By Henrique Caine
Now let me add my two cents to all this Congua-Country asstray, and yes I say asstray because this divisive pattern in LIB today has become consistent in every election of late. Since I was born well before the 1980 Coup, like many, I have a full understanding and recollection of the Liberia of yesteryears. I can say with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY, that LIB of yesteryears is not the LIB of today and will never be again, nor should it necessarily be so. Not after all this Country has gone through.
The perpetrators of that continuing Country-Congau divide go full throttle in galvanizing young people to push their rhetoric, when they have ran out of ideas. All of this after a revolutionary coup, 14 years of intermittent civil wars, over 250k lives lost, massive internal and external displacement of a citizenry and a complete breakdown of a society; that it took major efforts by an international community of nations to help commence rebuilding. So what the hell, just for kicks, here are a few reasons I say it’s all a bunch of complete good for nothing asstray:
1) When we gather as friends and neighbors to talk about the happenings of daily life in LIB, or bitch about how hard the country is, we talk about it with no division of Country-Congau;
2) When we go to our local restaurants, beaches, entertainment centers to eat and jolly jolly, we dance and sing to the same afrobeat, hipco, hiplife or LIB music, and nobody is there tripping on Country-Congau;
3) When we enter the various Ministries and Agencies of Government and complain about the level of dysfunction in the service delivery in say getting a passport, marriage or drivers license, business registration, or birth certificate, we are so united in our disappointments and nothing about Country-Congau;
4) When students line up at the various universities struggling to get their billing and clearances to move to the next level and line up at banks hoping to make their payments, no student even thinks about divisive Country-Congau;
5) As we watched the recent recruitment of soldiers into the AFL a few months ago, and men and women lined up the streets around the Barracks for miles trying to enter the military, and take fitness and aptitude tests, not a concern about Country-Congua, just people trying to help each other get in.
6) When we line up outside the gates of the US Embassy waiting for appointments for visa or in the case of some of us dual nationals, consular services, no one says a damn thing about Country-Congau, because we all know that asstray doesn’t matter one lick to Uncle Sam and those foreign folks behind the counters;
7) When we register our kids in the various schools (including the elite prep schools for those who can afford it including parents from all tribes and counties), parents just want to educate their kids, and not one of them goes to the PTA meetings about Country-Congau;
When community residents hold meetings to discuss LEC and how to fight for a damn transformer or get meters for their communities, or get together and visit LEC management for an intervention to get them a transformer, not a soul thinks Country-Congau;9) When various labor groups and union organizations, including the recent protest by Government workers for increased pay and fair wages go on strike, I don’t hear a single soul mention Country-Congau;
10) When Liberians gather at SKD or ATS stadiums for Lonestar games or County Meet Tournaments, I see people claiming tribal and county ties to all counties and cheering their county REGARDLESS of LAST NAMES! Again, no divisive country-congau talk;
11) When youngsters go from store to store, office to office, NGO to NGO, or Ministry to Ministry desperately looking for work with Diplomas and CVs in hand, they do so hoping that experience, education and merit rules the day, and again, not thinking Country-Congau;
12) When tragedy hits a community, as was the case of the fire that destroyed my neighbor’s house just a few months ago, we all woke up at 3am to help put out that raging fire, as is often the case in many communities hit with tragedy, and no one is doing it as a Country or Congau;
13) When you’re like me and probably hangs out and party hard with beauty queens from just about every County, you better damn well believe, ain’t NOBODY thinking Country-Congau! That’s for sure!!!!
I can go on and on but let me stop here. These failed politicians, failed online prognosticators and failed manipulative agitators, including many from the past will always gravitate to that old worn out Congau-Country narrative when they have NOTHING else to offer up the Liberian people. The Country will continue to move forward with or without them. We know them all too well and will reject them every time in this new dispensation.
Asstray!
