Published on January 22, 2011 by Cocorioko News · No Comments
I have observed a very dangerous trend emerging in our Sierra Leonean community in America which deserves the attention of all concerned. There are certain Sierra Leoneans among us whose minds are so screwed up that they do not only think wrong and dangerously; their mentality is inimical to our future as a nation. Somebody has to tell these Sierra Leoneans that our country belongs to all Sierra Leoneans, irrespective of tribe, region, religion or culture. The same Sierra Leonean blood that runs through their veins equally runs through the veins of other Sierra Leoneans. Likewise, our political parties belong to all Sierra Leoneans, whether it is the APC, or the SLPP, the PMDC or the PDP. AS LONG AS THEY ARE HOME-GROWN POLITICAL PARTIES, THEY BELONG TO ALL SIERRA LEONEANS. It is just a matter of us choosing which of these parties we align with.
Anybody can be a member of the APC or SLPP ,as long as he/she is a Sierra Leonean. The SLPP is not a Mende party nor is the APC a Limba or Temne party. These political parties belong to all the tribes in Sierra Leone. That is why we have people belonging to all tribes in these parties. If the SLPP had been a Mende party, the same misfits and idiots under scrutiny would not have had the opportunity to be party-hopping .Yesterday, they were SLPP , though some of them are Mandingoes . No Mende man stopped them from being SLPP. Today, they have metamorphosed into APC. No Temne or Limba man stopped them.
Given this truism, every Sierra Leonean editor or reporter has equal access to all our political functionaries. This means that nobody has a monopoly over our political parties and their officials. If COCORIOKO therefore decides to interview any member of the All People’s Congress ( APC) , whether it is Dauda Tombo Bangura, the Peace Envoy and Fundraising Ambassador or Mr. Allie Badara Kamara, the APC New Jersey Chapter President or even Mr. Aziz Turay, the Chairman of APC North America , there is nothing absolutely wrong with that (Unless you are ofcourse one of the demented and sick in the head party bed-hoppers in New Jersey-SLPP today, APC tomorrow ; APC today, SLPP tomorrow- orchestrating trouble in the diaspora ).
Party officials were elected or appointed to serve Sierra Leone and Sierra Leoneans and any Sierra Leonean has the right to interview them ON MATTERS OF NATIONAL INTEREST . These officials are our own brothers and sisters. No chameleonic party supporter has a right to demonically try to drive a satanic wedge between them and other journalists . The preserve to interview these politicians is not bestowed upon any particular people . It is interesting therefore what certain contaminated individuals in New Jersey are going around saying since these officials were interviewed by COCORIOKO . They are saying that we are bringing these officials closer so they will go and make peace between us and them .WHAT FOOLISH THINKING ! ! ! Have we not been interviewing these same officials before ? Who and what are these nonentities that people would crave friendship with them ?
Poor Sierra Leone. With such illiterates hanging around our political parties, one can see why there is so much chaos in our party branches in America. A political party branch will never rise above the quality of its main spkespersons. The Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary General , PRO etc .can be men of intellect but if they sit back and let illiterates run the show, this is what you get–IRRECONCILABE CHAOS.
For our part, COCORIOKO will continue to interview deserving party officials AND Sierra Leoneans who have something to contribute to our articles. Whoever feels we are doing it to seek the support of officials to have them make peace between us is only shamefully demonstrating the shallowness of thinking and illiteracy that are affecting our political parties in the diaspora.
In America, unlike Africa, we do not really need everybody.This is a country where anybody who is serious-minded and well-educated can live independentlyof certain people. You can live happily and peacefully in America, pay all your bills and live big without a lot of useless people in your life. Even if politics is said to be a game of numbers, no human being can realistically contend that he can work with everybody, even in that field . There are certain people you just cannot work with in this world. Their mentality, evil and selfish motives , temperament , low level of intelligence, poor upbringing and bad character do not make it possible for PEACEFUL and PROGRESSIVE people to work with them. You will try your best but the end-result will always be regrettable.
Even the Bible warns strongly against yoking with evil people . Anybody who is a true and well-read christian knows that one of the central teachings of the Bible is that christians should not yoke with evil people . The Bible even goes to the extent of calling yokers adulterers and adultressses and it says clearly that friendship with these kinds of people is enemity with God. This Biblical teaching must not be misunderstood. I am using the terms EVIL PEOPLE , but the Bible users UNBELIEVERS .But the word needs further clarification. I don’t think that God is referring to all unbelievers. Some unbelievers are good persons . They are humble, kind and nice and they accept their faults. Christians can associate with them because it is only by associating with them that you can convert them to Christianity.
Our Lord Jesus Christ himself dined with unrighteous people . But it must be understood that these were people amenable to change. These were humble and right-thinking people , who were genuine , though they had not yet converted to Christianity .Christ understood their hearts and dined with them because he knew that with time, they will receive and accept The Truth. But there were people who offered to give up everything and come and follow him but were not accepted by him because he knew their hearts and knew they were not genuine . People who are very proud, arrogant, vindictive, ignorant but not willing to accept, vengeful, unforgiving and full of all kinds of evil plots against others and who have no inclination to change their bad ways should not be yoked with . You can talk with them but you cannot be friends with them because you, the Child of God, has nothing in common with them. They will turn you away from the truth . Let’s see how the Bible puts it :
2 CORINTHIANS 6 : 14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
James 4: 4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Some of the people creating divisions in the society would read this and say, “Well, these are christian teachings ; they don’t refer to me .After all, I am a Muslim. ” But they are dead wrong. What I am saying refers to Muslims as well. The Quoran and the Bible preach the same sermons about wickedness. Anybody who is a true muslim will not be full of ANGER and pride; he will not be arrogant, vindictive, ignorant but not willing to accept, vengeful, unforgiving and full of all kinds of evil plots. I believe the Prophet Muhammad ( God’s Peace Be On Him ) preached the same thing against these evils. It is not possible to be a true Muslim and be so full of anger, hatred, bitterness, unforgiveness, arrogance , ignorance and deadly plots ! ! ! ! Only somebody who does not love himself will crave friendship with people who are constantly hatching deadly plots against others. Are you truly representing the Prophet Muhamed if all you do all day is to spew anger at people and make wicked plota against others ? You will soon find yourself in Hell if you don’t change now.
We are interviewing party officials because it is our job. This is what we have been doing since we established this newspaper and this is what we will continue doing as we faithfully serve our government, party and people.Since we became part of the political equation in Sierra Leone when we started practising journalism in the early 1970s , we have interviewed lots and lots of political officials. We do not see anything strange in COCORIOKO interviewing APC officials, except ofcourse some people are jealous of us going close to these officials. We have always interviewed officials .
Please let us stop creating divisions within our society. We have had too much chaos in our country and society. The time for war is over. This is the era of national reconciliation and national unity. Even the President we are serving had his own bitter experiences with people who wanted to drearail him but he forgave them, made them his friends and even gave some very top posts. If the President forgave those who came out in full force to undo him, why doesn’t those who claim to be supporting him not emulate him ?
With 2012 around the corner, we are going to accelerate our interview series. We will choose whoever we want to interview when and as we want. Whoever thinks that our political officers belong to him is very sick, not only in the body but in the mind and requires attention from a mental home.
WHAT IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO IS ENVY, JEALOUSY AND MALICE . And where you have these three evils, there will never be peace.
Nothing will stop COCORIOKO from continuing the patriotic work that has put the paper in the hallowed position it is today. Our main interest is to deliver quality news and analyses about our nation, not to compete with a bunch of illiterates.
