It appears that strong moral values and positive leadership examples are rapidly becoming things of the past in Liberia, as current national leaders seem to care very little or do little, if anything, for the next generation to learn from.
It was very disappointing here on Monday, August 25, 2025 during official commemoration of Liberia’s 178th Flag Day when poor and hungry students were hurriedly mobilized under heavy downpour as early as 5:00 a.m. to hoist the national emblem at the Barclay Training Center (B.T.C. barracks) in Monrovia in readiness for street parade and subsequent indoor program that the entire government boycotted except three members of the Cabinet.
Neither President Joseph Boakai nor Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung, nor Senate President Pro-tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, House Speaker Richard N. Koon, nor members of the 55th Legislature, including the Judiciary, showed up for the Flag Day celebration.
The Minister of Education was visibly absent, but her deputy spoke on her behalf at an occasion meant to inspire students, who are often referred to in Liberia as future leaders. The deputy minister might have done so out of pressure to save face in what was clearly a national embarrassment.
The poor students were left alone to parade in the rain and subsequently gathered at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion in Monrovia, only to see poor attendance from officials who should have been there to portray or explain the significance of the national emblem and why it should be commemorated.
We wonder what example our national leaders are setting for members of the Diplomatic corps, who take the time to attend these national events, when they are treated with cool shoulders.
Fortnight ago, at the retirement program for former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia, Her Honor, Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh, the Executive and the 55th Legislature similarly failed to show up, in a style of payback for Justice Yuoh and her entire bench boycotting the President’s Annual Message in January before the Legislature, sitting in the Joint Chamber.
Youth, including students, are watching these missteps that leaders present as acceptable and usual. But no! They are not normal for one or two of the three branches of the government to be conspicuously absent from a national or a state function without any excuse.
President Boakai needs to intervene by ensuring that the government acts as a unified body and does so responsibly; otherwise, we are teaching the next generation a very bad lesson about leadership.
It is unusual for officials to skip official functions without explanation. Doing so wrongly implies that it is acceptable, and students will emulate it as a model of leadership.
A national occasion, such as celebrating the National Flag, should not be treated in any other way by those in leadership. If the theme for the 2025 National Flag Day Celebration, “The Flag We Raise, The Values We Uphold,” is to carry its true meaning, leaders should act accordingly rather than the other way around.
