PLEASE KEEP VALENTINE’S DAY SALES AWAY FROM OUR SCHOOLS
Today is Valentine’s Day and we want to wish all those celebrating the day all the best. In the midst of economic difficulties, we encourage people to find time to relax to enjoy a moment or two with their friends and loved ones. Many people are completely going off the idea of observing this day because it really means nothing to them. This year, Valentine’s Day celebration is supposed to be a low key affair because it’s also Ash Wednesday, the start of the holiest period of Christian worship.
Be that as it may, we still have a message for some people.
1. There are people who always take advantage of the commercial aspect of Valentine’s Day. They flood the gates of our secondary schools with all sorts of gifts to sell to the children. We urge them not to disrupt normal school activities by opening up glorified market stalls near our schools to sell Valentine’s Day gifts. A school environment is a school environment.
2. Parents have a responsibility to make sure their children observe the day without slipping into some of those unnecessary things that happen on a day like today. We live in Sierra Leone and we know what we are talking about. This is not just the responsibility of teachers in schools. Parents should stand up and help their children.
3. We know that in some cases, teachers are the ones selling the gifts and they make sure that the children buy from them whether they like the gifts or not. We will not spend too much time with the teachers. When we conclude our monitoring we should be able to report back on how things went in the schools we have in our sample frame now. Happy Valentine’s Day!
ATTACK ON REFEREES: SLFA MUST GO BEYOND THEIR BLAND PRESS STATEMENTS
Details are emerging about the circumstances that resulted in a female referee being beaten and chased into her dressing room by spectators at a female league match between FC KALLON and MOGBWEMO Queens at a playing field called Angola, where FC Kallon play their home matches.
In the last 48 hours, the world has been gripped by the image of a female referee running away from an angry, seeking protection from riot police officers who were outnumbered FIVE to ONE but the men trying to inflict pain on the lady for decisions she made on the pitch. Even with the excitement generated by the conclusion of the AfCON tournament in the Ivory Coast, the world is still talking about that disgrace in the outskirts of Freetown.
Press releases are being put into public domain one after the other condemning the incident but only promising a so-called investigation. As far as we know this is another classic case of kicking the issue into the LONG GRASS. We will not let the SLFA get away with this tactic this time.
The SLFA has been presented with a GOLDEN opportunity now to end this stupid habit of attacking match officials because of decisions they make on the field. We have to behave like decent people. We watch European football daily and not once have any supporters behaved like what we can clearly now see in our phones.
We also call on the SLFA to BAN all CLUB OWNERS for occupying the technical area allocated to their clubs. If the SLFA doesn’t know this, we can tell them now that the behavior of those managers on the touch line acts as a stimulus for the overall behavior of their fans. Again, this is the ONLY country where we have seen that kind of nonsense. We have actually seen club owners invading the playing area and causing the suspension of matches.
If THOMAS DADDY BRIMA is not able to get officials to respect the rules of the game, he should RESIGN now.
ARE WAKA FINE DRIVERS GOING TO BED A BIT TOO EARLY?
Like many rational Sierra Leoneans, we know that there are a few challenges around the operations of our WAKA FINE buses. We always expected these issues to come up in the early stages. We believe the authorities have come face to face with the realities, including the fact that those who handled the communication aspect in the period just before the buses went into operation should refund the state whatever amount was paid to them. We have the figures but for now we want to talk about something else. There’s enough time to return to that.
Our observation, as suggested in the sub-heading, is that WAKA FINE buses – those operating in the east of Freetown, go off the streets about ONE HOUR or so earlier than the stipulated time. Is there a reason for that? We have observed this over several days and at this stage we want those in charge of the WAKA FINE fleet to tell us what’s going on.
We are determined not to allow a two-tier system in the running of these buses. Whether they are operating in the Peninsula or Brookfields, they should maintain the same standards.
STOP DEPOSITING BUILDING MATERIALS ON OUR STREETS
This is now a common practice that must stop. Not too long ago we read a press release from the Sierra Leone Roads Authority warning against the habit of people building houses using our roads as stores from sand and stones. It’s not as if they would pour the items on the roads for a few hours and then clear the road again. Sometimes it lasts for weeks, even months and during that period vehicular and pedestrian movement is badly disrupted.
Those who are in this habit know very well that they are infringing on the rights of other Sierra Leoneans but they just don’t care. This is something that must stop immediately. It’s happening in many places so both the smiling Tik Tok Mayor and the SLRA cannot tell us this is news to them. In fact why would SLRA issue a press statement about something they know nothing about?
We are living in a city where some people think they can do anything. This is a country where politicians like the Tik Tok Mayor believe they should first consider politics before the welfare of the good people of Sierra Leone. To issue a press release and not back it up with action is to tell the subjects of your statement to always ignore you because you are not serious about anything.
“INDECENT” DRESS PATTERN AT FBC: AFTER THE PRESS RELEASE
Whichever way we look at this the authorities at Fourah Bay College have set themselves an almost impossible task. In general, they appear to have grown increasingly fed up with the dress patterns of mainly young female students on their campus. A statement put out by the warden’s office essentially announced a ban on certain types of clothing put on by the young women because it leaves nothing to the imagination of onlookers. The statement talks about female students exposing the ‘private parts’ of their bodies.
The point is, whether at Fourah Bay College or in the center of town, dress patterns among young people today have gone a bit too crazy for the comfort of many. Society understands that things have moved on significantly as a result of travel and interaction with other cultures and lifestyles but it would appear as if students on FBC campus have pushed things a bit too far and the authorities now want to take action and remind mostly female students that they should return to their roots and stop exposing their ‘private parts’ for the prying eyes of all.
The warden of students at FBC is under no illusion about the enormity of the task facing him if he tried to take action against students that would dismiss his orders and carry on as usual. A section of the student body is definitely going to oppose the measures against ‘indecent’ dress patterns and before long, the official outrage would subside and the feast would continue.
Maybe, the authorities at FBC should reconsider the old tactic of deploying staff at the bus terminal on campus to send defaulting students home as happened in the past. That tactic failed because it was crude.
We believe that the best way to handle this is to ask all lecturers to encourage their students to look decent in class as a first step. The lecturers are closer to the students than the warden and the truth is they are more likely to respect the lecturers more than the warden. It’s a real shame but that’s the fact.
There should be no immediate urge to produce the desired results. It’s a gradual process to turn things around.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (14/02/24)
