By Dadson A. Musa

“Procrastination is the thief of time,” they say and that act brings so much setbacks and cost us so much as a country. It stalls or erodes chances of progress. And in Sierra Leone, so many of our key projects are either bureaucratically delayed or are held up by over-centralization of governance. Just some of the projects delayed include; Sewa grounds, national stadium rehabilitation, Lungi bridge, completion of Bumbuna hydroelectricity project, Bunumbu Teachers college rehabilitation, road to the president’s home, etc. These are all key project that require the essence of our time. Delaying them is bound to cost us human, financial and material things. Just as so much time is spent crossing the estuary, the nation stands the chance of losing our home matches, the central business district is still congested and businesses in the province especially from the president’s home is slowed down, all due to these delays.  These delays affect the overall development of our country. And while our counterparts from Africa and other parts of the world are moving in leaps and bounds, Sierra Leone is either moving at a snail pace or not moving at all.

Some of it is due to the selfishness and insensitivity of officials who are put in charge of these projects. They do not look at the bigger picture and for them it is about their individual benefits or personal aggrandizement above the general good. This has been an age-old systemic problem that we have not addressed enough and it threatens our survival as a country. Losing lives and other valuable advantage means nothing to those put in charge of these projects. To solve these problems, we need to recalibrate our monitoring and evaluation system. The cost of these delays is seen in foreigners benefitting from what we are due and country as a whole losing out big time on what is due us.

It is a mind -set that we must work to improve on otherwise development is going to remain a far-fetched dream. These delays have continued to deepen the lack of faith in our own country and yearning to leave this country and travel abroad to find a meaningful continues to rise. Even if it means going abroad to live there as second-class citizens because we have refused to develop our own country and make it attractive to customers. Sometimes the sacrifices which are needed for things to work, are what Sierra Leoneans do not want to make for posterity. Yes, we should blame our elected leaders, but our attitudes as citizens remain the problem. Tribalism, our constant curse and too much politicking are also part of the delay process that are costing us lifetime opportunities. Even if we travel abroad and make fortunes the place that we yearn to retire to when we get old is our homeland, Sierra Leone. So why do we treat this country with so much neglect and reckless abandon. Remember, there is no place like home, fellow Sierra Leoneans