Minister of Information and Civic Education Honourable Chernor Bah on Tuesday September 24, delivered an eye-opening but very succinct public lecture at the Kroc Institute at Notre Dame University in the United States of America.
The topic intentional decolonized national consciousness and peace building- the case of Sierra Leone, gave Chernor Bah the opportunity to delve into Sierra Leone’s colonial history, the root causes of the country’s eleven years civil war, the recultivation and redefining of Civic education and a clarion call to put the country’s interest above all interests and nurture peace. Minister Bah, held his audience spell bound as he narrated the country’s history which was bequeathed to us by the colonial masters and which only told the story from their lens and perspectives, disregarding the pre-colonial systems of governance; the systems set up by the colonial masters and how impacted negatively on governance especially the erosion of trust and confidence in the local chieftains. Minister Bah navigated the country’s skewed colonial system which in itself was divisive, as the creation of the colony and protectorate was a deliberate attempt by the British to divide and rule Africans. The eloquent Minister then delved into the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report which dealt extensively with the causes of the country’s conflict.
The Honourable Chernor Bah, without wanting to be too academic but practical, painstakingly dilated on the historic injustices of the Sierra Leonean narrative, the genocide of culture and gave his perspective on how those distortions can be rectified. He talked about the distortion of our Sierra Leonean identity by so called ‘discoverer’ and how that contributed to the lack of true education of the typical Sierra Leonean. Chernor Bah went at length to draw examples from other countries like Rwanda, Morocco, China and Germany in trying to carve a national identity and culture which eventually would culminate into the formation of Civic education.
The brilliant Chernor Bah concluded by saying that we have been taught to not think. Not ask. No question. Emancipation is liberation. And liberation is to question. And dare. Civic Education is to dare to question.
Read full lecture below..
Lecture- intentional decolonized national consciousness and peace building- the case of Sierra Leone
Outline:
- Over 15 years ago I received the email I had long coveted and would change my life forever.. The Kroc institute at the University of Notre Dame was offering me a place and a full scholarship. For four years, I had learned about Kroc and decided that was the only place I wanted to go to Graduate School so I put everything in that application and either with some crazy confidence or risky naivety, I decided that was the only application I would submit that year to a graduate program. So with that acceptance email, I have a 100% success rate! It was an email that would literally set my world alight and open my eyes to new frontiers, even as it challenged me in ways I had not anticipated. And no challenge comes close to the infamous South Bend weather. I kid often that my greatest claim to fame is surviving the South Bend Weather – forget being born in a slum, growing up in war, raised by a single mom and all those small potatoes. The South Bend Weather in my first winter – that was my real achievement. A close second was being on top of the assigned readings of the great Prof Johanseen’s class. Only my classmates at the time and other alums who took that class would appreciate that joke. Because those readings were not a joke at the time.
- But here we are. I survived and fifteen years since I took that flight to Chicago, I am back on campus to receive the coveted Distinguished Alumni Award 2024. To Dean Gallagher, Director Kaufman, Executive Director Corcoran, Associate Director Anne Hayner, the incredible faculty and Staff at Keough, I can not thank you enough for this honor. In my culture, when you honor a member of my clan, you have honored all of my people. And so on behalf of my people, the People of Sierra Leone and especially my family, I pledge to you that I will work every day to continue to earn this award, in my work and in my life.
- I really want to underscore my abiding gratitude to the Kroc Institute for setting me on the path that has led me here today. The program took a chance on me, invested in me to get a top quality education and gave me a community unlike any other- my classmates and the wider Kroc community. The late Father Ted used to say that the point of Kroc was to create a global army of peacebuilders who go on to bring the values of peacebuilding into everything that they do. Well, my career trajectory- in its convoluted, certainly sometimes complicated tracks – has benefited immensely from the values based critical thinking that I gained from Notre Dame. And those are my most essential toolkits in the work that I do today.
- As Sierra Leone’s Minister of Information and Civic Education, my duties are twofold- I have the solemn task of being responsible for providing citizens and the wider public with accurate, timely, public information and to set up systems that bridge the gap between citizens and their government- when it comes to information. As for the civic education portfolio I had to first help to define what the mandate was. There has never been a civic education ministry or minister and I inherited no technical expertise or blueprint on civic education. As a country, we had stopped teaching what used to be referred to as civics in our schools until a few years ago. As the Minister, I was uncomfortable with what is being restored into the curriculum now, with its lack of an overarching philosophy- what defines us as Sierra Leoneans. What is unique about us? What is our intentional narrative? Do we have a collective moral imagination? What is our national story- one in which we have agency and are main characters in that story. “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots” Marcus Garvey
- My brief talk today focuses on how I have approached the task of defining a new decolonised civic consciousness and what I believe is a blueprint for constructing an inclusive, deeply rooted, progressive civic identity, values and goals for a country like Sierra Leone.
- On this journey, I sought to as John Paul would say ‘ look back to look forward’ or As Atalia Omer would say “ complexify and problematize” or Cat Bolten would say dig deeply into the roots of the problem. And as the bonafide peace studies student that I am, I naturally turned to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report to start the quest for answers.
- Set up immediately after the war, Sierra Leone’s The Truth and Reconciliation Commission had the mandate to provide an impartial historical record of violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law related to the armed conflict in Sierra Leone, to address impunity, to respond to the needs of the victims, to promote healing and reconciliation and to prevent a repetition of the violations and abuses suffered. Permit me to read some of its often overlooked findings.
- “The colonial history of Sierra Leone deeply influenced the dynamics that led to the civil war. The British colonial government effectively divided Sierra Leone into two distinct entities: The Colony and the Protectorate, which were developed separately and unequally. This division sowed deep-seated ethnic and regional resentment that persisted long after independence and contributed to the conflict.”
- For instance, the colonial government pursued a “social engineering strategy that was deeply divisive,” using commerce, Christianity, and notions of ‘civilization’ to manipulate relationships among the indigenous peoples. This strategy “sowed seeds of distrust, competition, and intransigence” among Sierra Leone’s various ethnic groups (TRCVolume3A).
- Furthermore, the colonial authorities destabilized the traditional chieftaincy system by subordinating the chiefs to colonial rule. Chiefs who resisted colonial rule were punished, while those who collaborated were rewarded, leading to a perception that chiefs were “predators on their own subjects,” which further eroded their legitimacy. This breakdown in traditional authority contributed to the social fragmentation that facilitated the outbreak of civil war decades later (TRCVolume3A).
- Destabilized. Eroding legitimacy. Social fragmentation. Deeply divisive. So what was the prescription for this diagnosis of the lingering effect of colonialism? The report offered the following recommendations.
- To address the lingering effects of colonialism, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Sierra Leone (TRCSL) recommended a focus on creating equitable citizenship and promoting a culture of mutual respect. One key recommendation was the development of human rights education programs across all levels of schooling, aiming to instill values of tolerance, understanding, and respect for human rights from an early age. This is seen as essential to building a new culture of citizenship that transcends the colonial divisions of the past (TRC Volume 2)
- And that’s where I begin to take issue. The prescription doesn’t address the diagnosis. That’s what happens often on the complex issue of colonialism. We are often told it was a problem- but yes we must now love each other and move on. Look no further. Because colonialism was the past, they assert. But we know that it is not true. Colonialism is not just the past. It reverberates in our present and often prevents us from fully claiming the future.
- Colonialism in Sierra Leone went far beyond political control—it was a form of cultural genocide that erased and replaced indigenous systems of education, governance, and identity. British colonizers imposed foreign frameworks, often disregarding the values, beliefs, and traditions that had sustained Sierra Leonean societies for centuries. This systematic suppression of local culture, and the political ecology of our society deeply affected and undermined the identity of the nation.
- Sierra Leone’s history has long been shaped by narratives imposed by European explorers, colonizers, and missionaries who had little regard for indigenous knowledge and institutions. The proverb, “Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter,” encapsulates this reality. Colonial powers documented history from their perspective, often dismissing the rich cultures, governance systems, and practices of the people they subjugated. This perspective erased indigenous education systems, which were functional and directly connected to the needs of society, favoring instead colonial models that perpetuated inequality and exclusion. Its effects are pervasive.
- The so-called ‘Discovery of Sierra Leone’ we are taught that our history began in 1462 when an apparently lost Portuguese trader Pedro da Cintra discovered our country and called the place Serra Lyoa. Nothing can be further from the truth. Archaeological evidence suggests that Late Stone Age inhabitants (our ancestors) lived in this region at least 2,500 Before Christ.
- Name of the country: The very name Sierra Leone (from the Portuguese Serra Lyoa, “Lion Mountain”) is a misnomer. The Peninsular Mountains which the Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra saw and coined (or adopted) the name Serra Lyoa to them, does not give a true or accurate picture of the country’s history.
- The Educational institutions of mostly the Christian missionaries disregarded our educational institutions (Poro, Bondo/Sande, etc.). Indigenous education was functional and relevant to the needs of society. The ultimate goal was to produce an individual who was honest, respectful, skilled, cooperative, and who could conform to the social order of the day (good civic education).
- Even religious practices and beliefs are taught as western or foreign impositions. Our people believed in the existence of a supreme sky-god who was usually approached through lesser gods. These might be rocks, hills, special trees like the cotton tree or some carvings. The Temne called their supreme God Kru Masaba, the Kono Yaata, the Limba Kanu Masala, the Sherbro Hɔbatokɛ, and the Mende Mahin Negwɔ or Levee. Periodic sacrifices were made to God. Religious priests performed rituals for success in economic pursuits. Are these beliefs fundamentally different from Christian beliefs and practices? All civilisations practiced witchcraft (Read Shakespeare’s Macbeth, for example) but references to any in our culture are denigrated as primitive, crude and evil.
- The Paramount Chiefs, Tribal Authorities (TAs) and Tribal Headmen, before the imposition of British colonial rule in the Protectorate in 1896, the supreme rulers there were called Kings/Queens. The British surreptitiously changed the title to Paramount Chiefs (which was a lower title) because, according to the British, only one queen (Victoria) ruled the Protectorate. These titles are demeaning.
- Crucially, the House Tax Rebellion (war of independence) that started on April 27th, 1898. This war which, in colonial literature has been wrongly termed “hut tax war”, was fought by the hinterland chiefs (Bai Bureh and others) to regain their independence. The house tax was just one of many grievances the chiefs had against the colonial administration.
- “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history” George Orwell. It is difficult to construct a civic identity and a civic consciousness around this articulation of history- deeply ingrained, pervasive and dominant in subtle and overt ways in our lives.
- Of course we know from the literature that national identity is a multifaceted and dynamic construct, shaped by a range of evolving variables from concrete borders to symbolic cultural elements. It connects with foundational components such as civic and cultural identities, the impact of historiography, and the intricate dynamics of ethnic identity. And a lot of the literature examines the linkages between national identity and post-colonial nation-building efforts and the influence of globalization, highlighting the ongoing evolution of national identity as a “moving target.”
- Much of the scholarship on the subject is written by authors from the global north. A review of the literature suggests that National identity is constructed through the following into three primary components: : 1) Identification and categorization, both by oneself and external actors, 2) Self understanding and social location and 3) Commonality, connectedness and groupness
- “As Smith (1991) explains, the six main attributes of ethnic community, as a foundation of national identity, are: 1. A collective proper name 2. A myth of common ancestry 3. Shared historical memories 4. One or more differentiating elements of common culture 5. An association with a specific ‘homeland’ 6. A sense of solidarity for significant sectors of the population (Smith, 1991, p. 21)”
- It is not a new phenomenon that modern countries have sought to intentionally stimulate collective consciousness and use as a basis for an overarching civic education program. Examples abound with varying degrees of success and even controversy.
- In her 2004 “Civic Education in Germany paper” Annegret Ehmann writes that Political and civic education in Germany developed as a result of the Nazi crimes. In 1945 the Allies – USA, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union initiated the process with clear expectations for denazification and re-education. The country’s old system of education was seen to have failed because it had not prevented the spread of Nazi ideology. Democracy required continuing education, encouragement of critical thinking, and basic values – equality and freedom – shared by all members of society. The necessity for re-orientation after World War II was also recognized by Germans, and particularly by politicians in the newly created political parties. In order to “secure and broaden democratic and European ideas in the German people,” the Federal Office for Homeland Matters [ since 1963 Federal Agency for Civic Education) was founded in 1952 in the West German capital Bonn as a national educational agency, and both the federal agency and similarly organized agencies in the West German states became responsible for communicating democratic rules and how new government institutions were to operate.
- Rwanda
- Rwanda places a significant emphasis on civic education as part of its broader efforts towards national development, reconciliation, and fostering a sense of citizenship. The Rwandan authorities really focus on the elimination of differences between ethnic and cultural groups by promoting national unity and patriotism. They have implemented the contemporary Itorero program which works on reconciling the feuding ethnic groups and searching for common cultural values of the society.
- The national civics curriculum intends to inculcate a traditional notion of citizenship, emphasizing patriotism and loyalty to the state, the curriculum also includes global norms oriented toward human rights and global citizenship.
- Given Rwanda’s history of the 1994 genocide, civic education in Rwanda often includes a strong focus on teaching the history of the genocide, its causes, consequences, and the process of reconciliation. However, despite that they have been influenced by by the concept of ethnic amnesia, where the memory of the differences between Hutu and Tutsi before the genocide is intentionally forgotten. It is seen as a coping mechanism to avoid antagonism and promote community cohesion.
- The Itorero program only teaches students that Rwandans are “one people”. It is the parents in Rwanda alone who continue to emphasize the existence of three ethnic groups: Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. This contradiction between Itorero teaching and home-based socialization highlights the need to consider civic influences beyond the classroom and school.
- China Chinese writer XIAO LIU, writes in the Global Commons on civic consciousness and civic education in China that Although different scholars in China interpret civic education from different perspectives, they can be arranged in two perspectives: First, broadly speaking, it refers to a variety of educational measures that cultivate people’s effective participation in national and social public life, covering all levels of education from compulsory primary education to higher education. But unlike most Western concepts of civic education, which focuses on civil rights, China’s civic education emphasizes the fulfillment of obligations. China’s civic education system has three main content components, including ideological and political education, patriotism education, and moral education. Liu states that China’s current practices of civic education include: Integrating civic education into moral education within schools, and other related courses; setting up independent civic education courses; integrating school civic education and social civic education in the practice of social participation in cultivating their civic awareness. Implementation of civic education combines the family, school and society and other social powers that form a systematic civic education network. Among the important forces of informal civic education in China is the family. However, schools provide a significant main vehicle for civic education, which other informal civic education can be seen as an extension of the first two. (SKIP MOROCCO)
- Morocco
Morocco’s approach to civic education has undergone significant changes, particularly after the 2011 Constitution, which introduced a more inclusive and pluralistic conception of Moroccan national identity. This evolution in the civic education curriculum is notable for several reasons.
- Morocco has effectively used its rich national history to foster a sense of unity and shared national identity. This approach is reflected in the integration of diverse history narratives, including the acknowledgement of ethnic diversity and Amazigh history.
- Morocco’s civic education curriculum is built around key pillars such as moderation, tolerance, and dialogue, emphasizing the country’s multifaceted identity. This inclusive approach can be seen as the Values based approach mentioned above.
iii. Despite these advancements, the curriculum still faces challenges, particularly in fostering critical thinking skills among students. Critics argue that the curriculum must go further to teach students how to question the materials they are presented with, pointing out that these only teach them how to be good citizens rather than active political citizens.
- The case of Morocco can be valuable as it gives two important lessons for the creation of a robust civic education curriculum:
- Emphasizing national history and recognizing diversity are crucial.
- Promoting critical thinking and civic engagement should also be seen as key factors for civic education that fosters positive peace.
- South Africa. And of course one of the most interesting modern experiments of seeking to cultivate a new national identity is the post-apartheid “Rainbow” South Africa. The “rainbow nation” is a metaphor and ideology that has been used in South Africa since the end of apartheid to represent the country’s aspiration to unity in diversity. The term is based on the idea that South Africa is made up of many different groups of people, and that these groups should come together in a spirit of unity and equality. It is also connected to the African philosophy of Ubuntu- I am because you are or as Tutu put it – “my humanity is bound up in and inextricably linked to yours”. South African critic of the “false and misapropriateness” of the “rainbow’ unity, Leyla Tavernaro-Haidarian writes that “if we are to suppose that identity shapes our very interests, then the converse might be true.” She states that Social injustices, inequities and other material problems may only be resolved once a sense of relatedness and interconnectivity with the community at large is established. She argues in her article that the African moral theory of ubuntu can help South Africa achieve this by contributing to understandings of identity and agency that work in concert with systems and structures and towards shared ends, arguing that through ubuntu, identity can be reimagined as mutualistic and symbiotic with social organization – enabling, as a result, more equity and justice.
- So what do we learn from all of these varying stories and approaches to cultivating national consciousness and what do we take forward that would be relevant to our unique context in Sierra Leone?
- There are different theoretical approaches as well to cultivating civic consciousness and I am drawn to Hess (2009) who defines civic education as the way societies prepare young people to engage in political, social, and moral issues of their community. Through political education and democratic engagement, Hess explores the role of discussion and controversy in classrooms in promoting democratic engagement and political understanding. Using Hess’ research, a civic education curriculum should integrate discussion of current events and controversial issues in order to foster students’ abilities to engage in democratic discourse and understand different perspectives.
- We must have robust debates about our past, our national symbols, our totems etc and look at what already exists in our culture and in our everyday life to construct a new , yes decolonized and locally relevant national consciousness – and a new radically inclusive identity.
- One starting point is the very national symbol- our national totem. Our current national symbol, a tribute to Pedro Da Cintra’s mistaken characterisation of our country is the Lion. Our National Team is the Leone (Lion) Stars. The Lion dons our coat of arms. The only challenge is no Sierra Leonean has really ever seen or can relate with a Lion. We do not have Lions in our country. But at the literal and metaphorical center of our lives is the Cotton Tree. Using the cotton tree as a locally relevant inclusive symbol, we can stimulate a conversation about a new identity. At the center of our city is a 400 year old Cotton tree. It is the place yes, freed slaves gathered when they first arrived at our shores. But even before they arrived, the cotton tree was a place for gathering for our indigenous communities. We consider it so sacred that even with the rampant felling of trees, we do not touch the cotton trees. They are sacred. It is what we use to measure from our city to the center of all major towns and almost every major district, town and village in our country has a central cotton tree. We could be the Cotton Tree Nation, deeply rooted, long lasting, productive, enduring, resilient. Much more appropriate metaphors to mobilize around than the powerful, but shorter living, relatively lazy cat that is the Lion. I learned that symbols are powerful in peacebuilding and I think a radical rethink of our national symbol is a critical basis for reconstructing a national identity that is relatable.
- The Cottown tree gives us an opportunity to even rethink our national goals – feed salone, clean Salone, heal salone, digitize salone, Salone for we all.
- Our National Anthem. I was at the Game last week and heard the Notre Dame anthem. We love thee, Notre Dame. It carries meaning, links us together and inspires us. It makes us all proud Fighting Irish. Our national anthem in SIerra Leone is written in words and a style that is foreign to us and therefore impossible to connect with us beyond the elites who have access to a mostly British orientation of music. We do not sing like that. The words do not have meaning with us.
- Our National Pledge. Also written in english after the war and like the anthem, feels like it was written to impress the British, and less to galvanize and summon us.
- Our national language: When I became minister, I started conducting government public engagements in the most widely spoken local language in the country. Up until last year, all government engagements- formal and official were conducted 100% in English- a language understood and spoken by less than 20% of the population. In fact in schools, we were punished for speaking our local language and kids who had never spoken english at home walk into school on the first day and are expected to only be taught in this glorified aspirational language. We must embrace our local languages and build on the culture that we have started. As I told our parliamentarians recently, it is fascinating to me that they campaign in the local krio language but conduct government business in English.
- I believe that Sierra Leone has an opportunity to learn from other countries- Eswatini, Turkiye, Ghana, many others who yes could go the extra mile and even change the names of their countries to reflect modern aspirations, true history and our rich cultural heritage. At the very least, what I seek to do, in a country where our education system has taught us often to just accept things as they are- is to question.
- Close- we have been taught to not think. Not ask. No question. Emancipation is liberation. And liberation is to question. And dare. Civic Education is to dare to question. From Aristotle and Plato, to the more contemporary authors cited above, civic education for peaceful societies emphasizes moral and ethical citizenship, oriented towards harmony in societies and communal well-being. Johan Galtung introduced the idea of positive peace, in contrast to negative peace, as the presence of social justice and equality rather than the mere absence of physical violence. Civic education strives to achieve positive peace through fostering understanding, empathy, and conflict resolution/transformation skills. The goal is to use this framework to achieve a more positive peace!