![]() ![]() I was born some few years after the coup of 1980 and today, my generation is faced with a problem left behind by our forebears. Today, 43 years after, no successive Liberian Administration has been able to solve the issue of Rice. The government of President Tolbert was overthrown a year after. Pandemonium took over and street urchins and other opportunists went on a looting spree and vandalism - all in the name of rice. The government's response to the demonstration was chaotic, opening fire on unarmed civilians, thus provoking a riot that turned deadly. The demonstration resulted in the infamous 1979 rice riot - a civil disobedience that ensued when the organizers lost control of the demonstration. The group had threatened to stage a demonstration to protest the proposed increase and by April of 1979, the demonstration had gained momentum amongst the masses, most of who were already politically charged. However, a group of firebrand politicians dubbed the progressives went neck-and-neck with the government for the proposed increase. The move, as explained by Agriculture Minister Florence Chenoweth, was to encourage local production and incentivize the farmers. Tolbert, Jnr had proposed an increment in the price of imported rice. Sometime in the late 1970s, the administration of President William R. The system that preceded his Presidency had set him up for the level of malice, misinformation campaign, psychological warfare and in some cases, reckless antagonism that he faced throughout his presidency until his eventual overthrow. When President Tolbert became President, he was walking into a minefield. Tolbert Jnr - perhaps one of Liberia’s most visionary leaders. This was the period that greeted the Presidency of William R. The founding years of Africa’s first black Republic were filled with the burden of imbalances of political participation, accusations of marginalization, inter-tribal wars, settler versus native divide, etc. By 1971, when President Tolbert became President, the nation was already on a time bomb. It was marred with distrust of the political status quo, deep-seated suspicion towards the government, etc. Liberian politics of the 1970s was tense, full of mud fights, slander, fueled by long standing anger that dates back to the founding of the Liberian nation in the 1800s. President Tolbert’s policy was economically prudent and no doubt, exceedingly visionary, but it failed the test of the politics of the day. Tolbert Jnr had a bold vision to tackle the production of rice - the nation’s staple. Some forty-three years ago, President William R. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |