By:Curtis Morton
The way I see it, it is good to be independent but independence come at a cost and with much sacrifice.
As we reflect this weekend on 32 years of nationhood we can look back and see that our federation has progressed positively but there are some negatives that we still have to deal with.
I remember a story I once heard of a young man who worked as a Messenger at a government office, who at the time was receiving a salary of $1,000.00 per month. He lived with his mother.
One day he took out a loan in order to purchase a spanking new car which was his pride and joy and found himself paying $800.00 per month to the bank.
When asked by his girlfriend, how he intended to live on just $200.00, he responded: ‘My mother is going to feed me and look after me.’
I don’t think he fully understood why she left him shortly after but she had come to realize that he had absolutely no plans of becoming INDEPENDENT.
A friend of mine once told me a story as well.
He left us in Secondary school and went off to further his studies in the USA.
He lived with one of his sisters and she looked after him well.
He was successful in his studies and got a job. On his first pay day, he took most of the money and went on a shopping spree. He thought he would impress his sister with how well he had spent his money and showed her all the new clothes and electronic items that he had bought.
She instantly burst his bubble by asking: “So how you going to eat and where you going to sleep now you have money?’
Well I newa!
He suddenly realized that his new job had given a sense of independence which he was not taking. His sister was letting him know that he could no longer depend on her for everything.
And so as we celebrate this another year of our independence, we have to ask ourselves how have we personally contributed to the welfare of our country.
It was President John F. Kennedy who made the famous quotation: ‘Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.’
This theme is implicitly implied in our motto: ‘Country above self.’
So it is time to desist from negatives such as crime; illegal dumping; anger; malice; hatred; gossiping……..and the like and let us all seek to be positive nation builders, no matter our many differences of opinions.
That’s the way I see it. How do you see it?