President Joseph Boakai of Liberia, right, presenting his book to Abubakar Hashim of TheNEWS in Monrovia.Inset is the book
Abubakar Hashim
He personally presented his biography, From Foya to the Capitol, to me as a gift, after a lengthy interview with him last Saturday, 17 August, 2024 in Monrovia. The book, with President Joseph Boakai’s photograph, signed and dated, is a must-read. It is well written and rendered in descriptive but simple language.
It is a 20-chapter book, that is breathtaking, and filled with life lessons.
Chapter 1 is a brief introduction, referring to President Boakai as a “ great man” who was “not born great”. The chapter asks a lot of questions like what was his journey like from his birthplace to the great Capitol, when he was President of the Senate. Who and what assisted him in the journey and what were the setbacks?
Chapter 2 reveals how President Boakai was born on November 30, 1944, in a remote village in Wasonga, in the Foya District in Lofa County, bordering Sierra Leone. He belongs to the Kissi ethnic group, a unique people with strong traditions. They are extended into Sierra Leone and Guinea.
The Kisses name their children in the order of birth by the mother, hence Boakai’s middle name, N’yuma, is the fifth to his mother.
Chapter 3 details President Boakai’s early school days. He was adopted by his uncle, James Fatorma, who had no biological child. With the consent of his mother, Ma Lusu, who exhibited tremendous love for Boakai, Uncle Fatorma, who was an ex-British soldier based in Kenema in Sierra Leone, took up Boakai as his son, to live and school in Kenema. Boakai has no luck with all his uncles and Fatorma was far worse than all of them. He was a drenched alcoholic, who was severely cruel to his wife and young Boakai.
Chapter 4 explains how young Boakai entered into perennial hardships in Sierra Leone. It teaches a big lesson that out of a miserable life springs endurance, patience, and many other admirable qualities in a man. President Boakai exhibits those qualities today. The chapter also reveals that one may encounter many defeats, but one must not be defeated. The chapter also explains how Boakai returned to his village in Wasonga in Lofa in Liberia, where he found farming work incredibly tedious. But there was a big fortune. Boakai was further adopted by his Aunt, Kumba, who put him to school, with the consent of his mother, Ma Lusu.
Chapter 5 reveals Boakai’s days in school, determined to excel, with promising brilliance at work.
Chapter 6 portrays Boakai’s arrival in the capital city of Monrovia, where he attended Laboratory High School and passed with flying colors. But his stay in Monrovia was short-lived. He went back to Wasonga due to incredible hardship. At Wasonga, he started working as a census officer. He later taught at a Swedish school in Foya
The book, in summary, captures key issues to success in life: endurance, perseverance, dedication, patience, hard work, and Godliness in all endeavors.
True! As the publishers write, Sakul Malakpa aptly chronicles Boakai’s life from birth to service as the thirteenth Vice President. “Boakai’s childhood was filled with his mother’s love, also with incredible hardship, often at the hands of relatives entrusted to care for him. Although the small boy was not good at farming, he was smart in school. No amount of suffering stopped his determination to become educated. His persistence in life’s journey led to high school at the prestigious College of West Africa(CWA). After earning a business degree from the University of Liberia, Boakai became a loving husband, a father, a great leader, a highly respected manager of three Liberian government agencies, a minister of agriculture, a businessman, a quintessential patriot, a lifelong role model and an incredibly honest person who held no grudges. His unique character, personality, faith in God, hard work, public service, and vision make this a must-read book for Liberians and people worldwide.”
The then President Johnson Sirleaf puts a testimonial too that Boakai is a role model “who pulled himself up by his bootstraps…and in both his public and private lives, he has personified respect and honor and integrity…”
From heading key government agencies to Minister of Agriculture to becoming Vice President and now President, the virtues listed above speak volumes about determination to succeed, despite travails in life.
* Abubakar Hashim is the West Africa Bureau Chief of TheNEWS Magazine