REFLECTION ON THE US ELECTION: What Can Liberians Learn for it?

Mr. Al. Hussein Fadiga

President [Barrack Hussein Obama] in his victory speech told the American People that, “the role of citizens in our democracy does not end with your vote. America's never been about what can be done for us; it's about what can be done by us together, through the hard and frustrating but necessary work of self- government. That's the principle we were founded on.” Part of President Obama’s victory shed some light into everything that is wrong in Liberia even though we blamed everybody else for the impediment of the nation.

Yesterday, November 6, 2012, the Americans reelected an American with a Kenyan heritage as their President. This is a person whose name is unfamiliar to many Americans. It is still unbelievable that a son of an African immigrant with a weird name will become the leader of the greatest nation on earth. Nevertheless, we have witnessed for the second time in our lifetime, history made by an extraordinarily rich country. The Americans did not question his Kenya origin or that because of his heritage he would become less interested in handling the affairs of America or did not go around spreading misinformation about how Obama will sell America to the Kenyans because he is a foreigner. Even if they did, the Americans showed the world last night that they are not interested in political rhetoric.

As I made my way to a couple of polling stations around the Twin Cities yesterday, it saddened me that the future of Liberia is still bleak because of our mentality. Yesterday, I became ashamed of been a Liberian for the first time in my Life. I recognize at that moment, that the reason we remain a third world country after 164 years of existence is deeply rooted in the mentality of the Liberian people. Monitoring the American Election yesterday put the failure in Liberia into perspective and left me with more questions than answers. I stood dumbfounded at the polling station watching Liberians, Somalis, Kenyans and several other nationals graciously walking into an American polling station to elect their president.

When I looked on the faces of white Americans working at the polling stations, all I saw was smiles on their faces and a willingness to serve everyone impartially. Never did I hear anybody question about their origin; at that moment everybody out there was an American. Even though, some of the electorates could not speak English, the entire scene seemed normal. One by one, I watched immigrant cast their votes without fear or intimidation. That was when it became apparent to me that Liberia has a serious problem; a problem that if not challenge now, will continue to lead us down the path of destruction.

The reason President Obama’s victory had a profound impact on me is because; it had me thinking on the future of Liberia. I envisioned a future where our leaders will be chosen based on competency and moral, rather than one surname or tribal affiliation. The Obama story is far from been told in Liberia because of our mindset. We grieve for change and expect a miracle without taking into consideration that miracle comes from the leaders elect. Until we can grow beyond tribalism and unnecessary suspicion of each other, we will never improve. We would rather elect a dog as our leader than a competent candidate only because he has called Musa Bility or Abdul-Basit Oyi, or because his dad was from Nigeria or Egypt. We spend more time on catering to fear of the unknown rather than the personality of individuals we elect. We are skeptical of everyone but yet elect real criminals but expect change. We call our fellow compatriots former Liberians because they sought citizenship of other countries but sell our country to foreign nationals. What do we really want as a nation?

All this led to ask several question; how will we succeed as a country with less than four million people when we are this evil to each other? Did God curse Liberian or Black people? Why are Liberians so hateful towards each other and their country? Why is one of the richest continents in the world home to poorest people on earth? Why is it so difficult for Liberians get along? Why do we always have to politicize issues that are pertinent to our nation growth and development? Why do we have so many angry people in our community? The answer to some of these questions is very crucial to our nation growth and development.