By Isaac Massaquoi
Just think about this: "There are 15 million young people" roaming the streets of the four Mano River Union countries with no jobs and no skills to compete for one".
I have just quoted the Secretary General of the MRU, the Guinean politician Sarran Kabbah. She made this statement at a recent conference organised by the University of Sierra Leone to discuss innovative ways of funding the institution in the light of the decision by the Government of Sierra Leone to change its pattern of funding university education. So Dr. Kabba's statement was made in the context of what role Universities in the MRU can play to provide training in the skills necessary to make these 15 million people employable within the MRU and abroad.
Now, also consider the fact that three of these countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast - have been through bloody civil wars that have scarred them forever, and that despite lofty UN statements about "post-war reconstruction and peace consolidation efforts", the stability in the MRU is still "fragile", to use another UN lingo. At the moment, Guinea, the MRU country that hasn't witnessed a full scale war, is facing serious challenges that could tip it over the edge before long. I pray it doesn't happen because ordinary people in that country will suffer and Sierra Leone could be destabilised.
Guinea will emerge from the claws of the Ebola virus, badly shaken, its economy, which has been in decline since the period just before Lansana Conte's death, will be badly hit by all these border closures around it and the fact that it will take a pretty long time before business confidence is restored. I have also to add that if President Alpha Conde refuses to play a constructive role in fixing the politics, speculation about security and political tolerance may just continue to affect economic growth.
Of course Ivory Coast is not totally out of the woods yet because of insecurity on their western border with Liberia, tensions caused by the trial of Laurent Gbagbo and his people for war crimes in The Hague and all the questions around the health of President Alhassan Ouattara. But they have the strongest economy in the MRU and are more likely to be able to take reasonably good care of its share of those 15 million unemployed and unskilled young people. But what about Sierra Leone?
In that same speech, Dr. Kabbah mentioned the fact that many young people in the MRU have recently travelled to other countries, gained "new experiences" and, aided by technology, "they compare their situation to those in other countries...it's not possible to hold them down. They want a better life and that is their right", she said. Interesting stuff! The point is, the leaders of these four countries have to address the problem of the people of the MRU. And time is running out.
The MRU Secretary General has a solid background in civil society activism, she has served as a government minister and tried her hand in becoming president of Guinea. So this is surely a woman whose fingers are on the pulse of West Africa. But stating the problems like she did, is usually the easiest part of things and even though she spoke about some interesting MRU proposals to deal with the challenges facing the people of the sub-region, including spending US$ 200,000 on all sorts of studies to identify the development potentials of the MRU, the important and immediate issue for many is what to do with the 15 million unskilled and unemployed young people who are moving in and out of the four countries looking for a way to feed themselves and their families.
Here's another point: Sarran Kabba mentioned the flow of marijuana into Guinea from across the border in Sierra Leone. In other words, Sierra Leoneans are busy selling drugs to Guineans. A quiet murmur of disapproval swept across Miatta Conference hall at this statement. The University staff didn't want to embarrass their guest who had been loudly applauded up to that point, by shouting her down. But they appeared to be telling her that her statement wasn't true. She realised that and came back forcefully to tell her audience she was standing on solid ground with that statement.
Whether she was right or not, I know that we have a serious issue with marijuana in this country. And I am not talking about those young people smoking a few freely on the streets, I am talking about large parts of the Freetown Peninsular, the immediate area beyond and in Kambia district where some of our own share of the 15 million unskilled and unemployed people have taken to growing marijuana on a large scale with the sole intention of feeding the local and international market. Just two weeks ago, police arrested a huge quantity of marijuana nicely packed, bound for the lucrative Guinea market.
Many Sierra Leoneans, especially those in political authority, know that we are slowly building our own Medellin Cartel based on marijuana in the areas I have mentioned but they prefer to pretend it's not happening or it will soon go away. I have it on good authority that the transnational crime agency at Murray Town is actively trying to deal with the issues. But they have serious limitations.
The national anti-drug agency is there only in name. They don't have the quality and quantity of staff, equipment and money they need to do the job. It's as simple as that. I think Sierra Leone has to be very serious about fighting this menace otherwise when the local version of Pablo Escobar emerges, his influence will quickly spread through our politics, education, judiciary and even sport.
The MRU Secretary General, in that speech challenged the University to do something to help tackle the problems facing this basin. I dare say it starts with the MRU itself coming out of its isolation at Delco House. Our people need to know a bit more about the organisation to help them appreciate its raison d'être. Otherwise, many people will continue to believe it's a grand old talk shop where our leaders meet from time to time to issue communiqués that are not worth the papers they are written on.
(C) Politico 10/04/14
