By KABS KANU :
“We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22
In the world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33)
Life is never smooth-sailing. Life will lose its meaning if it is joy, joy , joy every day and every night. We, humans, have to go through the furnace of life throughout our stay here. But one assurance we have is this : Whatever tribulations come our way in this life, once we do not throw our hands up and surrender, but continue fighting doggedly , victory will surly be ours’. After all, it is the Master himself who promises : “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).
This is the story of Sierra Leone and its sagacious and indomitable people, including the man at the helm, President Ernest Bai Koroma. Ebola came like a thief in the night, while we were busy developing our nation–surprisingly, suddenly and unexpectedly. However, the resilient people we are, we never gave up.the fight. The doomsayers, the negativists and the pessimists have had their say. There was nothing that they did not say.There was no blame they did not heap on the heads of President Koroma and the government.
But some of us will continue saying this at the risk of continued verbal abuse, intimidation and threats from the pessimists and detractors of the government. We have a President who is focused, determined, dedicated, resilient and who seemingly operates with the dictum , NEVER SAY DIE, UNTIL THE BONES ARE ROTTEN. He remained undaunted and set his mind on victory.
When a man wants to succeed in this life the first thing he does is to turn his face strongly against his detractors, especially those who want to trip him down. This was what our President did. He realized that God has given him Sierra Leone to govern and develop,and crying uncle would not help the dire straits the country found itself . He realized that the buck stops with him and thus with a never-say-die spirit , characteristic of him, he has been working doggedly and relentlessly, often missing sleep, which could be seen in his features the next day : His goal : WIN THE WAR AGAINST EBOLA.
Not only did he go to war with Ebola itself, he waged war on everything else, like mobilizing international help and support ,ensuring that the holding and treatment centres were built and operative , engaging the people, including the paramount chiefs, tribal authorities , traditional leaders, secret society men and women ,everybody in a sensitization blitz to break the chain of transmission in the country.
President Koroma visited all the key districts to talk to the people and sensitize them, twice in as many months. He also launched OPERATION WESTERN AREA SURGE and made sure that it was enforced to nip what had looked like an unending spread of the virus in the region.
President Koroma, simultaneously ,engaged international stakeholders . He made sure that he energized the international community, who were at first sluggish with their involvement and help. The international community, realizing the seriousness of the President, stepped up the plate. Government officials and MPs were not left out and were launched into the field. The President also turned to God for help and declared seven days of fasting and prayer. Thanks to them all for their efforts.
Soon, Ebola was under a sustained and tremendous siege.
The result is that today Sierra Leone has started seeing the light at the tunnel of the Ebola fight. The number has been going down dramatically over the past weeks and today, from triple figures only two months ago, the number was in single digits. There were only 6 new cases reported today.This is a great achievement worthy of attention. At this rate, ebola will soon be a thing of the past in Sierra Leone.
Thank God for President Koroma, government and the people of Sierra Leone and the international community. Victory is on the way and may the name of the Lord be praised. God is the enabler and the architect of the victory about to be proclaimed over Ebola. May we continue to see more reduced numbers until ebola is totally expunged from Sierra Leone.
