Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere

Alhaji U Njai

Freelance writer and concerned Sierra Leonean

When we do the right things with integrity, fairness, and transparency, peace is assured at all times in society.

Everyone is crying out for peace in Sierra Leone: yet no one is crying out for social justice and equity, which are fundamental for creating and maintaining peace. —Crying out for peace when that peace based on our neighbors’ oppression will not bear good fruits or lead to a healthy and progressive peaceful society.

Telling people to move on after an incident without healing is simply telling them to accept wrongful acts in society and normalize those behaviors.

From Independence in Sierra Leone to war, ebola, and landslides to our present debacle, we seemingly normalize wrongful acts with a ‘how for do, na for biya’ mentality. Each time we have the opportunity to make things right, nothing is done—we move on without addressing the problem or root cause analysis; no deep healing occurs, and lessons remain unlearnt.

Hence, we keep developing a society with deep wounds and emotional and mental scars or trauma with no support, healing mechanisms, or therapy in place. We are simply left to cope with the mental or psychological trauma of our social ills, with substance abuse becoming a favorite mechanism for a large segment of society.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Unfortunately, our Sierra Leonean society is now one of too many compromised people and no statesmen or institutions serving as moral guarantors. When we do the right things with integrity, fairness, and transparency; peace is assured at all times in society.

As Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) post-war found injustices, human rights abuses, greed, corruption, bad governance, lack of accountability and transparency, and leadership failures as the roots of the war; we must never forget the things that led us to years of brutal war.

The lessons of the war must serve as our daily reminder to work assiduously towards developing a thriving, socially just, and equitable Sierra Leone. Upholding the truth, fairness, integrity, and transparency at all times thus matters. 

———-

Alhaji Umar N’jai is a Ph.D. Senior Scientist, Associate Professor, Panafrican Scholar, Founder & Chief Strategist of Project 1808, Inc., and Freelance writer ‘Roaming in the Mountains of Kabala Republic.’

Project1808 is a Madison, Wisconsin-based nonprofit organization dedicated to improving community livelihood and technical capacity through school, university, and community projects and global partnerships in Sierra Leone. Project1808 was founded in 2009 by Sierra Leone native Dr. Alhaji N’jai and became an official 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization in the United States in 2011.

Project1808 is committed to optimizing partnerships between educational institutions locally, within Africa, and overseas, particularly with the involvement of other African countries.