By Ezekiel Nabieu
Woe to the Lawyers
While I am not attempting to ride a hobby to death I wish to nevertheless add my reaction to the display of sycophancy by some members of an erstwhile respectable profession. It leaves me wondering whether the bad eggs in the law profession have now extended their immoral behaviour outside the precincts of the courts? Where are all the ethics they learnt at Law School? In their sentimental attack on SLAJ they would have realised by now that they stirred up a hornet’s nest. How they would now wish they were not overtaken by naïve emotions.
In his ministry Jesus Christ had just pronounced woe on the Pharisees for neglecting justice and the love of God. One of the lawyers answered him: “Teacher in saying this you reproach us also". And he said “woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you for you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed”. The fools make the lawyers rich. They are elated by the proceeds they get from cheating fools. They are reprobated to a certain doom so why should SLAJ be flustered about such a breed of humans? SLAJ should just go about their normal business and forget about them.
English Vs Science
Citizens have been nonplussed over the drop in educational standards. We may either carry out some scientific investigation or report to “ariogbo” to find a solution once and for all. In this regard almost all subjects put themselves forward as most important. When all is said however, it will be found out that English and the sciences stand out prominently on the promontory as the most compelling. Other subjects are ancillary. English must have been one of the core subjects that helped Sierra Leone to earn the sobriquet of Athens of West Africa. The sciences were not prominent then. It was the humanities that counted in those days with Politics, Philosophy and Economics being regarded as the modern greats then. Fast forward, science has moved to displace those subjects. In our bid to restore former standards we cannot discount the importance of great philosophers and economists etc whose ideas help to create the governance infrastructure within which the scientists operate. Their importance is underscored by their achievements as Nobel Laureates too.
The Queen's English
Good English is plain, easy and smooth. It is sacrosanct. Why is it singled out? Among the hundreds of thousands of languages it is the most international. It therefore follows that one who is proficient in it can go world-wide without much communications problems.
In spite of excellence in other fields of knowledge one’s level of education is usually measured by one’s standard of English. Which is why it is contemning and disgusting to learn that some university graduates in the humanities are strange bedfellows with English grammar. How did they earn their so-called degrees?
The importance of the then King’s English was underscored by Cambridge University when they refused to award a School Certificate to any candidate in spite of distinctions in all other subjects. That was a different stance from London University that cheapened educational requirements by awarding certificates for passes in each subject. Contrary to the claims of London University the real general education was in fact gained by the holder of the Cambridge school certificate who was required to pass not only in English but also in a science subject or mathematics for the award of a certificate.
To contend with this problem of low standards in English head on, the Vice-Chancellor of Njala University has come up with a brilliant expedient of introducing a two-year remedial course in English for students of all faculties. He has just put his finger on it. One would wish that this initiative would be replicated by all other universities especially for the fact that Njala University was established as a Land Grant institution for sciences sponsored by Illinois University in the United States.
The sciences
There is an unstoppable march of science. Alfred Tennyson said in the 19th century “Science moves, but slowly, slowly, creeping on from point to point”. If he were to rise from the dead in this day and age he would not only witness the verity of his prediction but he would also be scandalised beyond measure.
Dr Thomas B.R. Yormah (Associate Professor) Department of Chemistry, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone recently went into overdrive in his attempt to stress the importance of science.
He said, among other things, that “the wealthy, powerful and influential folks of this globe are the ones that have put a high premium on science and innovation, while those of us who are still paying lip service to these critical vehicles of development shall remain poor, weak and without influence and shall continue to carry the begging bowl”.
My advice is that English and science should be pursued in tandem and remedial English courses should be introduced in all Universities.
MY SIERRA LEONE: FAKE?
We are in an award world. Awards are given even at home, at school and at work. AWOL has lately been the main national awarders. In this country which has an "award" for being the most corrupt country in the world it cannot be a surprise that awards are made not meritoriously but corruptly.
One such corrupt set-up is the offer made by a shadowy organisation known as My SIERRA LEONE which exhibited traits of corrupt practices from the word GO. Applications were invited for participants in an essay competition with an ostensible closing date of 20th November. Curiously though twenty days after the closing date the advertisement is still being made in the print media without so much as an explanation about the extension of the closing date. Is that the way genuine business is run?
The requirement that those filling forms for winners should take them by hand to their office instead of posting them or using SMS, is suspect. It limits participants to the area around Jomo Kenyetta Road. Oh Sierra Leone! They should know that other essays will be published and evaluated vis-à-vis their so-called winning essay so that game plan will be exposed for all to see.
What I suspect is that there is an inside job whereby one of the insiders will be pronounced by the organisers as the winner so at the end of the day no Le 4 million will be spent. Smart guys! They will be exposed, if they are murky as I suspect they are.
Breaking News
Citizens are hereby informed that there has recently been an artificially induced climate change in the country. Those in the North and Western Area have been receiving showers of blessing while their compatriots in the Southern and Eastern Provinces have been experiencing showers of injustice. The latter citizens cannot help but accept the status quo until the weather changes again, they hope.
(C) Politico 17/12/13
