Dual Citizenship is an Opportunity to Serve the Nation

The widely criticized dual citizenship Bill continues to arouse the interest of some public officials, politicians and Liberian in and around the county.

A Grand Gedeh county Senator – one of such Liberians who do support anti-dual citizenship sentiments in the country, has emphasized the need for the Liberian Government to give Liberians in the Diaspora the opportunity to return home and work for their country.

“There are other Liberians in the Diaspora, and the reason that they are not in the country is because the opportunities are not here; if the opportunities are available and you put them on the internet, you are going to have dozens of them applying,” claimed Senator Alphonso Gaye of Grand Gedeh County.

According to Senator Gaye, Diaspora Liberians possess the requisite qualifications and capacities to perform tasks assigned them. He made remarks Tuesday when the Senate’s Committee on Lands, Mines, Energy and Judiciary, Claims, Petition and Human Rights presented a report on the 2015 Electricity Law of Liberia at the Capitol Building.

The Grand Gedeh County Senator frowned at those who always think that Liberia, as a nation, lacks the capacity, as well as the labor force to perform certain duties, indicating that there were Liberians both at home and abroad who have – over the years – dedicated their times to acquiring knowledge and skills, and as such, they must be given the chance to come home to work for their country.

He expressed the belief that when proper information, especially for job vacancies, is publicized on the internet and other international media outlets, there will be Liberians who will sign up for them, re-emphasizing that when the proper information is provided, there would be a long list of qualified Liberians that the nation might not be able to employ.

Senator Alphonso Gaye’s position is against the backdrop of the threat issued by his colleague of Maryland County and Chairman on Foreign Affairs, H. Dahn Morias, that the Liberian Senate will oppose the dual citizenship bill.

Senator Morias spoke with reporters outside the Auditorium of the University of Liberia or UL after attending a “town hall meeting” aimed at creating awareness for citizens on why Diaspora Liberians were opting for the passage of the dual citizenship bill into law.

The Maryland County Senator described the bill as selfish – only to seek the interest of Liberians who denounced their citizenship during the heat of the decade-long civil conflicts in Liberia, with the belief that the country would never have resurfaced to normality.

He, however, wondered why such “unpatriotic” people would be fighting for dual citizenship, instead of appreciating the United States and other western nations for the level of education acquired so far, when they have nothing to offer Liberians.

In her state of the Nation Address on Monday, January 26, 2015, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf promised that she would be introducing a dual citizenship proposal to the Legislature to help Liberians residing in other parts of the world to become more active in the development drive of the country. The bill has already been submitted to the Legislature.

By Ben P. Wesee – Edited George Barpeen