Liberia, critics of the Sirleaf Administration claim, ended a decade of peace and uninterrupted foreign financial and technical supports, this month; but that it has practically nothing to show for it. While some critics contend that corruption is the administration's undoing, others think it is the lack of development priority or both. However, Finance Minister Amara Konneh says while the angst of these critics is understandable, their diagnoses of postwar Liberia's problems are not only superficial but also contrary to reality. Now that Liberia is coming to greatness, he says, it is time Liberians harness their energies toward unity rather than toward vain criticisms and diversionary tactics to feed self-interests. The Analyst has been looking at Minister Konneh's Independence Day address to Diaspora Liberians in Minnesota, United States of America.

For more than one and a half a centuries, Liberians have been engaged in practices through which they did not only stab themselves in the back, but through which they have thwarted patriotic efforts and by that stifled the growth of the nation.

But Finance Minister Amara Konneh, speaking to thousands of Diaspora Liberian in the US city of Minneapolis in Minnesota, on Liberia's Independence Day, said Liberia was coming to take its rightful place and that therefore naysayers needed to change their attitudes and be part of history making or get out of the way.

"This year we rededicate ourselves to the shared values and the common purpose that have given our nation a new beginning. We hear the cynics, but pay them no mind. We pass by the pessimists and the doomsayers, knowing that they'll always be with us, but confident that they no longer can hold our country back unless we let them. We see before us a future worthy of our past and a tomorrow greater than all our yesterdays. If there's any message that I wish to convey today, it is: be of good cheer for our common ground. Our beloved Liberia is coming back and coming back strong."

The finance boss left this apostrophe with his audience as he reflected on whom Liberians are, where they came from, and where they were going as a nation and people.

He traced the origins of the composite tribes that converged upon and inhabited where is today Liberia and noted that the manner and timing of that convergence, compounded by socio-economic and political depravity and religious considerations compelled mutual and oftentimes lethal xenophobia amongst the settler groups.

Minister Konneh did not say what role the mutual and oftentimes lethal xenophobia played in the nation's decade-plus civil war, but he said even after that war – the deadliest in the history of civil wars – the nation continues to grapple with the question of unity and a common national identity.

The minister said that has been the situation in postwar Liberia largely because each Liberian has a story to tell that makes him or her to cling to anger and resentment. But that has been the situation also, he said, even though each Liberian has a story that challenges him or her to transcend social ruptures, and a story that drives him or her toward the common ground that the nation can cultivate for peace.

"And each year, we gloss over that struggle, hoping that despite our disinterest, healing will come by default. Hoping that some noble generation will answer the hard questions for us, touch the sensitive subjects, say the politically incorrect, and at least begin to resolve that struggle," he said.

He however noted that that noble generation that is capable of changing Liberia's story, is "our youthful and vibrant population at home and in the Diaspora".

Minister Konneh, who revealed that he has seen the damaging impact of tribal and religious prejudice in the Liberian society as a child growing up in Gbarpolu, Bomi, and Montserrado counties, said ethnic bigotry continues to haunt recruitment into public service even to this day.

He admonished Diaspora Liberians that tribal bigotry might be a factors among them even in their faraway adopted land, but that it would nothing compared to the social misnomer and prejudice they would face back home in Liberia in social gatherings and in the workplace.

"You will also find, on coming home, that any job you get will be seen as one less job for the average Liberian who braved the war, never having made it to the great United States. You will be resented, even hated, by some, just because of the opportunity you had and the advantage it gives you. So, you see my friends, while we are harboring old tensions due to religious, ethnic and political differences, a new class struggle is raising its head; because the fact is people will always have an excuse to disagree and to choose a negative perspective on other people, issues and events," he said.

The finance boss conceded that some Liberians have legitimate grounds for the resentment they that hold due to the daily struggle they face to have access to opportunities and jobs that pay living wages and that he was not trivializing their struggle.

"They are angry and impatient, understandably, for the hope they placed in this government to be realized in a relatively short period of time," he said.

He continued, "And the challenges are well known. They include strengthening our fragile peace, enhancing security and the rule of law, fostering reconciliation and national unity; laying durable infrastructure to foster equitable economic growth, while promoting financial transparency to build the confidence that Liberians should have in their government, and to attract larger investments from within and outside Liberia."

In meeting these challenges, he said, the government recently paved the Monrovia-Buchanan highway, reducing travel time by four hours, and providing farmers access to market and to the port of Buchanan.

The Monrovia-Buchanan highway, like the Paynesville Red-light Market to Ganta and the Guinea border, Nimba County, and the Zwedru-Fish Town highway that are ongoing, he said, was part efforts to improve the standard of living for their families, expand their activities, and contribute substantially to growth.

"We haven't brought about every change important to the conscience of every Liberian, but we can take a great deal of honest pride in what we have achieved," the nation's ultimate disbursing officer said, noting that much of what Liberians expect would be achieved if they allow peace and stability to reign.

He conceded that the lack of proper coordination in government, added to the lack of capacity in the public and private sectors and the lack of financing has, to a greater extent, hindered growth over the past six years.

These vices also, at the helm of which is disunity, he said, were delaying the progress that the Liberian people were so anxiously awaiting.

"If we have faltered as a people my fellow citizens, that lack of unity has undeniably been at the root of the problem. From our founding to our present, unity has eluded us. And we can see the effects of this challenge nearly two centuries later, as Liberians, tired of a brutal and protracted civil war, now strive to deepen the still fragile peace while still grappling with a sense of 'us versus them'," he said.

This does not have to be this way; disunity does not have to rule the nation and rob it of its opportunities, he said, adding that Liberians therefore have to accept their identity as members of a nation of diverse peoples and embrace their "proud heritage and rich culture" as one people.

"Our confidence flows not from our skill at maneuvering through political jumbles, not from our ability to make the right deal at the right time, nor from any idea of playing one interest group off against the other. Unlike our opponents, who find their joy in momentary political leverage, we nourish our strength of purpose from a commitment to ideals that we deeply believe are not only right but that work," Mr. Konneh said, observers say inadvertently or deliberately playing the 'they against us' political card.

Whatever card he was playing, Minister Konneh said what was important was for Liberians to realize that Liberia "still shines with the light of freedom – freedom for women and girls who now live in a nation that supports their socioeconomic independence and protects their dignity..."

He therefore challenged Liberians, through economist Ludwig Von Mises' quotation, to 'fight for something they want to achieve, not simply to reject evil' now that so much challenges face the nation's recovery and reconstruction efforts.

"I'm convinced that, that spirit of cultivating a common ground is still alive and well in us. Our Nation is pulling back together gradually. We're looking to the future with renewed hope and confidence - and we know we can make Liberia great again by putting the destiny of Liberia back into the hands of the people. If we just stick together, and remain true to our ideals, we can be sure that our greatest days are ahead of us," he said.

But he said there was a fundamental question that faces all Liberians, which is, "Where do we go, chaos or community?"

Some "aggrieved politicians", and those whom he said were "accustomed to surviving through chaos" would answer the question by choosing 'chaos', but he said true Liberians must choose community over chaos.

It its choice of community over chaos, he said, that the Sirleaf Administration dedicated the first of two-six-year terms to giving the government back to the people and making it responsive again to their needs, hope, and aspirations.

"We've truly brought about a quiet revolution in the Liberian government. Today, there is increased voice and accountability than ever at any time in the history of our country. There is more political freedom than at any time of our history. For too many years, bureaucratic self-interest and political maneuvering held sway over efficiency and honesty in government. Public dollars were treated as the property of bureaucrats, not taxpayers. Those in government establishment who point to the misuse of those dollars are looked upon as malcontents or troublemakers," he said raising questions in the minds of observers regarding the role of corruption the scheme of things.

But he said while corruption in the form of waste, fraud, and inefficiency was a vice that hampers the success of the Sirleaf Administration, making the government responsive requires the breaking of the cycle of entrenched interests in Liberia. This, he said, would take a "very powerful coalition of all stakeholders to break".

That 'very powerful coalition of all stakeholders', he said, will comprise individuals who will study the issues that confront Liberia, convey their findings to members of their families and friends, while resisting the temptation to "demonize your country, putting at risk the hard fought peace we now enjoy".

He then challenged the audience, "If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from patrons, ambitious politicians, or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the lion hoping he'll eat you last. They are only criticizing, not offering any constructive solutions!"

"If all of this seems like a great deal of trouble, think what's at stake. We are faced with the most evil enemy Liberians have known in their long desire to move from mats to mattresses, from the slumps to vibrant communities. There can be no security anywhere in Liberia if there is no fiscal and economic stability; and there can be absolutely no economic stability if there is no security and rule of law. Those who ask us to trade our young democracy, our new but fragile peace for the soup kitchen of the prosperity for a few powerful and loud voices are architects of a future conflict," he said.

While the simple truth is that Liberia cannot achieve all it desires in these few years, Minister Konneh said they would feel a sense of accomplishment once they took the advice of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Noted Mr. Churchill: 'There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty'.

However that becomes relevant to the Liberian situation, observers say it is difficult to say, but Minister Konneh said the duty in that adage reflects the challenge that faces the average Liberian in this era of pathfinding.

"Every thoughtful citizen who despairs of conflict and wishes to live in a more peaceful Liberia, should begin by looking inward, by examining his own attitude towards the possibilities of durable peace, towards the addressing the underlying soft issues of ethnicity, exclusion and marginalization we have long ignored but continue to fuel our anger," he said.

He continued, "Too many of us think it is impossible to confront tribalism, marginalization, and exclusion. Too many think it is unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that Liberia going back war is unavoidable, that Liberia is doomed, that Liberians are gripped by forces they cannot control. We need not accept that view."

As Liberians reject the fatalist view, he said, they must focus on "a practical, more attainable reconciliation for a durable peace based not on a sudden revolution in Liberians but on a gradual evolution in our institutions - on a series of concrete actions and effective programs which are in the interest of all Liberians".

A Liberian adage says, "Dried goat meat is sweet; but what will you be eating while the meat dries over the dryer?" meaning that it is difficult for a desperate people to wait for the benefits of gradual evolution.

Minister Konneh agreed, but he contended that there was no single simple key to the problems facing Liberia's reconciliation process.

"No grand or magic formula to be adopted by us. Genuine reconciliation must be the product of all of our tribes, the sum of all the major stakeholders in our country and in the Diaspora. It will not work by excluding Diaspora Liberians. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new Liberian generation. Reconciliation and peace are a process - a way of solving problems," he said.

It is not clear how many Liberians will embrace his peace formula, but he contended further that to "achieve genuine reconciliation and lasting peace, there will still be disagreements and incompatible interests, as there are within families and communities".

The minister's appeal to peace in disagreement and incompatibility of interests, observers say, is bound to resonate within the Liberian society where it is held that "A family tree may bend, but it will never break," or that "Blood is thicker than water".

The minister also agreed that confronting tribalism in Liberia should not require that each man loves his neighbor. "It requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance, submitting their disagreements to a just and peaceful settlement. By defining ours goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all Liberians to see it, to draw hope from it, and to move compellingly towards it."

Defining the goals, he said, compels Liberians to work together to put an end to ethnicity, exclusion, marginalization, and by that give the Liberian child a strong opportunity-filled Liberia united for peace and sustainable development.

City officials who graced ceremonies marking this year's Independence Day in faraway Minnesota were Minnesota State Governor Mark Dayton; Brooklyn Park City Mayor Jeffery Lunde; Brooklyn Center City Mayor Tim Wilson, and city council members of the twin cities.

Also gracing the occasion included the Executive Director of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota (OLM), Mr. Wayne Doe accompanied by several OLM's board members.

OLM invited the minister to Minnesota to address ceremonies marking this year's Independence Day celebration.