Noticeably when the independence anniversary of the oldest African Republic is about to be celebrated in every year, the question that many would ask is, ‘What is there to celebrate?’
This one million dollar question has become a cliché in the Liberian society because as far as citizens are concerned, since independence on July 26, 1847, the country’s growing age every year does not commensurate with its achievements.
Its incumbent President, soccer legend, George Manneh Weah, numbered the West African country’s 25th President, but yet amidst the abundance of natural resources, Liberia is among the poorest and under-developed African countries.
From 1847 when it was proclaimed an independent republic by Joseph Jenkins Roberts and others, all of Liberia’s 43,000 square miles have not still been connected by well-paved roads, while its health and education systems have not met internationally accepted standards, although the country’s main referral hospital, the John F. Kennedy Medical Hospital and its highest institution of learning, the University of Liberia were among the best in the African region during the 1970s and early 1980s.
But these once revered institutions have significantly degenerated to the lowest ebb due to bad governance, rampant corruption and lack of vision by the country’s national leaders. As the country observes yet another Independence Day this year, families are broke and may likely not afford to buy holiday clothes for their children and even put food on the table. Nevertheless, as the ordinary citizens struggle for survival and are even wondering how to get by the festive holiday, officials of the government and their families, as it has been the case during other regimes, will have a joyous celebration with sumptuous meals and enough wine to drink. So what is there to celebrate?
