“Truth be told, this so-called ‘special relationship’ only exists in or imagination. Lest we forget, the United States was one of the last countries to recognize our independence. Lest we forget, the United States has taken more from us than it has given. Lest we forget, the United States will always serve its own interests above all else. Once we accept these truths, we will appreciate that a re-imagined Liberia can never be anyone’s stepchild,” Liberia’s 177th Independence Orator, Dr. Robtel Neajai Pailey spoke out. This brunt utterance from the Independence Day Orator outraged the United States delegation to walk out of the ceremony in protest of the strong criticism against America. Dr. Pailey indicated that America has received much from Liberia than Liberia has gotten in return, those who side with the United States have considered the statement in the orator’s speech as ‘unfair.’ Nimba County District Seven Representative, Musa Hassan Bility is one of those who disagreed with the statement, on grounds that the orator did not provide any evidence to substantiate her claim. Representative Bility who was one of the guests invited on Spoon Talk Friday night, said the United States has given more to Liberia than Liberia has given to the United States. He referenced the interventions of the United States in the Liberian Civil War and the Ebola crisis as instances to note. However, Representative Bility lauded the orator on criticisms she made on the governance system of Liberia by the Executive, Legislative and other state actors, even those he observed that the orator did not mention the role of the Judiciary. Representative Bility also criticized the US delegation for walking out of the program due to the criticism made by the orator and described the move as “un-American.” Yet, almost in hundred percent of deliberation, Bomi Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe hailed the orator for speaking true to power. As one of the guests on the very Spoon Talk, Senator Snowe supported the criticism and all other statements in the speech. He noted that the American delegation’s walk-out of the program was inappropriate and intolerable, emphasizing that the United States criticizes nations including Liberia often over how these countries run their affairs but for the United States delegation to walk out of the Independence program it was undemocratic. Renowned Liberian Economist Sam Jackson holds the criticism strongly against Dr. Pailey. In support of the United States’ intervention in the Liberia over years of existence, Mr. Jackson blended Orator Pailey as a communist who was taking on the United States to make a point far beyond the reality. Another Liberian, Austin S. Fallah posted: “What would JJ Roberts say about corruption in…” It is a complex dichotomy, and on one end is the unfiltered truth, a raw and honest expression of a nation’s sentiment towards perceived injustices. On the other hand, the pragmatic recognition of international alliances and the finesse required to navigate the intricate web of global intelligence.” As, it unfolded during the day, United States of America Charge’s Affairs to Liberia, Catherine Rodriguez, embarrassingly stormed and walked out of Liberia 177 Independence Day Celebration amid an eye-opening firing speech on Liberia-US relationship. During the occasion held at the Centennial Pavilion in Central Monrovia, the US Charges’ Affairs walked out of the occasion due to criticism from Orator Pailey regarding what she termed as United States selfish interest over Liberia development growth and progress.
Delivering her Keynote address she remained very concerned about the outsized influence of the United States in Liberia transitional justice process. “We must forge new strategic partnerships based on mutual benefit and disabuse ourselves of the notion that we have a ‘special relationship’ with America. Truth be told, this so-called ‘special relationship’ only exists in our imagination. Lest we forget, the United States was one of the last countries to recognize our independence. Lest we forget, the United States has taken more from us than it has given. Lest we forget, the United States will always serve its own interests above all else. Once we accept these truths, we will appreciate that a re-imagined Liberia can never be anyone’s ‘stepchild,” she argued. According to her, a re-imagined Liberia is not only free from colonial relations of power, it is also free from colonial artifacts that cripple Liberia, adding that in this vein, she would like to renew previous calls to adopt national symbols that represent the “cultural breadth and historical depth” of ‘our’ shared experiences. “I urge us to forge a new political identity by re-imagining and revising these symbols. Why is the national motto on our seal not ‘the love of liberty united us here’, as suggested by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report? Why are we still calling our highest national honor the ‘Most Venerable Order of Knighthood of the Pioneers of the Republic of Liberia’, when the word ‘pioneers’ remains politically charged? How could renaming our capital Monrovia help us to decolonize? “Dr. Pailey stated. The Liberian female author lamented that by refashioning Liberia flag, seal, national anthem, and national awards, among others, Liberians can re-imagine Liberia based on a set of ideals that they all uphold. She further suggested that they should establish a committee of Liberian scholars, local government officials, cultural experts, and visual artists to devise new symbols of national relevance that will culminate in a referendum. The Activist stressed that Liberia must also adopt one of Liberia’s most widely spoken languages as its national language, and embrace Liberian English as its lingua franca and now, this does not negate the need to master Standard English; instead, it promotes multilingualism as a form of nationalism. “Because our norms and traditions are fluid rather than fixed, we must understand that the dichotomy between indigenous and settler, domestic and diasporic is false. One thing that unites us all is our shared history of migration. Some of us are more recent migrants than others,” the academia added. For example, she noted that most of Liberia’s sixteen ethno-linguistic groups are not ‘indigenous’; they actually migrated in several waves from the 12th century onwards. “By the time free and formerly enslaved blacks arrived on the coast of pre-settler Liberia in the mid-nineteenth century, 250 years of migration had preceded them. So, our shared historical narrative must be that we are all (immigrants). None of us belongs here more than the other. Dignity must define us,” she concluded.
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