BY: Hassan Alimamy Kamara
Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, Solomon Jamiru Esquire, commending the president of Sierra Leone, his Excellency brigadier retired Julius Maada Bio, for co-chairing the Transforming Education Summit at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) high-level steering committee of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) four (4) in the United States of America (USA), has proclaimed that Sierra Leone is on the right track to reclaiming its old name as the ‘Athens of West Africa,’ taking into consideration the indelible mark the country created then in the field of education, which he said that has been resuscitated.
He added that President Bio is the champion of the Transforming Education Summit. As a result, he said Sierra Leoneans should be proud of such a milestone, and that the time has come for Sierra Leone to take back its place to regain its history.
He made this statement on Thursday 22nd September 2022, at the Ministry of Information and Communications weekly national press conference, Youyi Building in Freetown. Sitting side by side with the United Nations Secretary-General as co-chair of the summit and the launch, the deputy minister said is something to be proud of as a country.
In the summit, the deputy minister said from all indications it is creating a multi-billion fund for education across the world through the basket fund which is an innovative way of financing. He continued that Sierra Leone has a bid to become a member in the non-parliamentary category of the United Nations Security Council. In the case of that bid, Mr. Jamiru said president Bio declared that the African Union (AU) has endorsed Sierra Leone as a sole candidate for Africa to pursue that bid. With regard to that, Mr. Jamiru said it is an unequivocal validation for Africa to endorse a small nation like Sierra Leone to serve in such a capacity.
Emphasizing the reason behind reaching such a milestone, he stressed that despite other schools of thought, it is indeed a confirmation that the country is making the much-needed development strides and gains. He emphasized that the major and unequivocal highlights about the country from other nations speak volumes of the successes made so far.
