Monrovia – In the wake of fixing the educational mess president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf spoke about in the past and improving the broken down economy of Liberia, the political leader of the Movement for Economy Empowerment (MOVEE) has prescribed policy his leadership will put in place to improve the two.
Report by Edwin Genoway, Jr – [email protected]
Serving as keynote speaker at program marking the induction ceremony of officers elect of the University of Liberia Student Union (ULSU), Dr. J. Mills Jones said the MOVEE leadership will put in place programs that will give students the opportunity to travel for advance studies and return to help build their country.
He said the MOVEE leadership will take steps to improve the skills of teachers and progressively increase their salaries, saying, the MOVEE administration will utilize technology for distance learning programs so that teachers do not have to leave their homes and counties to attend training institutes in order to improve their skills.
“We will provide them incentives to encourage teachers to go to or remain in rural areas; we will work to create a conducive atmosphere for learning and when time and resources used to train teachers those teachers will be hire and be paid according to their qualifications, yes, a good education system will cost money but the choice is to pay now or pay later in many different ways,” he said.
He said it time for Liberia to use the resources of the country wisely starting from cutting off on graft, corruption and wasteful spending something he says the MOVEE government will take seriously.
He said the money that will be saved from corruption and wasteful spending can be used to fund education properly.
He described the induction program of ULSU as a celebration of democracy and a testimony of unity and diversity, saying, from the faces of young students in the hall proves that Liberia remains the land of possibilities.
Jones who is being described as the poverty doctor was greeted cheers and applauses from students as he prescribed policies on the Liberian education and the broken-down of the country.
He said the ability of the students to work together gives him the concept that Liberia is big tent which shall be a shelter for all Liberians.
“This is the Liberia to which we must all be committed no longer we must accept the contradiction of believing in democracy while choosing leadership that’s all they know how to serve the interest of the few at the expense of the majority,” he said.
He said leadership is about service in the interest of the greatest good today some people are raising the heads again on the national scene purporting to be agents of change.
“But what does that change means for Liberia, certainly not more 4G laws, certainly not more lightning speed concession agreements, certainly change does not means more courts squandering of opportunities, it does not mean more budgets that see recover spending, change does mean to talk about more times for tribalism, not more talks about more nice guys who do rid the boat but cannot get the boat out of the mud and this boat needs to get out of the mud and we can go on and on,” he noted.
“This is not change, we call it an insult to the intelligence of the Liberian people, the Liberian people will not chose abuse of authority, self-centerness all of which help to keep them in poverty and then called that change, the eyes of the people are open they want change and change, you university students know that is the opposite of continuity, and the same thing goes to the politicians who cannot let any election past them by, the Liberian people want new faces with new ideas,” he noted.
He called on the Liberian people to come together and take the bold step towards a new Liberia committing to a new political paradise, saying, Liberia is a burden to none a collective responsibility to all.
“Our nation Liberia was born out the sense of exceptionalism.” He said the world has changed but Liberia has not live up to its potential as a country.
“Nevertheless I say unto you today that, regaining Liberia place as an exceptional endeavor in the history of nations is still possible, and this underline the motto of our party that poverty is not our destiny, therefore we encourage all Liberians to look up to the future with hope we have no alternative with such a youthful population as we have in Liberia but the first step in getting all of the corrective course is to chose the right leadership,” he noted.
Dr. Jones urged Liberians to wake up to the fact that leadership matters, saying, Liberians must look beyond party line in choosing leaders.
“It is not the question of choosing a leader that is all things to us people, we must look beyond party to decide who within the bounce of reasons, we can trust because their character and their actions can indicate that they have the heart to set the pace for transformation in Liberia,” he said.
He said the world will not take Liberia seriously if the people continue to request for change through continuity making emphasis on the young people of Liberia.
He called on the young people of Liberia to wake up to the reality that leadership is not all about money or popularity.
“Leadership is not about T-shirts or cars, pickups, it is not about hand-pumps or pit latrines the fact that these things become criteria for choosing our leaders is only the symptom to the extent of which poverty has enslave to the culture of dependency, I say to that poverty is a major enemy to Liberia and so we must chose leadership that understand the imperative of getting us out of poverty,” he noted.
Those inducted into ULSU leadership include student Jerome Dolo Barnard, President, Trokon Zahn, Vice President, Orando S. Fallah Sr, Student Representative, and E. Presley Whea Grigsby Speaker.
Delivering his inaugural address, the president of ULSU, Jerome Dolo Barnard, the leadership of ULSU will in 60 days ensure the reactivation of the University of Liberia pageant through the social culture committee of the university student union.
He also noted that his government will ensure conduct of the Liberia National student Union congress in the soonest possible time.
He said the leadership will very soon ensure the completion of the technological resource center which is intended to enhance student research capacity.
He said the students will also take into consideration the organization of presidential debates among candidates contesting for the pending October 10 elections.
“ULSU will take into consideration the continuation of its scholarship and financial program for this semester,” he noted.