In Sierra Leone, the song "Move On" by The Wailing Souls serves as a metaphor for the country's current situation, with its message of "Move on. Carry on. Life goes on." This reggae anthem, with its enduring message, encapsulates a widespread sentiment. The article suggests this sentiment becomes the "soundtrack of a population being told to endure what should not have to be endured." The Wailing Souls' lyrics, including "life is not a bed of roses" and "everything is just the same every day," are presented as an indictment of a society where ordinary people bear an extraordinary burden. Indeed, the song "Move On" becomes a powerful commentary on a system that expects its citizens to perpetually adapt without fundamental change. Despite the challenges, the song also offers "as long as there is life, there is hope," prompting the question of how long survival should be mistaken for progress in Sierra Leone. This question, "how long must survival be mistaken for progress?", notes a critical dilemma facing the nation.
The Daily Hustle for Survival
Ordinary Sierra Leoneans face daily struggles to secure food, pay rent, afford transportation, cover school expenses, sustain small businesses, and support extended family members. These are not isolated incidents but a continuous battle to put food on the table, meet essential financial obligations, and keep nascent enterprises afloat. Individuals engage in continuous effort from morning until night, as "standing still can mean going without," according to observations from the ground. This constant grind is a stark reality for many. This persistent demand for resilience manifests in various forms, with a market woman encouraged to hustle harder, a young graduate advised to be patient, an unemployed man urged to keep looking for work, a small trader told to persevere, and a struggling family instructed to have faith. The societal expectation is clear: individuals must find a way to "move on," regardless of the systemic hurdles.
The Wailing Souls' song reflects this ongoing cycle, stating, "everything is just the same every day." This routine is characterized as "survival on repeat," rather than a period of economic transformation. The daily experience for many is a constant effort to maintain a basic standard of living, rather than to achieve upward mobility or significant economic advancement. Despite these challenges, Sierra Leoneans demonstrate resourcefulness, participating in trade, farming, fishing, driving, constructing businesses, selling goods by the roadside, and generating opportunities where formal employment is scarce. Their ingenuity in creating livelihoods where structured employment is lacking is a testament to their spirit. The song's line, "as long as there is life, there is hope," carries a dual significance, offering both encouragement and noting the exhaustion that can accompany prolonged anticipation for change. While it provides a beacon of optimism, it also serves as a reminder that hope can be a heavy burden when waiting for fundamental shifts to materialize. Citizens have consistently been moving, hustling, struggling, adapting, and surviving for generations within this context. They have been doing so not for a short period, but across multiple generations, facing similar challenges.
Resilience as a Political Tool
A potential pitfall exists in celebrating societal resilience while overlooking the underlying conditions that necessitate it. There is a clear danger that society celebrates resilience while ignoring the conditions forcing people to be resilient. A nation cannot construct its future solely by encouraging its citizens to intensify their efforts. A country cannot build its future simply by telling its citizens to hustle harder; such a strategy is unsustainable and ultimately unproductive. While individual hustling can sustain a family, it cannot serve as a replacement for fundamental societal needs such as decent employment, productive industries, accessible education, dependable infrastructure, and an economy capable of generating widespread opportunities at scale. These larger structural elements are essential for true national progress and cannot be substituted by individual effort alone.
Politicians frequently commend resilience, applaud citizens, promise improved conditions, and advocate for patience. They can praise resilience, celebrate citizens, tell them better days are coming, and urge patience, but this often deflects from deeper issues. However, resilience should not be transformed into a political justification for inaction. Resilience should never become a political excuse for failing to address systemic problems. Citizens should not be compelled to exhibit extraordinary heroism merely to secure basic necessities. People should not have to be heroic simply to afford the basics of life. As Melvyn Thomas observes, "How many times can you tell people to move on when the road itself never changes?" This query shows the challenge of urging continuous adaptation without addressing systemic obstacles. It notes the futility of individual effort when the foundational environment remains unchanged.
Shifting the Focus to Accountability
The focus in Sierra Leone must shift from examining individual survival tactics to questioning why so many citizens are compelled to live under such conditions. The question should shift from "What are ordinary people doing to survive?" to "Why are so many ordinary people being forced to survive this way?" This reorientation is key for identifying and addressing the root causes of hardship. Young people in the country face significant challenges in connecting their education to employment opportunities, their ambitions to tangible prospects, and their current poverty to future security. This disconnection creates a profound sense of uncertainty and limits their potential. When legitimate economic aspirations encounter limited avenues for advancement, this can lead to frustration, which may then escalate into hopelessness, drive migration, or result in the adoption of desperate survival strategies. The lack of clear pathways for progress can have severe societal consequences. Perseverance, while often necessary, must eventually be complemented by accountability from governments, institutions, and political leaders. This accountability is not just desirable but essential for creating an environment where individual effort can truly flourish. The fundamental challenge lies in fostering a Sierra Leone where the concept of "move on" signifies genuine progress towards an improved life, rather than merely finding alternative methods of enduring hardship. The real challenge is to create a Sierra Leone where "move on" means moving forward into a better life, not just finding another way to survive.