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President Dr Julius Maada Bio has embarked on a long working tour of the south, starting with Gbaima Songa, Selenga, Damballa, Valunia and Kunduma where he commissioned the Saint Josephine Bakhita Primary School, a state-of-the-art learning facility.
At the different town hall meetings he held, the President thanked his people for their role in national development, saying that his visits to their villages, towns and chiefdoms were to demonstrate that governance was not just about seating in the city’s capital and directing developments to the rest of the country.
He further stated that he was reaching out to the people in those hard-to-reach areas so that, as a leader, he could have first-hand information on how the national resources were being distributed to citizens. He noted that over the last four years his government had not only started and completed many development projects, but they had also traversed difficult terrains to engage and bring governance closer to the people.
“Despite the devastating effects of the COVID-19, for the first time ever in the history of the country, more children have access to free and quality education, more women are being protected, more access to justice, more teachers are being recruited, more nurses are being employed. There is a remarkable expansion in the generation and distribution of electricity in towns and villages across the country and we are building more schools and have renovated others,” he said.
He said he had committed to prioritising education because no nation would see development without building the capacity of its citizens, adding that that was why he admonished school-going pupils to take their studies seriously and urged parents to monitor their children’s educational growth.
“When I chose Human Capital Development as my government’s flagship programme, I did so intentionally. Our nation, Sierra Leone, was referred to as the Athens of West Africa because of education. Over the last decades, our educational system in the country depleted because of bad governance and corruption. Through my leadership style and my flagship programme, which has given access to millions of children to go to school, we are beginning to be recognised internationally. Today, wherever countries are being called for performing well in education, Sierra Leone will be mentioned,” he said.
At the commissioning of the Saint Josephine Bakhita Primary School in Kunduma town, Valunia Chiefdom, Olivar Andrews, Chairman of FG Gold Mining Company, the benefactor, thanked the President for his strong and focused leadership qualities, and especially for prioritising education. He noted that they had constructed the school to give back to the community and in fulfillment of their corporate social responsibility. He further disclosed that their company would continue to work with the community people to empower them by providing many basic social amenities.
According to FG Gold, “Baomahun gold project is Sierra Leone’s first large-scale gold mine and is set to become a major contributor to the country’s economy and to have a tremendous social impact by creating thousands of jobs, both directly and through its supply chain”.
President Bio thanked the FG Gold Mining Company for their gesture, saying that no gift could bring lasting development and empowerment to a community like the construction of a school that would be used to impart knowledge to the children. He noted that education was not only a major pathway to development and the only way to lift a community and a nation out of poverty, but it would also eventually help Sierra Leone match up with the challenging eras of the 4th Industrial Revolution, where societies were more technology-driven like never before.
“On behalf of this community, the people, and the government, I want to thank you very much FG Gold. The construction of this edifice will change the story of this community. We are forever grateful,” President Bio concluded.
