Gyude Bryant, head of Liberia’s transitional government, said on Tuesday in Abuja, Nigeria, that Liberians have resolved ”never to go to war again”.
Bryant, who arrived on Tuesday for a two-day visit, said that his countrymen are in agreement that there should be no more war if Liberia is to overcome its war-weary past. He said that Liberians have entered into a social covenant to ensure that the country does not experience civil war again.
In a lecture, From Continuous Conflicts to Peace and Sustainable Human Development: The Unfolding Liberian Experience, Bryant said that many Liberians are sure that the current transitional experience is Liberia’s last chance at peace.
Bryant was named to head the interim government after embattled former president Charles Taylor was eased out as strongman through an arrangement of the Economic Community of West African States, championed by Nigeria.
Taylor currently lives in exile in oil-rich Cross River state in Nigeria.
Bryant said that years of civil war have left Liberia in shambles, with many lives and vast property lost to power struggles between the Taylor regime and Liberian rebels.
He said that for the country to achieve any meaningful progress, there must not be any war or crisis, and that the government must ensure that the process of rehabilitation of displaced people is completed within its two-year interim tenure.
Bryant was chosen last year to head the transitional government that is to stay in place for two years. The transitional government is expected to make arrangements for fresh elections to usher Liberia into fully-fledged democracy.
Before the lecture, Bryant held a closed-door meeting with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to report developments in Liberia since the transitional government took over.
Bryant thanked Nigeria for its contributions in restoring peace to Liberia. He noted that Nigeria had sent peace-keeping troops to Liberia, disarmed rebels and provided exile for Taylor.
Obasanjo told Bryant that Nigeria is committed to ensuring that peace reigns in the entire West African sub-region, the African continent and the world as a whole.
He urged Bryant to ensure that Liberia achieve sustainable democracy and elections within the two-year tenure of the transitional government. — Sapa-DPA