Three academics and one businessmen from Lunsar, Sierra Leone, now resident in the United States have vigorously condemned the naming of a school in their town after the present minister of Education’s late father.
The three academics, Dr. Sheik Umarr Kamara, a professor of English, Dr. Ahmed Kabba, a professor of African-American Studies, Dr. M. Saidu Kabba, a professor of French and Comparative Literature and businessman Hassan Baraka, a franchise owner, have been highly displeased over the naming of a government school in Lunsar after minister Alpha Wurie’s late father Mr. A.D.Wurie.
It all started in November last year when the four gentlemen wrote the minister stating that naming a government school after an individual can only be done where an individual is a national hero or somebody highly revered, which is not, in their opinion, the case with the minister’s father. They added that the minister’s late father’s record at the now defunct Marampa Mines in Lunsar is not salutary.
"The late A.D.Wurie, in a workers’ strike at Marampa Mines, was effectively chased out of Lunsar and never again set foot in that town until his death", the Lunsar descendants reminded the minister.
They also told the minister that Sierra Leone finds itself "in the mess it is in today" precisely because politicians have never made a distinction between "National" and "Personal" property.They said the naming of a school after the minister’s late father was a perfect example of political corruption.
"Dr. Wurie, we are aware of your argument that "the people of Lunsar" provided the land and suggested the idea of naming the school after your late father. However, we are terribly disappointed in you for even entertaining such an idea", the letter stated.
On January 16, 2006, the four Lunsar indigenes got a reply, not from the minister directly, but from the Director General of Administration at the ministry of Education in Freetown, Mr.E.B.Kamara.
In his letter Kamara said he had noted their opposition to the naming of the A.D. Wurie Memorial Secondary School, thanked them for their interest in the school and then urged them to "send your recommended names for all 600 schools now being constructed in all chiefdoms in the country."
He informed them that all funds for the construction of schools are solicited by the government of Sierra Leone for its people and that names of schools are reflective of national service, determined by the community or the ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
"I am further to bring to your attention that the land of the school at Lunsar was a private land which was handed over by the family to build a school to be named A.D.Wurie Memorial Secondary School with full community approval and participation and with the endorsement of the Paramount Chief", Kamara wrote.
Dr. Sheik Umarr Kamarah and his colleagues then wrote back a letter dated April 30, 2006 in which they noted that the minister was shifting attention from himself to the ministry of Education by asking his Director of Administration to reply on his behalf.
They further expressed displeasure over the Director’s "feeble attempts at sarcasm" when he asked them to name 600 schools in the country. They then reiterated that the minister had no right to name a school after his late father.
They emphasised that the minister’s late father’s service to the nation does not measure up to the level of either a local or national hero.
"Honourable Minister Sir, if you wre genuinely interested in rewarding a family memeber for meaningful national servce, your uncle, the late Pa Amadu Wurie, commonly known as Education Wurie, would have been a perfect choice. Who would have argued against honouring such a man?", Sheik Umarr and his friends wrote.
In conclusion, the four Lunsar descendants observed that they may not be able to convince the minister or the ministry to reverse "this terrible decision."
"However our goal is to create a public record that may be useful to those who would succeed you", they stated.
Photo: Sierra Leone’s Education minister Dr. Alpha Wurie.
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