Liberia: In Celebration of the Life of Comrade Prof. Dr.Joseph Saye Guannu

Kabuah. Kavuo. Kwama. Our Comrade Prof. Dr. Joseph Saye Guannu was eighty-two years old on September 17.   Our Comrade has passed away but his knowledge will never pass away. We come here to celebrate the Life of our Comrade although he is not with us here physically. Our Comrade is here with us spiritually because he is with the Creator of us all.

His Parents did not name him Joseph for anything because Joseph, the great, great-grandson of Abraham in The Holy Bible and the Holy Qur'an, was sold into slavery and became the most important person in Egypt, next to the Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, over four thousand years ago. His Parents did not name him Saye for anything because they knew the Nimba culture in which the first male child is named  Saye. Then the name Guannu follows OK because it means, in the Mah language, wrongly called Mano, that the Man has come. So, you can see that our Parents know how to name their children.

From the life story of Comrade Prof. Dr.Joseph Saye Guannu, the people of Liberia know that the Man has come. This means that the Man of History has come. Truly, the Man has come to share his knowledge in and out of schools, in and out of books, to help us know ourselves, to help us to know Liberia.

Knowing ourselves is knowing our culture, the culture of Liberia. It is only through knowing ourselves and practicing the culture of Liberia that we can solve the problems of Liberia. Longstanding and widespread poverty, the main societal problem of Liberia, continues because the prevailing Americanization of Liberia, as seen in Liberia's national decision-making and educational system, prevents the Liberianization of Liberia that is needed for solving this problem. 

From the knowledge of his parents and other elders, Comrade Guannu learned about the culture of Liberia. This learning motivated him to share his knowledge about Liberia before and after the founding of the Land called Liberia in 1847, 175 years ago. This learning of the History of Liberia helps the people of Liberia to move away from being Americanized and unable to solve their problems and get into being Liberianized with the ability to solve the problems of Liberia. Like Joseph of Egypt, Comrade Prof. Joseph Saye Guannu predicted outcomes, predicting the outcomes of Liberia through the sharing of knowledge about the History of Liberia.

While others are sharing knowledge about how some people came here to Christianize, civilize and educate the heathens, otherwise called natives, Comrade Prof. Dr. Joseph Saye Guannu continues to share knowledge about how people have been here for centuries worshiping Allah, Rah, Ahbie, Ngala, Kamba, Glaypor, and Nyihnswa. Our Creator, God, as found in the Constitution of Liberia, is the Maker of all of us and this Constitution calls for Religious Tolerance.

Thanks to the knowledge sharing of Comrade Prof. Dr. Guannu, telling the Truth about the History of Liberia helps the people of Liberia to know and use what Our Creator gave to our people centuries ago, on the Land now called Liberia, the human and natural resources to make farm tools and grow sufficient food for their survival. This truth is needed today to move Liberia from poverty generation to poverty alleviation.

Religious Tolerance is most important for problem-solving because it means Justice for all, as Ngala treats everyone the same way and does not pick and choose. Justice is the only sustainable way to Peace and Progress in Liberia. Peace is not the absence of war! Peace is the presence of Justice! More than anything, the people of Liberia want justice, which is why they chant the words: We Want Peace! No More War!

Thanks to Comrade Prof. Dr. Joseph Saye Guannu for sharing his knowledge to bring out the Truth of the History of Liberia to unite Liberians in the transformation of Liberia from poverty generation into poverty alleviation. This transformation remains the work of the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA) and all of the peace-loving people of Liberia and the rest of Africa.

Gweh Feh Kpei! (Kpelle for the Struggle for Justice Continues!)

Editor’s note: The views expressed in this commentary are solely of the author and do not necessarily represent that of the Daily Observer newspaper.