President Bio being awarded Distinguished Service Order DSO, in view of his sterling services to promote regional peace and stability

Abubakar Hashim

President Julius Maada Bio was awarded the Distinguished Service Order by President Joseph Boakai for his regional statesmanship and dedicated military prowess at the 68th Liberian Armed Forces Day at the Barclay Training Centre in Monrovia today.

Bio is the first sitting president to grace such an occasion.

President Bio reading his speech at the 68th Armed Forces event today in Liberia

Bio, together with Nigeria’s Abdulsalamt Abubakar, were the only two West African soldiers that voluntarily handed over power, in quick rapidity, to a democratically elected President. Bio in 1996 to late Tejan Kabbah, while Abdulsalam in 1999 to Olusegun Obasanjo.

Receiving the award, President Bio, beaming with smiles, reminded the Liberian Armed Forces that sustainable peace and security “cannot be achieved without the steadfast commitment of professional and disciplined armed forces”.

President Bio, his wife, Fatima, President Boakai and top government dignitaries at the occasion today

He further remarked: “The army protects national sovereignty and a pillar of democratic governance, nations prosper when the military aligns with democratic values. But when it deviates, societies falter”.

President Bio was part of the ECOMOG that liberated Liberia from the shackles of a 14-year-old war.

*Abubakar Hashim is the West Africa Bureau Chief of TheNEWS Magazine, published in Nigeria. He is currently in Nigeria on a special publication on President Boakai’s first year in office.