50th Anniversary Chairman Throws National Challenge
Chairman of Sierra Leone’s 50th Independence Anniversary National Planning Committee has challenged the general public to know the national anthem and the national pledge by heart, as part of the committee’s drive to revive national pride and patriotism in all Sierra Leoneans during the Golden Jubilee celebrations.
“In our effort to revive pride and patriotism during the anniversary year and beyond, I want to challenge every Sierra Leonean to make it a national responsibility to know all three stanzas of our national anthem and the national pledge by heart, and to be able to be guided by their lyrics in our daily lives,” said Dr. William Konteh, who was speaking at a national press conference held at the Ministry of Information & Communication conference room on Wednesday.
In addition, he said Sierra Leoneans should also know, understand and respect national symbols such as the green, white and blue flag and the coat of arms.
Dr. Konteh called on the general public to join hands and contribute positively towards the country’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.
“This is an important national celebration, and we want the involvement of every Sierra Leonean one way or the other. Irrespective of tribe, religion or political affiliation, we must join hands and ensure we have a successful and memorable celebration. This is the time to show we love our country and we put her interest above everything else,” said Dr. Konteh.
He said the Golden Jubilee is a great opportunity to reposition Sierra Leone to the rest of the world.
“As a committee, and as a nation, we must take advantage of this golden year to ensure we turn the international spotlight on Sierra Leone for the right reasons. We want to change the image of war, underdevelopment and poverty. We want to replace that with a new face of peace and development; a new face of investment opportunities and touristic potentials. A new face of a people and a nation united and determined to move forward,” said Dr. Konteh.
Furthermore, Dr. Konteh said the various activities lined up for the celebrations are all designed to achieve four things namely, revive national pride and patriotism, rebrand and showcase Sierra Leone, promote peace and stability and leave a lasting legacy to the memory of the golden jubilee.
However, it is only less than 90 days to April 27th and there is growing concern that time is not on the side of the committee to fulfill its objectives. But Dr. Konteh said the celebration is not just for April but throughout the year. He said there would even be some legacy projects that would go beyond 2011.
Responding to questions surrounding the $25m budget debate, Dr. Konteh said he’s personally happy that Sierra Leoneans are showing keen interest in the activities of the national planning committee. He said the budget seems to have sent the wrong signals to the public regarding the whole celebration. He said the budget was put together in May last year following the formation of the committee. He said now things have changed since government has allocated budgets to line ministries and district councils to cover programmes which could have been implemented by the committee.
For example, Dr. Konteh mentioned legacy projects such as the rehabilitation of the Lungi International Airport which is the first and last impression of our country. There are also, he said, legacy projects to be implemented in every District across the country.
“All these projects would be deducted from the $25m budget by way of cost and at the end of the day we would not be talking about $25m,” said Dr. Konteh.
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