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Nvasekie:
It’s All Wrong, Nothing Correct From the overlooking beach view of the A.M.E. Zion
University College in Sinkor, Monrovia to the hanging hills of the great
Lux en Tennibris at capitol hill, and yes the highly intellectual filled
room of the Liberian National Student Union, LINSU to the vigorous
graduate academic walls of the United States; my records would indicate
that I have tried over the years to avoid “gutter writing”. I have
tried to be more civil and academic in both my oral and written
presentations so that my readers can not only learn but be the judge as
well. Hence once again, I would try to follow said principle as I attempt
to address the emotionally charged loaded language of Mr. Nvasekie
Konneh’s paradoxical “360 degrees off course”, (http://limany.org/360degree.html)
which was only meant to “poison the well” but ironically termed as
a response to my article (http://limany.org/afting2.html),
Bridging the Ethnic Divide-Answers to my Critic. I can understand Mr. Konneh’s failed attempt at my published speech to earn him some points. But after scoring an “F” in said attempt, he had again this time around with the aid and consultation of his “counsel of advisors” tried to give another shot. Sometimes many heads are better than one but it depends on the composition of the heads. And once again with the combined heads, Mr. Konneh’s response lacked similar ingredients as the previous and had not promoted him a bit. In Mr. Konneh’s “Where Where [were] you when we marched for freedom”, he questioned my presence at “ALL” Liberian organized rallies and demonstrations. In my response, I provided evidence of my participation and roles in many of those demonstrations, which I even presented a written resolution at one. Additionally, Mr. Konneh’s insinuations about tribal and religious dogma, I also provided evidence that I am beyond those lines as the collective discussions of the issues confronting Liberia is the hallmark of my every day deliberations and I would not allow him to drive me into his way of appealing to dogmatic pity, ad misericordian. After debunking Mr. Konneh’s response with evidential facts I concluded with a poem titled “I will not insinuate”. This was to serve as deterrence to Mr. Konneh’s false characterizations and insinuations that he often used to misrepresent one’s intentions. Not one bit of Mr. Konneh’s concerns was left unanswered. And now he is still asking similar questions. I am sorry that I cannot write Vai, Hebrew or Hieroglyphics but English. Hence, after spending approximately two weeks of consultation with his “advisors”, Mr. Konneh responded under the caption “360 degrees off course”, which I hope that he would have been adequately advised about the true nature of 360 degrees analysis. Upon seeing this heading, one would spend a fortune to get a copy. But only to further learn that it is completely as ironic and captivating as his “collection of poems… Going to war for America”, which I have obtained a copy and read. From the misrepresentation of the title, this is no longer a surprise to me. I appreciate that Mr. Konneh spent more time responding to the poem. This I surmise is due to his credibility as an “author, and as a “U.S. Navy officer”, which he still needs to defend but he either lost focus or refused to admit that he was adequately schooled off his previous shots at the “Dynamics of the Liberian war: how can we judge the participants”. He would have done himself well by remaining taciturn and allowing the discussion to disappear into the mysterious “Bermuda Triangle” and extinguish into oblivion. But instead he chose to fall prey once again to the logical fallacy of non sequitur syllabication or circular argument (begging the question) – it’s all wrong, Mr. Konneh, nothing correct. Consequently, I will again attempt to critique Mr.
Konneh’s “360 degrees off course”, give substantial evidence that
Mr. Konneh’s NCRM does not welcome other tribal groups and that his NCRM
is attempting to preach religious hatred and create divisions, which
Liberia does not need at this epoch of our timing. It is my hope that Mr.
Konneh will respond to the issues herein raised, as I would not spend any
more of my precious time addressing his usual deviations, loaded languages
and fallacies. He would then get his “victory” he so need. This is not
about “victory” however, as he claimed. It’s about the issues being
raised because as for an earned “victory”… let’s not take that
route Mr. Konneh, for “I have landed on Normandy Beach. I haven’t
marched through France yet, but the result will be the same –
victory”. [Wall Street guru & CEO of Berkshire, Warren Buffett,
referring to Schwarzenegar efforts to turn the state (CA) around- Betsy
Morris, Fortune magazine, August 9, 2004 (pg. 81)]. Now, in a direct response to Mr. Nvasekie Konneh, I
would try not to be repetitious on issues that were substantially hammered
in my previous response, in which Mr. Konneh is trying to be monotonous by
opening a Pandora box between the both of us. Therefore I would not
address some of the non-substantial deviations he outlined that can only
be described as petitio principii (Latin: begging the question).
Deviations such as: ”how the Liberian Mandingoes became warriors, the
chanting of 1990 citizens go home, why I didn’t send out a press release
to NCRM or stand at the top of mount Everest to trumpet that my junior
brother, Mr. Mewaseh Tingba was representing me at the Hassan Bility’s
demonstration”, including “how some of his advisors were concerned
about publishing my article on their web site”. No I will not waste my
time on those pleads for pity. But I will indeed comment on why Mr.
Konneh’s NCRM will not allow me, a non-Mandingo, a membership and why he
is attempting to preach religious fundamentalism to create more divisions
and hatred into the already fragile Liberian dilemma.
He will be stopped by the voice of reason and wisdom and urged to
follow a more civilized course based on objectivity, oneness, equality,
reconciliation, truth, accuracy, balanced and concrete analysis of both
national and global issues concerning Liberia. NCRM: a one-tribe organization that promote war
and tribal hatred? In his “360 degrees…” response, Mr. Konneh
writes, “ by the way there was no time that Mr. Tingba or anyone apply
for membership within NCRM and was denied based on ethnicity. If he feels
otherwise, let him say so”. I shall now state my reservation. Well, in his published article “The Beauty and Strength of Diversity”, Mr. Konneh writes, “As a civil rights advocacy group, we are interested in addressing the civil rights issues confronting the Mandingoes or the Muslims in Liberia.” He continued, “That is because we don’t see Christian Churches being burnt in Liberia and the perpetrators go unpunished. There is no other group besides the Mandingoes whose rights, to live in peace in their homes they occupied before the war, have been violated in broad daylight” http://www.republicofliberia.com/vol4_no9.htm).
Let Mr. Konneh knows that there is no doubt that some Mandingoes homes
were burnt. But this is in addition to other homes that were also burnt in
Bassa, Sinoe, Lofa, Bong, Capemount, and Nimba and all over Liberia. As a
civil rights advocacy group, leaving out the others, Mr. Konneh’s
statement can only be attributed to religious and tribal bigotry and the
spread of a fundamentalist believe. It is a glaring fact that not one
tribe in Liberia was spare of burnt homes, rapes, torture, death and
destruction. Let the readers be the judge. Mr. Konneh did not stop this far. He continued, “
When some of us have the temerity and the audacity to talk about it we are
wrongly accused of promoting tribalism or jihad. It is because of this
skepticism and hopelessness that have frustrated some of our brothers and
sisters to see war as the only way to engage Mr. Taylor…what we need is
the people power revolution” [pg 1-4]. How can Mr. Konneh reconcile
these statements as to his NCRM principle of preaching non-violence and my
admittance into said organization as a non-Mandingo? Indeed, history can
now account for what such actions and proclamations did in the Summer of
2003 in Monrovia and continue to do to the innocent women and children as
we discuss in many quarters around the globe. As one friend told me once,
“there are hidden hands behind every covert or overt operations”. But
now we are evidentially researching and getting to connect the puzzle and
dots that continue to reign terror, death and destruction on the Liberian
people despite a global outcry for disarmament, peace, reconciliation,
reintegration and rehabilitation of the country that has many of its
citizens still dressed to kill. Furthermore in his “360 degrees...” response Mr.
Konneh writes, “…as diversified as my thoughts have been in all my
writings, I am proud to say that I am beyond ethnicity.” What a complete
ludicrous and denial this may sound to any well-learned person who have
followed Mr. Konneh’s public utterances. I truly wish he would be
transformed into the true elements of diversification after he reads this
article. I love research and here we go once again to debunk Mr.
Konneh’s proclamation. On April 3, 1964, Cory Methodist Church in Cleveland,
Ohio witnessed one of the most powerful speeches ever delivered during the
civil rights movement. Prior
to his pilgrimage to Mecca that subsequently led to his transformation
from his original militant thoughts, Malcolm X delivered “the ballot or
the bullets” speech at the Cory Methodist Church in Cleveland (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/malcolmxballot.htm). In this speech Malcolm X eloquently lamented the
plight of the black community during segregated America of the 1960s. He
talked about the denial of many blacks in the South that were not allowed
to vote, and how those who voted were only used by white America. One
point in time Malcolm spoke, “I’m not a politician, not even a student
of politics; in fact I’m not a student of much of anything. I’m not a
democrat. I’m not a Republican, and I don’t consider myself an
American”. He continued “they don’t have to pass civil rights bill
for Africans. An African can go anywhere he wants right now” [the speech
is 14-15 pages long]. The speech is up lifting and accounts for a
situation that paraded “black and white America at the time. Malcolm X
even changed many of these positions when he came from Mecca. This
situation is not in any manner, shape or form comparable to today’s
Liberia. But others claim on these verses to preach hatred. Consequently, 37 years later, at a Liberian Community
Town hall meeting in Philadelphia on July 7, 2001, Mr. Nvasekie Konneh
plagiarized [intellectual crime] Malcolm X’s 1964 Ballot or the bullet
speech [identical title without giving credit to the original orator]. Mr.
Konneh delivered a speech at this Philadelphia Town Hall meeting under the
identical title “ballots or the bullets” (http://www.republicofliberia.com/vol4_no7.htm).
In his statement, Mr. Konneh writes “The National Civil Rights
Movement is a civil rights advocacy group advocating for a group of
Liberians who for so long have been ignored, marginalized, and reduced to
non-citizenship status in the country whose foundation they helped lay”.
Mr. Konneh continues, “…The National Civil Rights Movement
understands that war is a desperate response to desperate situation caused
by desperate men to obtain or maintain power.” He further lamented that
“Liberia is in a terrible situation and the question before all of us
today are the ballots or the bullets as we look forward to 2003”. Let it
be underscored that Mr. Konneh is entitled to his opinions, affiliations
and believes. However, at the same time let the truth be told that Mr.
Konneh’s NCRM does not preach civil rights issues confronting other
tribal groupings neither does it allow non-Mandingoes tribal member.
Therefore based upon his aforementioned utterances, it does not
take a neurosurgeon to know the intentions of his NCRM. I would not
hesitate to become a member of his NCRM one minute after it transforms its
modules operandi into its true meaning as a National Civil Rights
Movement. That is, it would comment and condemn issues of national human
rights concerns of all Liberians irrespective of tribes or religion. And
that the “movement” will not make statements that could be interpreted
as encouraging violent up rising or support for a particular grouping in
any shape or form. The “movement” is free to choose such path and
position. But it would be expedient for the name to be changed and
objectives stated publicly. I will then have no question to raise, based
upon Mr. Konneh’s utterances and writings. That’s the principles
I’ve continued to preach over the years and Mr. Konneh is a witness to
the fact that I love to be a part of such objective initiative
irrespective of geographical or ethnic orientation. Dr. Togbah Nah Tipoteh
once said, “The records are there”. Conclusion In conclusion, I would like to once again advise Mr.
Konneh to beware of the fallacy of equivocation and red herring:
sliding from one meaning to another to make a case and introducing an
irrelevant or secondary subject and thereby diverting attention from the
main subject. Mr. Konneh should take more time in consulting his
counsel of advisors to address the issues herein mentioned. Or else, if he
fails to do such, as earlier stated I will not spend any time to response
to his many insinuations and usually charged fallacies. In fact,
“victory is no longer a truth. It is a word to describe who is left
alive in the ruins” (Lyndon B. Johnson, speech –1964). Let Mr. Konneh transforms his NCRM as a true representation of human rights in Liberia and he will be getting my application for membership without hesitation. At the moment what he has written and preached … it’s all wrong, nothing correct or resembles national human rights based on neutrality or objectivity. Finally, before I surrender the keys of my Lap Top, it would serve us well if Mr. Konneh addresses the alleged intellectual crime that has befallen him-plagiarism. This has a lot to say about many of his previous writings and yes his “collections of poems-Going to war for America”. Let it be known that “the merit of originality is not novelty; it is sincerity. The believing man is the original man; whatsoever he believes, he believes it for himself, not for another” (Thomas Carlyle, on heroes, Hero –worship and the heroic in history). |
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