Former editor reveals future plans By Moses A. Kargbo After many years of serving at the international level, former editor of the Concord Times newspaper, Sulaiman Momodu, has revealed that he plans to return home but would not say when. Momodu made the revelation during a recent visit to the country when Concord Times enquired about his plans after his current information assignment at the UN in Liberia. “My future plan is to return home. I have been seriously thinking about it for a few years now,” he said. But asked whether he plans to go into politics upon his return, the former editor replied: “Not at all. When I resigned from my writing job at the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) at a time when Zainab Bangura and Dr. Sam Sesay, who were working there as senior colleagues, had earlier resigned to take up appointments in President Koroma’s government, many people thought I had been offered a position in government as well. It is certainly a privilege and an honour to serve one’s country but all of us cannot serve in government. I will be returning to mainstream journalism.” Momodu worked at the Concord Times newspaper, starting his career as a young reporter in Makeni and had also reported from Bo and Kenema. He later became editor of the Concord Times before joining the United Nations Public Information Section in 2002. After some years at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) in Sierra Leone, he took up assignment at UNMIL, where he worked for nearly five years as a writer before resigning to return to UN humanitarian work where he deals with Public Information issues, including granting interviews to local and international media. Asked whether anybody has expressed concern about his plans to return to mainstream media, Momodu, who had also reported for the BBC, said his family has not forgotten that he was harassed and wanted by the previous SLPP government over his coverage of the civil war and particularly for one of his BBC interviews during which he said the government was minimizing the truth about the war shortly before rebels invaded Freetown on 6 January 1999. “The RUF called our Concord Times office on many occasions and threatened to kill me. I had some encounters with the Kamajor militia as well, but I was just doing my job and always striving to be objective. When you work as an independent journalist you are always sure to offend some people. If you can’t stand the heat, don’t go into the kitchen,” he said. Commenting on the way forward for Sierra Leone, Momodu reiterated that most compatriots want to see a country that they can be very proud of but they do things that bring shame to all Sierra Leoneans and easily become sycophants. “When people say all the right things to the media – newspapers, radio and television – but do all the wrong things when journalists are not around, it is deception and hypocrisy to one’s own country,” observed Mr. Momodu. “We have to be committed to see positive change in our country through our actions. You do not have to be president at all cost, or minister or parliamentarian before you can serve your people, or be filthy rich through dubious means so people can worship you. “I strongly believe that we have all the resources to turn the fortunes of our country around, but we must stop the blatant selfishness, greed and corruption. In whatever we do in life, we should strive to make a difference and to be the change that we desire.”
Posted on: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 16:22:27 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015