"As Father of the nation you should be the last person to get angry, if you want to get angry at all. Your approach in response to this unfortunate incident in the country should be conciliatory in tone and in action. Tell your people that you understand the problems of this country and you are doing something about that. Tell them in the language they understand. And stressed that that doesn't mean people should take the law into their hands," President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists( SLAJ),Ahmed Sadi Nasralla tells President Maada Bio at State House.
President Nasralla was speaking at a CSO and media dialogue with President Julius Maada Bio in the wake of the August 10th violent protest.
The SLAJ president emphasized the need for healthy dialogue that focuses on problem-solving instead of finger pointing.
"We need to sit down and talk about these problems and let all of us play a role in addressing them. As you are doing now with various stakeholder groups in the country; this is the way to go. And at the same time punish law breakers using due process," he said.
Citing himself as an example,Nasralla said, "As leader of a smaller but very troublesome community within the bigger Sierra Leone community, that is the approach I am using and it is yielding good results for the media in Sierra Leone. Under your leadership, we have achieved great things for the media in Sierra Leone. I cannot solve the problems of the media because they are many. They are like onion shells, you peel one layer another layer appears. I can only do my best."
The SLAJ President didn't mince his words to also put some sense in the heads of the opposition as to how they could constructively hold the government accountable.
"I say to the opposition: please change your approach. As opposition your responsibility is to provide an alternative to government. You are a shadow government; a government in waiting. I don't remember the opposition condemning and calling on the public to disregard the invectives, inciting audios and videos coming from Adebayor and his likes, all of which basically makes the elected Government unpopular and favors them as Opposition," he cautioned.
He noted that, "We all should take responsibility for what has happened- the government, the opposition, the security sector, the media, CSOs, our traditional and religious leaders, Sierra Leoneans in the Diaspora- all of us are responsible."
He added that, "If we have a correctional center as big as Freetown, I would have recommended that we all spend some time there to go through some form of mindset rehabilitation before we are released back to our respective communities and society at large. But since we don't have that, these engagements you have started with key stakeholder groups in the country can suffice. This is the way to go, Your Excellency."
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He hammered home on the need to pipe down as a nation, especially in the way people amplify hate through dirty politics.
"We are playing too much politics as a nation and politics is dividing us across the middle. Politics is diverting and distracting government from focusing on the NEW DIRECTION that the president promised Sierra Leoneans. Too much politics is promoting hate and hypocrisy; it is undermining patriotism, nationalism, and peace and national cohesion. Too much politics is eroding our core values of labour and expect, dignity in labour, excellence, dedication to duty, integrity and trust," he observed.
To his constituency, President Nasralla said the media was equally liable for what is befalling the nation.
"The media is a clear reflection of our society called Sierra Leone. So we are part of the problem."
To the Sierra Leone Police, said, "We encourage the SLP to show concern for civilian lives lost and for those that have been arrested and detained. Respect their rights to legal representation and justice.
He called for an independent and impartial inquiry into the incidents of August 10th in Freetown, Makeni, and other parts of the country.
He condemned the unfortunate incidents starting from August 8th to the violent protests of August 10th.
