Saluting our neglected youths for sacrificing their lives

“We know that a nation can only rise with its youths,” said President Ernest Bai Koroma, while launching the Status of Youth Report on International Youth Day. Indeed Sierra Leonean youths are supposed to be the life cable for the country’s development; unfortunately, they have been neglected and refused by those who praise-sing them while in need of political power. Our youths in action to contain the spread of the Ebola virus

It is no secret that during the civil war, about 80% of the youths joined the Revolutionary United Front/Armed Forces Revolutionary Council rebellion and steadily participated in the heinous activities of the rebels. Some of these youths were forcefully conscripted and in most cases injected with narcotic drugs in order to carry out instructions of all violent forms against innocent civilians, thereby unleashing terror.

That situation greatly affected all development programs advanced by successive governments. Youths became potential perpetrators and victims of the horrific brutality and violence that occurred in the last decade of the last century.

Today, the youths who were/are described by many people as armed robbers/pick-pocketers, drug addicts, gangsters and lawless Sierra Leoneans are today on the frontline sacrificing their precious lives to eradicate the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). The youths were/are everywhere, ranging from Community Sensitization, Burial and Tracing Teams, Holding and Treatment Centers among others. The activities of the youth needed to be applauded and glorified by all and sundry. Our youth who were neglected should be celebrated and hailed.

Still Battling with Those Social Vices

In spite of these glorious sacrifices to contain the dreaded Ebola Virus in the country, drug abuse, trafficking and use of narcotics, sexual violence, prostitution and other gangster related activities are common in the daily lives of the majority of our youths. Indeed the civil war eventually led to a total collapse of all structures for crime prevention and control.

Inherently, the prevalence of drugs and their abuse by youth cannot be over emphasized. Based on the severity of this national problem, the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) created the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) headed by Chief Superintendent of Police, Mustapha Briama Lappia, to deal with issues of drugs, trafficking, and other crimes leading to instability.

Despite this move, the prevalence of drugs in the country is incontestable. The outrageous presence of ‘ghettos’ and other drug cartels around the city including public venues lend credence to this scenario. This and other reasons indisputably suggest the urgent need to put in place firm structures to effectively and robustly address drug abuse.

The AWOL Legal Practitioner of the Year 2013 and also Executive Director of Society for Democratic Initiatives (SDI), Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai, said the rise in drug trafficking, including an increase in local drug production and consuJHmption, is fast becoming a mighty adversary to overcome in the pursuit of peace, stability and security in a peace consolidating nation like Sierra Leone.

A member of the current Constitutional Review Committee and Senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science, Fourah Bay College, Dr. Habib Sesay said: “Lack of employment opportunities or reliable income put youths in precarious positions where they may be vulnerable to involve in the drug-trade and drug use itself.”

Sierra Leone’s President once vowed to “nurture an empowered youth population that can lead to a change in the destiny of our country”. Has the President worked genuinely towards that direction or was it a political gimmick for his re-election bid?

The youths were and are still suffering. To add insult to injury, some were redundant and those who graduated over four years are jobless and wandering around like a bull dog without an owner.

Before the outbreak of the dreaded Ebola virus, about 60 percent of young women and men between the ages of 15 to 35 were and are still unemployed. This represents among the highest in West Africa.

According to 2013 Status of Youth Report, “Sierra Leone has among the fastest growing numbers of young workers living on less than US$ one per day. About 80 percent of the country’s youth population is unable to earn enough to lift themselves and their families above the US$2 per day poverty level.

Less than 50 percent of young workers in Sierra Leone receive payment for their labor, compared with two thirds of adults. In addition, most private companies pay between US$30 to 37 per month as a basic salary, reaching US$58 to 70 at the top supervisory levels.”

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s major reason for the brutal civil war was youth marginalization, hence recommended an annual “Status of The Youth Report” to tackle the issue. Is this practically visible?

What More For The Youth After The Ebola War?

Many people are asking: Are the neglected youths going to be glorified and hailed as our hero and heroine after the Ebola war? The optimists will answer in the affirmative. This is because the youth dominates the health sector and are working ‘tooth and nail’ to contain the dreadful virus.

As the country clocks 21 and more days without recording a new Ebola case, the Voiceless Sierra Leoneans is thanking the sacrificial efforts of our youths and at the same time calling on the ruling Government and development partners to provide capacity training i.e send them to vocational training institutes, provide scholarships for those who left schools for lack of financial support and provide monthly Risk Allowance Benefit that is synonymous with the monthly Pension provided by NASSIT for retired workers. This will help address the post Ebola trauma and stigma.

As we pray for the immediate eradication of the Ebola Virus in the hard hit countries, many people are expectantly waiting to see the sustainable action oriented plans for the Sierra Leonean youths. This is the Pen of the Voiceless Sierra Leoneans.

Pen of The Voiceless, With Elkass Sannoh

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