‘How I wished Ibrahim Dabo was Alive’
By Hon. IB Kargbo
In our tense classroom situation where our lecturer of Geography had sparked a tense debate on the future of Sierra Leone, a brave and brilliant classmate, Ibrahim Dabo, took the Scottish professor to task, ‘’by 1988, Sierra Leoneans would have started to manufacture their own cars, provide potable water in every village in Sierra Leone; and this country, Sierra Leone, would have provided healthcare for all its citizens.’’
The argument between the Scottish professor and our great friend, Ibrahim Dabo, took place in 1966, five years after Independence. The euphoria of Independence was still fresh among Sierra Leoneans who thought Independence was the beginning of brighter days ahead.
Professor Fraser Mackie had argued that Independence by itself would mean nothing if the citizens of the country were not development-focused and if the new government was illiterate in the area of development policy formulation.
Ibrahim Dabo was aided in his argument by the most elderly and experienced student in the Geography class, Ranford Roy-Macauley, who said, ‘’ Doc., Dabo may be inexperienced, but I think he has a point. After 100 years of being a colony, it would be a shame if in later years Sierra Leone still remains worse off than we were during colonial occupation.’’
The professor smiled, and concluded the debate when he abruptly said,’’ I have another class next door. I wish you good luck; and Mr. Dabo, I look forward to the day when my children will fly to Sierra Leone onboard a plane manufactured in Sierra Leone.’’
After that banter, Ibrahim Dabo did not show any sign of remorse, and collected his books and said boldly to me, ‘’Ibrahim, don’t you think we can manufacture our own planes in 30 years from now? Don’t you think we should be able to feed all of our people 30 years from now, and don’t you think we should be able to build hospitals in all the villages in Sierra Leone?’’
I replied, ‘’I am with you Dabo, I am with you.’’
Sixty years later, in 2024, Ibrahim Dabo, having served his country well, had passed away without realizing his dream of a developed Sierra Leone: No aeroplanes, no affordable healthcare, no potable water for all. He must be turning in his grave.
Ranford Roy-Macauley is no more. Other members of the class, Kene Simbo, Dominic Gombu, and others have not witnessed the prosperity which Ibrahim Dabo had in mind.
Sierra Leone in its present state, listed among the ten poorest countries in the world, was clearly not Ibrahim Dabo’s country.
A Sierra Leone with a high infant mortality rate with a starving population can hardly be seen as a Sierra Leone which Ibrahim Dabo had in mind when he boasted about a future Sierra Leone as he challenged professor Fraser Mackie.
The present-day Sierra Leone could have been a better country if all its citizens, including its leaders, had developed programs similar to what Ibrahim Dabo had in mind in 1966. In the end, our great friend, Dabo’s elaborate thinking about a prosperous future Sierra Leone, could now at best be seen as wishful thinking. Most of his friends, including myself still alive today could only state, ‘’we wish Ibrahim Dabo was alive today.’’
All of us could not meet the aspirations of Ibrahim Dabo as we have failed Sierra Leone woefully.
