Officers of the BWI Alumni Association in North America, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

When I received a call from Ms. Marie Baar-Davies, one of the organizers of these ceremonies, asking me whether I would be available to speak on this occasion, I told her that I had other important commitments, but I could let go those commitments, in favor of an invitation for speaking to a Liberian group. She then verbally extended the invitation and said the letter would follow shortly. Ms. Baar-Davies expressed extreme gratitude for my decision to readily accept her invitation. But what she did not know was that it was she and her organization that deserved my gratitude and not the other way around. Speaking to people, especially Liberian people, is something I love, almost to the point of obsession. Besides the many speeches that I delivered in Liberia, lectures at workshops, and appearances on radio and television stations in Liberia, I used to deliver street lectures. Those who were in Monrovia from the 1990s to 2002 when I left Liberia will recall seeing me many times at the hatire shop on Carey Street lecturing on human rights, rule of law and governance issues. Because I was so regular in those street discussions, I was named the legal advisor for the forum.

At those street discussions every issue was discussed and every view in the Liberian society found expression. Every political party and every warring faction, every religious or non-religious group was represented. Yet, I do not recall a day when there were insults or fights amongst the discussants. Everyone’s right to speak was respected and we all learned from each other. Our street discussions provided us more education about daily occurrences in Liberia than we could individually obtain from the media or other sources. I was so much in love with the forum that whenever I was not busy in my law office or in court, I was there. It gave me hope that in spite of the heartless brutality of state and non-state militia and repression by the Taylor regime, Liberians had not totally lost their humanity and that they could hold a civilize discourse.

One of the things I miss Liberia for is the hatire shop talk. Therefore, everytime I have an opportunity to talk about Liberia, I feel such a relief. And that relief is even better when the forum is a Liberian one. So, let me thank you Ms. Baar-Davies and the Delaware Chapter of the BWI Alumni Association for inviting me here to speak this evening. In compliance with your request that I speak on educational matters, I have chosen to speak to you on the topic: The relevance of Education to the search for peace and progress in Liberia.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Languish (3rd Ed.) defines education as the knowledge or skill obtained or developed by a learning process. One key element of this definition that should be noted is the absence of geographic condition for education. In other words, the definition does not say where the learning should take place. This definition of education is also silent of methodology. It does not say how the learning process should be conducted. This means that the process of learning can take place anywhere and it can be conducted by anyone who has knowledge of the subject-matter. By this definition, education can take place at the home, on the farm, at work, and in various public and private locations and it can be done by anyone and in any manner that makes the process of learning possible.

Given this definition, it is clear that many of our people in rural Liberia are educated. They are educated farmers, blacksmiths, builders, physicians, potters, weavers, palmwine tappers, politicians etc. Our people in rural Liberia spent time learning these various professions that make the various towns and villages in rural Liberia to function effectively. They went through long periods of apprenticeship to learn all these professions. Any Liberian here tonight, for example who doubts that palmwine tapping is something you cannot do without learning should try doing it the next time he visits his village and he will findout that without learning how to tap palmwine he will be unable to produce even a teaspoon of palmwine.

In order to do anything successfully, one must first go through a process of learning. It is the process of learning that gives knowledge or skill. Political leadership, for example must be learned by long association with political actors, issues and processes. The problem solving skills of politicians, whether it is among rural people or in the cities are gained by long experiences in dealing with politicians, political issues and processes. Without going through some form of learning process in politics, it is easy to be entangled in a political barbwire either as a result of not knowing what to say or do to solve political problems, or when given wrong advice by politicians close to you, or when you are criticized by politicians opposed to you. To do anything successfully, one must first go through a learning process.

In the western tradition the process of learning can be by an informal process of apprenticeship or a formal process of educational programs that requires a systematic method and place of learning, or both. Let’s look at the history of Western education in Liberia. Historically, this process started in Liberia with the establishment of a colony of free blacks from the Americas in the 1820s.Western education was first introduced in Liberia in 1821 by the Baptist Church, according to Sir Harry Johnston in his book titled Liberia, published in 1906. Sunday schools were the first form of western education introduced by the Baptist. The Baptists were followed by the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1830, the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Churches in 1832, and the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1885, followed by the Lutheran Church towards the end of the 1800s. Schools for most part of the 1880s were started by Churches, and not government.

The College of West Africa for example was started by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1839 under the direction of the Rev. Jabez A. Burton as its first principal. Even higher education came to Liberia through the efforts of Christian missionaries and private individuals. Liberia College which is today called University of Liberia began through the efforts of Rev. John Payne of the Protestant Episcopal Church as a place of higher education for Liberians after completing the various high schools. What Rev. Payne really wanted was a School of Theology. He contacted Simon Greenleaf of Boston for this purpose. But Greenleaf and those who worked with him on philanthropic initiatives in Liberia felt the college should be “unsectarian”. Greenleaf and others established a Board of Trustees for the purpose of starting the college and named it the Trustees of Donation for Education in Liberia. They incorporated it in Massachusetts in 1850. Subsequently in 1851 the Legislature of Liberia passed an act incorporating Liberia College. In 1857 ex- President Joseph Jenkins Roberts was appointed principal of the school and in 1862 Liberia College formally opened. The second higher institution of learning established in Liberia was Cuttington College in 1889 by the Protestant Episcopal Mission of Liberia. In 1881 and 1882 the legislature of Liberia passed laws, appropriating public funds for the support of four preparatory schools in the four counties of Liberia at the time to serve as feeders to Liberia College.

At the beginning of the 1900s government’s participation in education was as follows: There were 55 Government schools in “Mesurado County” (Montserrado County), 13 in Grand Bassa, 15 in Sinoe, and 19 in Maryland, with a total of 102 teachers and 3,320 pupils, both males and females. The Booker T. Washington Institute was established in 1929 through the hard work of James L. Sibley, who was sent to Liberia by the Phelps Stokes Fund in 1925 following Phelps Stokes Fund’s educational survey of Africa from 1920-1921. BWI became the first technical training school in Liberia. The Catholic Church of Liberia, which arrived in Liberia later than most established churches, has made tremendous contribution to education in Liberia.

I have traced the evolvement of western education in Liberia to illustrate that western education in Liberia came, largely, through private initiatives rather than government’s. In post conflict Liberia this trend must change. The government of Liberia must play a lead road in the education of the Liberian youth. We are tired with government officials sending their children abroad to the best available schools abroad while the rest of Liberia’s youth are left with no schools or at best substandard schools. The recent case of the Chairman of the transitional government attending the graduation ceremonies of his son in the United States at the time that the University of Liberia is in dying need of funds to keep its doors open is an example of the kind of insensitivity that some past Liberian leaders have displayed. Yet Mr. Bryant told us in his inaugural speech on October 14, 2003 that the business of governance in Liberia under his administration would not be like the ugly past, it would not what he called “business as usual”. If his last trip to the US is not “business as usual”, then I don’t know what “business as usual” is. Such arrogant display of don’t care attitude towards the Liberian people must be a behavior of the past.

We must elect leaders who, by their past behaviors, we are convinced, will be committed to the education of Liberian children. The level of illiteracy in Liberia will remain a threat to peace and national progress if effective strategies are not adapted to fast track a reversal of the current trend of high illiteracy rate. Today some Liberians are saying that one does not need to be educated to be a president of Liberia. Some have even said that educated people have failed Liberia. This is wrong. Which educated people led Liberia and failed us? Are they referring to Doe, Taylor or Tolbert? But assuming that they are saying is true, let me ask these anti- education crusaders a question. Will a coach of a basketball team replace his known players with swimmers, for example, in his next game and expect his team to win? If any country in the world today needs an educated person to be president it is Liberia. Given the failure of the Liberian state under the administrations of Doe and Taylor, the challenges of reconstruction and state-building are much too complicated for anyone who does not have the required education to understand. But the current anti-education crusade is the result of the level of ignorance produced by the immediate past administrations of Doe and Taylor. Doe and his colleagues of the People’s Redemption Council (PRC) for example, were quick in 1980 to say it was M-16 and not PhD that give them power and Taylor, when referring to his opponents often asked the question “Where were they when Doe was oppressing the Liberian people?” and “Where were they when the great patriotic war was being fought?” Taylor even referred to his political opponents as cowards and cockroaches.
Let me sound out a warning this evening as I did before the 1997 elections, when I cautioned the Liberian people against electing a warlord. If we make the mistake of electing a person who does not have the required education and experience to deal with the problems that Liberia has today, Liberia will become more backward than it is today.

This election must be about finding a good team leader for solving the difficult problems that our country faces today, and not about mere popularity, kind heartedness or wealth of a candidate. An administration that will make government schools the best, in Liberia, and compatible with the best the world today can offer is what Liberia needs. It can be done because it has been done before in Liberia. Although we are often very critical of Liberia’s past administrations, we have to be honest to say that at some point in the past there were good public schools and their products were excellent. For example, Amos Sawyer, one of Liberia’s respected scholars graduated from Cape Palmas High School in Maryland Liberia. His wife Thelma also graduated from Tubman High School. J. Reilly Gonpa the once popular Liberian newscaster of the ELWA Radio Station graduated from Sanniquellie Central High School. In recognizing Gonpa’s brilliant presentation as a newscaster, President Tolbert once said that if Gonpa from Sanniquellie Central High School could perform so well there was no need to send Liberian children to school abroad. Our public schools in Liberia can be amongst the world’s best again. But we must choose that leader that will make public education a priority. The decision is in our hands as we move towards general and presidential elections in Liberia. We must not look for a neutral person in the past politics of our country to be our next leader. Neutrality in the affairs of one’s country, in midst of enormous human rights violations and human suffering is a clear demonstration either of a lack of interest, cowardliness, selfishness or conspiracy with the governing authority. This is not a mark of good leadership. A leader must be a person who has principles that he defend with his life.

The present leader of Liberia was described by the current Executive Secretary of ECOWAS as a “neutral businessman who had no contentious view” on the Liberian conflict. Given the performance of this neutral man we must not make another mistake of finding a neutral person to be our next leader. We should remember that of all our transitional leaders those who did anything worthy were those who were clearly politically connected and had actively participated in politics. They were Amos Sawyer, who introduced press freedom, openness in government, and respect for separation of powers and Ruth Sando Perry who was successful in achieving substantial level of disarmament before elections. Perhaps for the first time in Liberia, under the interim administration of Amos Sawyer a judgment involving the interest of the Executive Mansion went against the government (Peter Bonnoh Jallah versus Republic of Liberia, often referred to as the Octopus opinion) and a nominee for the post of minister of Finance, a very close friend of the president and member of his in-house cabinet was rejected by the legislature without any political repercussion. Amos Sawyer was a founding chairman of the Liberian Peoples Party and Ruth Sando Perry was a Senator elected on the ticket of the Unity Party. Only politicians know how well to run a political office. Our choice of the next president of Liberia must be a person who can introduce and effectively implement good policies that will make Liberia peaceful, secured and prosperous. We must not vote for even our own brothers and sisters if we know that they are not qualified to lead our country. Borrowing from President Arthur Watson of the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas who often says “ULAA deserves better”, I say “Liberia deserves better”.

Before I take my seat let me thank the BWI Alumni Association for its great contribution to education in Liberia during this period of great national need. This organization has been exemplary in the way it has helped in reviving its alma mater, BWI. All over Liberia it is well known that BWI Alumni Association, particularly its branch here in the United States, played a vital role in the re-opening of the school and continues to contribute to its sustenance. I call on everyone here this evening to strengthen this nationalistic effort of the BWI Alumni association by making generous donations tonight.
I thank you.

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A Speech delivered by Tiawan S. Gongloe as guest speaker at the Installation of the Officers of the Delaware Valley Chapter of The Booker T Washington National Alumni Association of North America Held at IIona Keller Dugan’s Restaurant, Roosevelt Boulevard Northeast Philadelphia, PA on Saturday, May 28, 2005.