Liberia Needs Nation Builders, Not Clever Devils
Mr. Jacob Parley
The Communications Director at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, (MoCI), Jacob N.B. Parley, has called for collective steps to ensure the urgent rebirth of the country’s declining family and traditional values. Mr. Parley said, the country’s communal and traditional values, once highly- cherished in prewar Liberia, played a pivotal role in fostering genuine unity, national renewal, peace and development.
Parley pointed out that high academic and moral standards, discipline amongst young people, love for one another, and respect for older people were highly upheld in nearly all sectors of the country to the extent that the it experienced peaceful co-existence.
He said the teaching of Civics in Liberian schools at certain level at the time, including adherence to the National Unification and Integration Policy, helped in keeping the society peaceful instead of putting the citizens apart.
“During those days, people could easily be ostracized by older people in the various communities for utterances that were considered divisive,” Mr. Parley added.
He also told the audience that a parent could discipline another person’s child for misconduct without being confronted with anger or court action, compared to now when some older people, both men and women are not leading by example as demonstrated by their dress code and unrefined utterances in the presence of their children.
The journalist-turned Evangelist made the statement Sunday, July 13, 2025, in Paynesville, Jacob Town, when he served as keynote speaker at the closing of the Liberia Central Academy (LCA) Elementary and Junior High School.
Mr. Parley, also a former United Methodist school principal, expressed concerns about allegations of strange and unhealthy practices making their way into some institutions of learning in the country. He named some of the vices as the reported collection of flexibility fees for students preparing for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), observance of Super Fridays, and unnecessary student migration as a result of failure, among others.
He warned that unless school administrators and parents and guardians work together to flush out these unhealthy practices, the country may be training a generation of clever devils instead of technocrats who will stand up to the task of nation building.
He admonished the graduates to look up to God for direction, strive for academic excellence, do away with pleasure and other practices that could undermine their individual dreams to be successful bread winners other than potential trouble makers.
Mr. Parley commended parents and guardians who continue to make the requisite sacrifices to keep their children in school despite the economic constraints associated with the process. He spoke on the theme: “The Need to Rekindle Our Country’s Dearly-Cherished Family Values.”
Thank you so much, Mr. Parley for that fine oration. Indeed, Liberia needs not only Nation Builders, but Sincere Nation Builders and not Clever Devils who will use our own resources to destroy us and not develop us.
Thank you, Sir.