouncement in a post-Ebola economy, poor school infrastructure and rolling statistics of pupil population.
However, teachers who were the academic barefoot soldiers saw government’s proclamation as an economic windfall for them in terms of good pay packages and sound motivation especially for those in rural communities.
These challenges badly affected education but none was addressed throughout the first five years making a mockery of the education project.
With the launching of the FREE QUALITY EDUCATION, Bio was expected to end the two-shift system by building more schools, improving teachers’ pay packages and welfare issues and tighten the free range system in education to achieve the quality side, but these remained mere dreams and visions throughout Bio’s tenure.
Almost invariably, President Bio also pronounced the FEED SALONE project to put food on the table reminiscent of a promise made by President Tejan Kabba in 2007 who said “No Sierra Leone should go to bed with a hungry stomach.” This promise was construed to mean that agriculture would be improved to meet Sierra Leoneans’ diverse dietary needs.
President Bio’s initiative which was launched in October, 2018 was meant to actualise that no Sierra Leonean should buy a bag of rice at Le200, 000 (two hundred thousand Leones) which has been SLPP’s mantra throughout the campaign period.
Like the FREE QUALITY EDUCATION, the FEED SALONE project was launched in a post-Corona economy, low budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector, limited machines to till the land and absence of able hands to work on the farms and swamps.
Sierra Leone’s economy was almost wrecked by the outbreak of Corona Virus also known as Covid-19 as government ignored competent advice from technocrats to capitalise on Africa’s hot climate to end the virus.
The world’s most educated man, Professor Karim Bangura urged African governments not to make gains out of Corona as cost is heavier than income.
He said African governments must capitalise on the continent’s weather condition to roll back Corona, put back the economy on track and free themselves from IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank loans which usually come with tight conditions.
This advice was rejected outright as Sierra Leone and other countries looked up to donor assistance more than a robust campaign to end the virus.
Annual allocation to agriculture over the years is also one of the least in comparison to other sectors making it difficult for the sector to grow in Sierra Leone despite government’s commitment to end hunger as shown in the Millenium Development Goals, 2015 and Sustainable Development Goal, 2030.
Sierra Leone is also blessed with an abundant rainfall, arable and fertile land and fine weather condition to support agricultural productivity, but it all boils down to government’s readiness to make agriculture a success story.
Owing to hunger situation in the country then and now, social commentators have persistently argued that President Julius Maada Bio was supposed to have made agriculture his flagship project in 2018 and not education as campaign and rally songs clearly showed that the people were hungry.
The number of machines to till the land is also visibly insufficient if one carries out any cursory inspection, and it goes without saying that agriculture cannot do well with bare hands.
Even if agriculture in Sierra Leone is based on human effort, young men and women who should have carried out the hard part of the work are into okada and Keke riding where fast money is made but at a big cost.
Records from Bike Riders Union indicate that more than 2, 500, 000 youth are riders thus raising the question of who will plough the land since the aged lacks the strength to effectively undertake agricultural activities.
When PAOPA launched the FREE QUALITY EDUCATION in September, 2018, he failed to meet most of the promises he made to the people of Sierra Leone.
He promised parents and pupils that he would provide text and exercise books, school bags (Knap sacks) and other learning materials so that parents could not only be freed from paying fees but also other charges, but the promises remain largely unfulfilled on to the time the project folded up.
Parents bought books and other learning materials throughout the FREE QUALITY EDUCATION era, a factor that presented PAOPA government as one that is unreliable. President Bio claims at a UN summit that parents in Sierra Leone could save $500 a month owing to the FREE QUALITY EDUCATION made matters worse.
Since the fine promises made in the FREE QUALITY EDUCATION project were not realised, the people are also skeptical about the successful implementation of the FEED SALONE initiative despite the euphoria it generated in the short run.
Since its launching in late October last year, no country has donated improved seeds, fertilisers, power tillers, tractors and harrowing machines making the scheme a myth or another deceptive tactics by the PAOPA regime to accomplish a successful second term.
Late last year, President Julius Maada Bio attended a food summit in the Italian capital of Rome with hope of boosting agriculture back home. The visit however yielded no dividend as he faces legitimacy crisis.
Machines, fertilisers and other materials constitute the backbone of agriculture, and it is very difficult for government to implement any agricultural initiative without them.
Just as the PAOPA regime fails in addressing pay packages and improved welfare for teachers who are the poor dispensers of knowledge, it is the same way they do not put farmers’ welfare at the centre of the FEED SALONE initiative.
Following the launching of FREE QUALITY EDUCATION in 2018, teachers were assured of an improved pay package and sound welfare so that their potentials could be harnessed to the fullest for the benefit of Sierra Leoneans.
According to the PAOPA regime, Sons and daughters of teachers of 10 years and above in the teaching profession would be offered free university education, but this promise was also left unfulfilled.
Even take-home packages remain a big problem for the teachers on to this day. Ibrahim Bangura, a graduate teacher of close to 20 years in the teaching profession earns a little over Le1.5m and a principal’s salary hovers between Le2.5 and Le3m.
Similarly, farmers who largely reside in rural and remote locations also are left to fester in the worst forms of poverty as they could not access soft loans or credit facilities, improved seeds and fertilisers and talk less of grants to help them carry out effective farming operations.
Even extension workers who should train and educate farmers on the latest agricultural techniques are not in the field thus raising questions about government’s commitment to the improvement of agriculture in Sierra Leone. Without any doubt, many Sierra Leoneans know that PAOPA will not make it in agriculture owing to the strained relationship between them and the international community as a result of alleged election rigging.
The argument has always been that if SLPP government fails in their flagship project at a time they enjoy the full backing and support of the international community, what about now when the world has turned its back against them.
PAOPA must be worried and jittery never to fail again for the second time as such move will diminish their standing and status in Sierra Leone for years to come.
Suffice it to state that if they fail Sierra Leoneans for the second time, SLPP, the party of Milton Margai, Albert Margai and Tejan Kabba would languish in the political wilderness for years.