Celebrating The ‘Munkus’ And ‘Adebayors’ Of Sierra Leone

By Mohamed Sankoh (One Drop)

I like symbolisms and personifications. And, of course, I also like creativity of One Dropian colourations. So unlike others of the Establishment, an unrepentant Koromaist like me is not, and will never be, angry at the recent name-tagging of those who are associated with the Koroma-led administration.

 

Pop Culture, no doubt, is in vogue in Sierra Leone. But when Pop Culture is given political slants and iced with literary allusions, then those with creative minds should, or are expected, to do aesthetics on those allusions. That “Munku” and “Adebayor” are now the new entries into the political lexicon of Sierra Leone is no longer news; what should be of importance is the interpretations of those two musical references.

And that is the feat which I intend to accomplish in today’s One Dropian dropping. Let me first give operational definitions of the two concepts. If one reads between the lines of Emmerson Bockarie’s song, “Munku bos pan matches”, one will deduce that a “Munku” is a Government functionary or those associated with the Establishment; while an “Adebayor” is someone who is supposed to have stolen from his/her country and invest the loot in his/her country. But in this journalese-aesthetics, the two concepts will be pluralised though in the Krio language plurals are signified by “dem” or numbers. So, instead of “Munku” being pluralised to “Munku dem or two Munku” it will be “Munkus” while “Adebayor” will be ‘S’-nized throughout.

Now in my arrogant opinion (those who make “humble” ones are those who might not be quite sure of their standpoints in an argument), if Sierra Leone has been producing Munkus by Omolankay-loads every five years, then Sierra Leone would have been one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Because since Independence to date, it is only the Munkus who have been reconstructing and rehabilitating the roads nationwide. Even in their ‘Munkuness’, the Munkus have the clairvoyance to know that constructing and reconstructing roads nationwide means more economic activities; and more economic activities will lead to national and individual prosperity. Indeed, there should be “collaborative effort” (to quote Emmerson again) in road construction because it shows unity, sense of purpose, and modernity. And if the opposition, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), has been showing “collaborative effort”, then they would not have been now engaged in Micky Mouse business and comic shows.

For someone to refer to himself/herself as a Munku is a show of pride and patriotism. Why is that? Because it is the Munkus who built the Youyi Building; Siaka Stevens Stadium, Miatta Conference Centre; the Bintumani Hotel; the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank; the new Foreign Affairs building at Tower Hill; they constructed the Congo Cross and Aberdeen Bridges, and other landmarks of Sierra Leone. And it is the Munkus who started and completed the Bumbuna hydro. It is the Munkus who have transformed the country from the darkest city in the world to one where “Kabbah Tigers” are now consigned to being artefacts. And it is the Munkus who have shown, and are still showing, signs of progress while the “civilized” citizens are still stuck in retrogression and ‘Badheartism’.

And while the Munkus are progressive in their national thinking; the “civilized” citizens have been bringing Ndorgboryosoi, Hindo-Hindo, Jumbobla and rebel war to Sierra Leone. And since the “civilized” citizens have been showing that they still have the bush in them; the Munkus should be given the chance to show the “civilized” citizens what civilization truly is!

And if the SLPP’s foster child, the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC), and the SLPP itself while in governance were throwing “two bags of cement” (to quote Emmerson for the last time) on the ground in the name of infrastructural development; then Sierra Leone would have been far more advanced than it is today. But since the “civilized” citizens were busy disbanding the national army and engaging in pogroms of various sorts, the people of Sierra Leone scale-of-preferenced the Munkus to be scratching the matches for the next 45 years.

And I think to be an Adebayor is more of a nationalistic compliment, which every proud Sierra Leonean should accept with patriotic pride, than an epithet which should be regarded as an anathema. This is because when an Adebayor theoretically steals, s/he buys lands and invests in his/her own country. Now here is the catch: If most Sierra Leoneans are buying lands and shares in companies in their own country; then we, as natives, will not be complaining today about our lands and houses on Wilkinson Road and Abacha Street being bought by foreigners—which is making us second class citizens even when the clause of “Negroid decent” is still entrenched in our national Constitution.

If most Sierra Leoneans are thinking and behaving like Adebayors, then most of our “Krio bod ose dem” in Freetown would not have been bought by foreigners from neighbouring Guinea. And if all Sierra Leoneans are Adebayors, then youths will not be depending on successive governments for employments because the Adebayors would be running the big companies in the country and providing more jobs for their compatriots. An Adebayor is far better than a “civilized” citizen who stole from the national treasury and invested the loot in Ghana and the Caymans Island.

When synthesized, ‘Munkuism’ and ‘Adabayorism’ may make Sierra Leone one of the envies of Africa. That’s why we should be celebrating the Munkus and Adebayors of Sierra Leone. And if the “sun is [always] hot”, it means the Koroma-led administration’s electrification of the provincial towns and cities through solar panels is successful. Because solar panels need sun rays for them to be powered to generate electricity.
And before I sign out this One Dropian dropping, I want everyone to get it at the front of their minds (well, if you keep it at the back of your mind you might forget it easily), that matches are not given to children, generally, because their parents know the dangers of doing so—especially when they are living in a “Bod Ose” which has “grass matrasses”.

Common sense tells intelligent people that matches should be given to mature persons who know when matches should be scratched. That’s why the people of Sierra Leone have given matches to the Munkus who know when and how to use them than the civilized citizens who have repeatedly shown alarming recklessness with matches. So, the civilized citizens need to grow before they will be given custody of matches!
medsankoh@yahoo.com/+232-76-611-986