By Andrew Keili
Praise we the great of heart and mind,
The singers sweetly gifted,
Whose music like a mighty wind
The souls of men uplifted.
Recently, thanks to a blogger, we have witnessed the veneration of a famous Sierra Leonean singer, Patricia Abubakarr on social media. What started as a series of interviews cascaded into people paying obeisance to this lady who was the lead singer in famous bands in Sierra Leone including Afro National, crooning several timeless songs including Sonjojo, King Jimmy bonga sweet etc. The money donation by Admire Bio and the visit by Star Zee were just a few of such acts.
A question that came to mind was why we would only accidentally stumble into honouring an icon in such an unplanned way. On reflection, we have sometimes done some commendable work in honouring some of our past cultural and political heroes in diverse ways. We have seen some of our musical icons honoured. Steady Bongo’s contribution to our musical lexicon has been greatly appreciated as is Amie Kallon’s. The tourism Ministry has done it own bit in preserving our culture and honouring our cultural heroes but its outreach is obviously limited because of funding constraints. Recently, in Bo District, 78-year-old singer, Bockarie Ansumana aka Dr. Kposowai complained about neglect. In a heartfelt plea, he said: “I have performed for almost every President Sierra Leone has had. I’ve represented this country abroad, won awards in its name, and brought glory to our people. Yet today, I struggle to find food. It is a national shame.”
I want to move away from cultural icons and dwell on how we as a nation honour our great and famous men. We live in a society where people are fond of blowing their own trumpet. There are now all kinds of awards heaped upon people. It is now common practice to solicit some accolade of sorts for oneself. Also many organisations that carry out award ceremonies may be biased in concentrating on the rich and famous, politically connected or those with a penchant for self promotion.
The National awards often meted out on independence anniversaries, in my view do a lot to recognise people who make a difference to the lives of many in the country. I have been fortunate to attend a few such functions and actually wrote about the recipients about a decade ago.
2014 was a good year for honouring medical doctors. The “three musketeers” of Dentist Mike Rekab, medical Doctors Ishmael Peters and Patrick Coker-all household names who had a collective professional experience of close to 150 years- received the Order of the Rokel (GOOR) for long and outstanding services in their fields of endeavour (in the case of Dr Coker this also included sports)-One bit of trivia-Dr Coker was called DFG (Do for God) for his philanthropic work in carrying out many a free medical service. Someone sitting behind me laughed when it was mentioned that Dr. James Samba who was also honoured had delivered over 10,000 babies. “Dr Peters has delivered considerably more during his gynaecological career including many grey- haired people in this audience”, he remarked. Akiwande Josiah William Lasite received the Officer of the Order of the Rokel (OOR)-to the loudest applause, in recognition of his dedicated and distinguished service to the development of Education in Sierra Leone. I was particularly pleased that foreigners who had distinguished themselves in positively projecting Sierra Leone were honoured. These included Gary Schulze, in recognition of his tremendous contribution to the development of Education and the History and Culture of Sierra Leone. He has had a lifelong association with the National Museum. Having been amongst the first group of Peace Corp volunteers to Sierra Leone in 1962, he was responsible for recently bringing the authentic picture of Bai Bureh to the museum.
On another occasion, Professors Strasser King, Jonas Redwood Sawyerr and Abu Sesay received the highest accolade-Commander of the Order of the Republic of Sierra Leone (CRSL). The three Professors had contributed so much to higher education, administration and policy issues in Sierra Leone. Odette Awada also received an award-who does not know Mammy Awada in Bo? For over fifty years she ran her educational institutions in Bo-her award was long overdue. Mohamed Kallon whose contribution to football is nationally acclaimed was another awardee. The Young Inventor, Kelvin Doe, invited to MIT was beaming with smiles at being honoured. Mirian Mason-Sesay who was also honoured came to this country in 1997 and after three years decided to stay. She started the Educaid chain of schools which now comprises one primary school and 4 secondary schools with 1700 pupils. General Sir David Julian Richards, awarded the CRSL in recognition of his gallant leadership of the British Military intervention in the civil War in Sierra Leone could unfortunately not be at the ceremony.
As a country we do a commendable job of recognizing the contribution of many of our compatriots at their passing by having a civic laying out ceremony with tributes from the municipality and the state.
National Orders are the highest awards that a country, through its President, bestows on its citizens and eminent foreign nationals. The President as the fount (holder, cradle, main source) of honour in the country bestows these Orders and Decorations. I rather like the South African system which ensures that all areas are covered in the award system. Each order is awarded in three categories-gold silver and bronze.
Awards are made to South African citizens for distinguished service in the following areas:
” The Order of Mapungubwe for those who have accomplished excellence and exceptional achievements to the benefit of South Africa and beyond.
” The Order of Luthuli for contributions to the struggle for democracy, human rights, nation-building, justice and peace, and conflict resolution.
” The Order of the Baobab for business and the economy: science, medicine and technological innovation, and community service.
” The Order of Ikhamanga in the fields of arts, culture, literature, music, journalism and sport.
” The Mendi Decoration for Bravery is for extraordinary acts of bravery.
The Order of the Companions of OR Tambo is awarded to foreign nationals (Heads of State and Government) and other foreign dignitaries for friendship shown to South Africa. It is therefore an order of peace, co-operation and active expression of solidarity and support.
A worrying trend in this country is the lack of recognition in many government institutions for those who had served these institutions before with distinction. This is especially true of those in the political sphere and those who have served MDAs. This is mostly because of our toxic political atmosphere. When governments change, the political appointees get booted out. This is the exact opposite of many private institutions. What better way to illustrate this than to give a personal example. I served as the first Chairman of Ecobank in Sierra Leone. Together with other past Board members, we get invited to some of the Bank’s functions and receive diaries and calendars yearly and the odd present. It sure makes us feel valued. I also served as Chairman of the Board of a major national institution but since being booted out unceremoniously some eighteen years ago after a regime change, I have never got invited even to drink goat pepper soup!
But not every deserving person can get a national award or be recognized by an institution. There are those heroes in our communities who have done so much to improve the lot of people. One category of people that leaves an enduring legacy is good educators. That is why people like Sheik Imam Sesay and Festus Seiwoh of Bo school, Akanwale Lasite of Grammar School, Mrs. Dilsworth of Saint Joseph’s convent and their ilk will always be remembered by their old students. They embody the belief in the Krio adage- “Good player nor ba fet for vest”. There are other do-gooders in our communities who contribute to improving the lot of others but do not necessarily clamor for recognition-we all know a few.
There will however always be those who seek titles and accolades for themselves. These will not necessarily be enduring. Talking about titles no one has attempted to follow Idi Amin who was called “His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, Victorious Cross, Distinguished Service Order and Military Cross recipient, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular, Uncrowned King of Scotland.”
Did you know that sometimes people get honoured in error? No? Well check your new coins! Remember the story of Sorie Kondi, the musician who was presumed dead and was featured on one of the new coins, but was later found to be very much alive? Well, the Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone confessed in an interview that he did not even know Sorie Kondi but he had been reliably informed he was a famous Sierra Leonean musician who had passed away. He only realized there was a snafu when other living musicians he met at a function also wanted their faces on a coin like Sorie Kondi. “But why did you do it for Sorie when he is alive”, they asked. It was then it dawned on him that Sorie’s death had been grossly exaggerated!
Let us praise our great and famous men (women included of course), especially those who do not seek glory.
Praise we the wise and brave and strong,
Who graced their generation;
Who helped the right, and fought the wrong,
And made our folk a nation.
Ponder my thoughts.