The wisdom of our people suggests – “if a mad man steals your clothes and you chase him while naked, bystanders are left unsure of who the mad person is”. For this reason and that alone, I refuse to get engaged in shocking stunts played out on social media that in addition to bringing embarrassment and ridicule to Sierra Leone, humiliate people for the sheer heck of it.

Where lies the problem?

I have huge problems with how Sierra Leone has been and continues to be governed. I am totally saddened by the gap between the actual experience of our people and what the possibilities for them are. Getting my head round why the nation’s journey has been so bad and seems stuck on an uncomfortably wobbly road to nowhere benefits from my insomnia because it is thoughts of that situation that fill my small hours. However, in the midst of all the confusion and despair, one thing among others I have never had doubt about is my duty to never take away from the integrity of the state. The state must remain supreme in all our deliberations and promoting this idea is a duty those of us who like to believe we know better must remain committed to.

As a democracy, we have a presidency that is a reflection of the people’s will. We might have issues with the decisions our people make but we must respect decisions made through a process most of us accept. More importantly, when we dig away at institutions of the state we somehow subvert the state – and none of us has the right to do that. Our business should be focussed on what is being done for our country and on whether it could be done better. Unfortunately, somehow allowing the standards to feed from the lowest base rather than from higher places has meant an unbelievable taste and want for tittle-tattle that serves no purpose other than to expose our country to ridicule. Worse still, it can be unnecessarily harmful to people who have themselves committed no crime other than live out their fate. Yes, unnecessarily harmful, as there is no public interest value.

Interestingly, in bids to justify or excuse misdemeanours, concepts that are obviously not properly understood are bandied about in bids to muddy the water with pretences at seeking the national interest. My hope is that most people out there are too sensible to be fooled by ill-thought out attacks that bring cheap giggles to certain corners without enhancing efforts to free our people from their bondage. The desperate need and search continues for the maturity needed to put away from the fore the niff, naff and trivia conversations that some use to promote their political or personal agenda. Even the term “strategic” has been used to explain the unexplainable. Well, strategy in its broadest sense is concerned with effects in terms or time, space and resources; so let us see if that fits some of the silliness. I have to ask, where is the debate that will help guide or shift policy in a direction that makes more likely a transition to the strategic thinking and decisions that will make real difference to millions of people?

If there was nothing on Sierra Leone worthy of discussion, I would put it all down to idle gossip. Alas, there is enough to keep us all very busy; at least those of us who appreciate the urgency of situations facing the county and, probably more important, with the ability to project ideas. At this time, if nothing else unites us as a people, there is the virulent Ebola Virus Disease (EVB) whose presence on our soil, in addition to killing some of our own, has brutally exposed capability and capacity deficiencies in the country’s health and sanitation systems and infrastructures.

It is the sorriest part…

Imagine how much more we can do with a conversation that maybe sets the tone for coping with medical emergencies or other disasters. We could extend the debate to ask how the water supply issues in the country could be hindering attempts to deal with the current threat and how we might want to mitigate for that. We might be able to look at the telecommunications systems in order to understand how we use them to support prevention and relief strategies. We might want to consider how we get Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) arrangements developed to add capability and capacity to the medical emergency teams. We could have discussed how we can all help – as individuals or collectively. There has even been the opportunity to step into new and desperately needed campaigns such as raising awareness of the problem of rape which many of our compatriots and friends walked to highlight yesterday? So why did we end up with headlines on a matter I am ready to guess the vast majority of our people have not the time, inclination or desire to concern themselves with? What happened to substance?

Ironically, when substance chokes people, the body involuntary throws out a lot of nastiness. I am getting to learn the human brain does the same when it finds itself unable to process substance.