Critique of Oswald Hanciles articles on Pa Kabbah expotimesonline.net/index.php… BITING THE BULLET: Written by MBATILUI- Friday, 02 May 2014 09:53 Calling things by their right or proper names: Killing truth for self-interest or political mileage - “Those who destroy others to achieve their own selfish ends, destruction awaits them on the eve of their perceived success” “Man to man, is so unjust. Children, you don’t know who to trust. Your worse enemy could be your best friend, and your best friend, your worse enemy. Some will eat and drink with you…. Then behind they chew-chew upon you…. Only your friend know your secret eh. So only he, could reveal it. So who that cap fits, let them wear it…”-Bob Marley It is an academic debate that from the point of view of journalese (not journalists or journalism), issues are sometimes inseparable from characters or personalities. This is because there can only be issues because people’s behavioral patterns continue to change by the day. In such situations, there is no way one can discuss such issues without making reference to their authors or initiators. It is against this premise that individuals or characters would be inevitably discussed in this piece. Historically, I belong to the last generation of the penultimate education system in Sierra Leone. Comparatively, you can call it the 7-5-2-4 system. As a sixth former then, one of my favourite subjects was GENERAL PAPER; not because of its hateful statistics, but its philosophically enthusing LOGIC. My teacher at that time was the inimitable soft spoken great BASH KAY (RIP). His speech mannerism was characteristic of those for whom Latin was a MUST in school. That irresistible voice rang in my ears even as I wrote this piece. Without any attempt to define the subject, logic was intended to sharpen critical thinking of pre-University students as sixth formers were then considered. One was not expected to accept every argument hook-line-and-sinker but rather to consider the logic in the argument. One may be tempted to say that logic is the genesis of law as opposed to common sense. Even though I enjoyed those aspects that dealt with syllogisms (general-to specific and vice versa) or deductions and inferences, my favourite area had to do with valid and invalid arguments through the concept of fallacies. These logical tools abound aplenty but the wicked hands of time have erased some in my retentive memory. However, the few I can still remember include non-sequitur (an argument that does not follow the premise or beating around the bush), argumentum ad-homini (attacking the personality and not the issue or begging the question), and argumentum ad-iqnoracium (arguing out of ignorance). Based primarily on their national implications, recent news paper publications and radio discussions have compelled me to have my take on some of the issues raised. In some cases, the writers and or speakers challenged others to engage in an “academic debate”. Well, yours truly is not an academia but some of the issues are just too appealing to be left unanswered. My first pick is the “Oswald Hanciles Columns” which starting with his tribute to late President Kabbah to date, has opened a debate on an issue that reasonably did not need one. That is, his argument that Pa Kabbah did not merit or deserve the virtuous attributes ascribed to him including being severally described as the vanguard of peace and a paragon of democratic governance not only in Sierra Leone but Africa at large. Inter alia, I’m just wondering whether that otherwise critical columnist and senior compatriot listened to His Excellency Peter Penfold on the Star Good Morning Show Programme of Monday 14th April instant. In case he did not, Peter Penfold unequivocally stated that it was late President Kabbah’s personality and UN experience and connections that engendered the unprecedented international response to our crisis; a crisis the former never started. The same is correct for the sustained international support to create or establish ALL the post war democratic and other state institutions we are enjoying and showcasing today. With my basic knowledge in logic, I would deduce that Oswald committed the twin fallacies of argumentum ad-homini and non-sequitur. When one critically examined the generality of the reasons he advanced in his argument, he primarily begged the question as the arguments did not follow. He simply shot himself in the heel on the altar of hypocrisy and deceit; which is tantamount to naked denial of REALITY or TRUTH. Did he say he was here when the civil conflict started or came thereafter? If the former, then he cannot be more unfair to the late old man. If the latter, then he needed (if not already received) to be educated about events and incidents that culminated to that ghastly decade long civil conflict. In fairness with the late President in respect of his patriotic quest for peace and unfettered strides to enhance democratic governance, the least any genuine Sierra Leonean would offer him posthumously is “thank you and may Allah grant you paradise” . Having followed the trails of Columnist Oswald since his leadership of “Youth Arise” and the “All Political Parties Youth Association”, employment at the NRA, up to authoring his “The World Best” Biography of President Koroma prior to the 2012 multi-tier elections, I have no reason to think for a moment that he skewed the truth about late Pa Kabbah out of ignorance (argumentum ad-iqnoracium), but rather, I’m strongly convinced that it is a calculated distortion of the truth which is tantamount to academic dishonesty; arguably for his new found “sphere of interest”. Paraphrasing Kenneth Star (that star independent investigator-cum-prosecutor of former President Bill Clinton during the infamous Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1997), one is at LIBERTY to choose TRUTH or choose DECEPTION; in this case, my compatriot has deliberately chosen DECEPTION. A fair and objective argument would have had put the situation into context rather than making sweeping generations (another don’t of a logical argument). Pa Kabbah inherited a war he never started and was never within the shores of Sierra Leone when the ominous seeds of its causes were larvishedly sown and nurtured. He also inherited a military that was at best disillusioned and at worst disloyal to the point of openly colluding with their avowed enemy-the RUF-. Did you remember the popular coinage “SOBEL?” That register in itself is adequate information for any fair and objective critique not to blame the woes of the war on that poor departed soul. When one critically examined the totality of the situation then-including but not limited to disgruntled former politicians, and soldiers who had tested the trappings of political office-it took Pa Kabbah’s delicate diplomatic balancing act for Sierra Leone to have survived as a nation. Another fallacious argument was irrationally comparing Pa Kabbah’s situation to Nazist Europe in the era of Adolf Hitler. What the writer failed honestly to acknowledge was the fact that the two situations were simply incomparable. While the entire Europe with an outstanding army was united against Adolf Hitler, Pa Kabbah had no such standby loyal army to turn to. The Oswald Hanciles Column should have been reasonably mindful that this was a war that had gone on for at least five years before Pa Kabbah made his debut as President. Even more, the very security apparatus-the military- which Pa Kabbah needed to prosecute the war had been in power for four years unsuccessfully prosecuting the war. On the issue of being Commander-in-Chief, the author knows very well that these are ceremonial titles and does not necessarily translate into a seasoned diplomat becoming a war strategist over night in a face of very disloyal soldiers. Granted that on two occasions (prior to May 25th 1997and January 6th 1999 respectively) his “security advisers” informed him about imminent attacks from the enemy, in the context of the situation, would it not have been the responsibility of a “professional army” to have had put in place preventive strategies and counteracted the intelligence? Or is the columnist suggesting that Pa Kabbah was literally in control of the military arsenal? To further expose their insincerity, elements of the then rogue security apparatus-the military-on both occasions colluded with the enemy and wreaked havoc on the unsuspecting civilians and their duly elected government. Does the deployment firstly of the professionally disciplined ECOMOG and thereafter UN Peace Keepers not change the situation? Was it Gen. Abacha or Kofi Annan that came and organised their men and women for action? Falsehood always has a speed of lightening but TRUTH will ultimately take its place of pride. The Krios’ say: nar tru go las! On the most heinous crime of Pa Kabbah signing the peace and thus compensating Foday Sankoh for besieging and ravaging Sierra Leone for eight years, in the view of “Oswald Hanciles Column”, what other viable and prudent alternative would have had played the magic? Read the strong message of Rev. Jesse Jackson on this on 13th November 1998: “Disarm, put the arms down. Stop maiming and killing people and come out to the bargaining table with a negotiable agenda. Every war ends when those who have made their points, protests, rebellion; put forward a negotiable agenda and come to a table finally and talk it out and not fight it out” Undisputedly, this was a globally respected and tested diplomat with versatile experience in conflict, and negotiations that would certainly dwarf the seemingly parochial reasoning in the “Oswald Hanciles Column”. Rev. Jackson made that statement in consonance with global trends. Whether or not Oswald likes it, Rev. Jackson spoke understandably with adequate intelligence on the heinous strategy of the RUF/SOBEL (and their international conspirators) which arguably Pa Kabbah himself was not privy to. Here, we are talking about an envoy of the Greatest Nation on earth that is very serious about security and democracy. May be further Weaki Leaks on Sierra Leone needed to be spilled so that my brother would realise what imminent catastrophe the then RUF/SOBEL covertly plotted against innocent Sierra Leoneans. Was that not manifested even after the signing of the peace accord by RUF reneging on its commitment? Was Pa Kabbah’s acceptance of the wise suggestions of the international community and his own avowed commitment to bring peace to the war wearied nation not vindicate him and drummed international/global support that saw the deployment of the largest number of UN peace keepers (at that time) in Sierra Leone? And is Sierra Leone not today considered as a beacon for successfully in transitioning from war to peace and as an enviable example of UN peace efforts? What else would late Pa Kabbah have had done? In fact, examining the piece critically, it is laden with contradictions. At one point, the columnist picked on the late President, and at some other points, he took the entire Kabbah government to task. Common on! Common sense is not common; my late father would say. If not for the sake of peace, one would be tempted to consider the author of that piece of illogical argument as one of those “haters-of-state” who had preferred the RUF/SOBEL unhealthily illegal union to have had annihilated the statehood of Sierra Leone. As the saying goes, by their fruits, we shall know them. Apparently, past experiences in different parts of the world have shown that military option to address conflict have not been very successful. Examples abound from Angola, Somalia, Sudan, Liberia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, to the current “Booku Haram” night mare in Nigeria. And clearly, some of the situations involved western interventions. What more instances do one need to debunk those ill-conceived articles? I would pause the discourse on the Oswald Hanciles Column with the historic and impelling statement of the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2001 when he described the unfortunate state of Africa as “a Scar on the Conscience of the World”: “Peace is the first concern. It is the prerequisite to all other development in Africa because from Liberia to Sudan, from the Great Lakes to Angola, Africa is riddled with conflict like no other continent (do)” Now to that Robin Fallay’s dishonest and abortive attempt to thwart our hard won democratic process in the “Star Good Morning Show” of 15th April instant when he deceitfully affronted his listeners that he had carried out a survey and deliberately insulted the intelligence of ordinary Sierra Leoneans that President Koroma should be given a third term. Considering the accolades Sierra Leone continues to receive for adhering to democratic tenets and realising that Robin (I’m reminded of that diminutive witty bird) was not only one of our law makers, but a strong advocate of constitutionality, I quivered in my seat at his utterances which can be equated to a total reversal of current global democratic trends. One would be tempted to ask if Mr. Fallay is keeping abreast with current trends taking into account the abortive attempts of both former President Olusengun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Abulaye Wade of Senegal; to mention but only two. If popularity and working for the electorate is his smokescreen, then Mandela would have remained life President in South Africa as well as former President Bill Clinton of the United States. Those who followed the last Obama campaign would agree that in the very last days of that process, it was the active involvement of former President Clinton in certain strategic/swing States that brought about the Obama victory; and all that some seventeen years after Clinton had left office. Like Clinton and other past popular Presidents, the Americans had never dreamt of tampering with their constitution to either retain or bring them back. That is a simple lesson in genuine democracy. Still in Africa, Obasanjo was much more popular than President Koroma is. Even coming home, Robin must have realised that if anybody was to attempt that inimical strategy successfully in Sierra Leone, that person must have had been the late President Kabbah who won his second term with over 70% in 2002 as compared to President Karma’s 58% in 2012. Additionally, but for his democratic and patriotic touch, late President Kabbah would have had skillfully used the intermittent interruptions in his legitimate term coupled with the fluidity of the immediate post war situation to have had tactically imposed himself upon the gullible and mostly illiterate populace of Sierra Leone. So if for any reason Robin is banking on the gullibility and high illiteracy of the electorate coupled with massive economic disability (never mind the Agenda for Prosperity), this author can assure him and his cohorts scheming that plot that THE GAME IS UP. It must be noted that Robin and those lurking behind his disingenuous “injury time” or third term bid should be told that life is a greater riddle than they can imagine and people’s characters are undoubtedly thicker than the Amazonian Forest or the deepest part of the Indian Ocean. And in case he and his peers are so immersed in the dark forest of their own ignorance and self pride and are resisting to see the tall trees of wisdom and objectivity growing in their consciences, they should be reminded that the FULCRUM that moves the world is CONDUCT/CHARACTER; preferably MORAL conduct or character. It is also worth remembering that in the realm of NEMESIS, one can’t inevitably get a second chance to make a first choice. Finally, it is an open secret that the earlier decision by the APC-led Parliament to change a portion of the constitution (an act that in itself undermined the work of the constitutional review committee) and elected one of theirs as Speaker of the House, like the tactical maneuverings to increase the Parliamentary life span (and by extension the Presidential terms with which it runs concurrently) and also introduce a clause disqualifying future Presidential aspirants who had participated in military coups through the ongoing constitutional review process, are two steps too many not only to extend the current and final term of the incumbent President, but also to primarily frustrate the Presidential interest of the former flag bearer of the main opposition party (that is if his party gave him the symbol). Sierra Leone being an integral part of the global community, both strategies are simply anti-democratic and should not be counterproductively pursued. Well, since the buck stops at the desk of the Presidency, it would be a pleasant surprise and an act of statesmanship if the incumbent resisted all those tactical maneuverings and followed the footsteps of great leaders (statesmen) like Bill Clinton, Mandela, and President Kabbah. Remember, what goes around comes around and those who shouted ALLELUIA ended up CRUCIFYING Christ. BITING THE BULLET: BY MBATILUI-+232 76 748 827
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 21:09:56 +0000
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