By Winston W. Parley
President George Manneh Weah has called on Liberians from diverse ethnic groups, religious beliefs and regions to continue to co-exist peacefully in accordance with the country’s Constitution in a speech delivered Friday to mark the launch of the West African state’s year-long National Bicentennial activities.
“As Liberians from diverse ethnic groups, religious beliefs and regions, we must continue to co-exist peacefully as one united Liberian Nation in accordance with our Constitution. We, as Liberians, can only promote National Unity and Reconciliation by living together in peace and harmony,” President Weah said on 7 January 2022 on the historic Providence during the program.
Liberia’s National Bicentennial Steering Committee is holding a yearlong event in honor of Africa’s first republic which was founded when a group of freed black slaves from the United States of America arrived on the Providence Island that lies between Central Monrovia and Bushrod Island on 7 January 1822 after a difficult and hazardous journey across the Atlantic Ocean.
In rallying Liberians for national reconciliation, President Weah suggested that citizens can also promote national unity and reconciliation through exercising tolerance by accepting each other’s way of life.
He said in a country such as Liberia, there are so many people with different cultures and traditions, which influence their ideologies about life and about how to approach things.
President Weah, therefore, urged that Liberians accept and accord every person the respect he or she deserves in matters relating to differences in ideologies and understanding.
“Another major tool in promoting National Unity and Reconciliation is patriotism. This indeed is the bedrock of our national foundation, because when there is love for one’s nation, such love will engender a spirit of brotherhood, sisterhood and fraternity among us as citizens of Liberia, our common country,” he added.
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He pleaded with the citizenry to vigorously denounce and combat acts, writings and utterances which are intended to promote any kind of discrimination, intolerance, or lack of justice, all of which he said are counter-productive to the achievement of national unity and reconciliation.
In fostering genuine national unity and reconciliation, President Weah noted that Liberians must let go of the past, embrace the present within the context of their diversities, and give birth to the future with unity, peace, reconciliation and sustainable development as their imperative agenda.
“In this public manner, and in a spirit of National Unity, I do hereby invite the leadership of all Political Parties and other National Leaders, to the Official Opening Ceremony of the 2022 National Bicentennial Commemoration, to be held on February 14, 2022, as we memorialize in peace, unity, forgiveness and reconciliation,” President Weah declared.
He indicated that the launch of the Bicentennial was an important day in Liberia’s history because Liberians had gathered to commemorate what occurred here two hundred years ago.
He explained that on 7 January 1822, a group of free Black Americans from the United States arrived on Providence Island, after a difficult and hazardous journey across the Atlantic Ocean.
According to President Weah, their joy was great after surviving that perilous passage, which they attributed to God’s Divine providence, and so they named the island Providence Island.
He continued that they had returned to the land of their ancestors following four centuries of enslavement and bondage.
“Forever yearning to live as a free people, they had now returned to the Africa of their roots. Twenty-five years later, on July 26, 1847, these settlers (as they came to be known) established the Republic of Liberia as the first independent Republic on the African continent,” President Weah narrated.
As he recall the momentous day, he noted that Liberians must also remember the indigenous population which was already here in 1822 and centuries before, comprising the seventeen ethnic groups of Liberia, as well as others who came afterward, such as the Congoes, and the Barbadians.
Today, he said, as descendants of these diverse groups of people, “we are all citizens of Liberia, with a common national identity.”
He noted that the commemoration must therefore bring Liberians closer together, and strengthen their national unity, even as they recognize and celebrate their diversity.
“As President and Chief Executive of our sweet land of liberty, Liberia, I want to call on ALL LIBERIANS to champion the cause of national unity and to reconcile our differences for Liberia’s growth and development,” said President Weah.
Meanwhile, in a US State Department statement issued on Friday, January 7, on the Bicentennial of the arrival of the first free black Americans to Providence Island, Liberia, the US said:
“Two hundred years ago today, a group of free Black men, women, and children from the United States established a settlement on Providence Island in what would become the city of Monrovia and, in 1847, the Republic of Liberia. Today, the United States joins the Republic of Liberia in commemorating this bicentennial. As two of the oldest continuous republics in the world, the United States and Liberia share a unique history paired with common democratic values. We recognize our common roots and the historical significance of the arrival of these free Black Americans in 1822.
Over the course of the 19th century, roughly 16,000 Black Americans immigrated from the United States to Liberia with the support of the American Colonization Society, joining thousands of resettled Africans rescued and freed from the slave trade by the U.S. Navy. We acknowledge the racist nature of the American Colonization Society and that slavery continued in parts of America for more than 40 years after the arrival of the first Black Americans to Liberia. Racism and oppression motivated many freed Black Americans to look for freedom and equality overseas. That struggle for equality continues to this day.
Africa’s oldest republic, Liberia is a stable democracy in West Africa and an important partner of the United States. In commemorating the bicentennial of the arrival of American settlers, we also recognize the ethnic and cultural diversity of Liberia’s indigenous population, one that long predates the arrival of American immigrants, and celebrate the contributions of all Liberians in making the country what it is today.”https://thenewdawnliberia.com/liberia-kicks-off-bicentennial/
