Monrovia – The political leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, has called on Liberians to allow National Unification Day to renew their strength and commitment that the attributes that bind them together are stronger than the differences that divide them.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
“And that we are better and stronger as a nation when we subordinate those differences in service to a common national good,” he said in a statement.
The observance of the Day is the result of an Act of Legislature passed in 1960, declaring the 14th of May of each year as a National Unification Day, realizing the benefits to be accrued from the Unification and Integration Policy.
“As we celebrate Unification Day, it is also proper that we pause and give thanks to our founding fathers and early leaders. All of them: Joseph Jenkins Roberts, Bob Gray, Sao Boso, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Susannah Lewis, Madam Suakoko, and countless others. They certainly were not perfect. But despite their flaws, they bequeath us a nation; a place we can call home: Mama Liberia. Our task now is to build upon this great inheritance so that Liberia truly fulfills her destiny of being a glorious land of liberty and justice for all,” Cummings said.
The former presidential candidate reminded his fellow citizens of happens when they reject the principles that bind them together and let their diversity — ethnic, religious and political—become a liability rather than an asset.
“We plant seeds of enmity that span generations and unleash forces that rip apart our national fabric,” he noted.
He pledged that the ANC would continue to work, through its policies, to ensure that it attains a Liberia that is truly united irrespective of religious, ethnic and political orientation of its citizens.
According to Cummings, Liberians must be inspired by their history as the oldest republic on the African continent with about 200 years of history. He recalled Liberia as a nation that took a strong stance in helping other nations on the continent stand up against colonialism.
The Proclamation of National Unification Day recounts that since the Unification and Integration Policy became an integrated part of the National Development Plan, the Nation has seen marked progress and improvement in all spheres of national endeavor, particularly in the economic, educational, communication and social fields.
It recalls that the wisdom of the Unification Policy has found expression in the national fabric through the representation of all sections of the country in the Legislature and every other branch of government, thereby promoting conditions of peace and unity in the country.