By Dadson A. Musa
Feed Salone has been launched in Sierra Leone by president Bio amidst the Kush menace rampaging and eroding the talents and energy of our youthful population. For the president’s flagship program (Feed Salone) to succeed the youths of this country must be heavily involved. At this time when we need to muster the youthful energy and exuberance to grow enough of what we eat and stop the importation of our staple food which is going to help us solve the deficit problem of our economy. Youths are those who are going to work on the farm; they plough the soil, plant the crops, weed the farm, irrigate the vast farmlands, pave the roads and harvest the crops. All of these because they have the energy to do and the government and the people of Sierra Leone cannot afford to see this project fail. If it succeeds so many other things like health, education, economy and growth of this country will fall into place.
Sierra Leone’s youth are currently caught in the addiction of a drug that threatens the wellbeing and future of a generation that might be rendered useless. The importers and the dealers of the drug have found the trade attractive and are making fortunes albeit at the detriment of the health and lives of our youths. The security forces have played their part but the initial grip that they had on this fight seems to be slipping away. Government is in a catch 22 situation; wanting to ensure we feed ourselves and at the same time losing the youthful talents and energy needed for this. There is so much work for government to do and it needs huge financial and material resource. The Kush fight was never in their agenda and never budgeted for and now it has appeared as a concern just when we are about to undertaken a major project. Redoubling efforts and reallocation of resources is what will make the difference not forgetting or leaving out our international partners like the WHO et al. This is because if action is not taken, the feed salone project will face an ugly challenge.
Our youths, when they take the Kush drug it puts them into a state of ecstasy not seen before. They loll when it is time to work because consciousness is lost. They sell whatever valuable asset in their possession to buy Kush drug. Students in schools and colleges are dropping out in large numbers due to Kush which is a very bad omen for the future of this country. The economic hardship in the country is real and some school of thoughts want to blame it for youths involving in the Kush menace. Lack of opportunities especially also when it comes to sports could be a very laudable alternative for youths to get off drugs. Our sporting disciplines must stop the too much politicking and selfishness and play a part in getting our youths off drugs. Government, credit to them provided huge incentives to those playing football and that must be followed up on by other sporting disciplines like athletics, tennis, volleyball, handball, etc. The youth ministry and the sports ministry have a huge role to play in this because we cannot allow the feed salone project to fail due to a Kush menace that can be handled.
Copy right –Printed in the Expo Times News on wednesday, March 27th, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
