The Standard Bearer of the Alternative National Congress, Alexander Benedict Cummings has stated to the Liberian people that the time is now to come together.
“It is time to do the right things – not just for a political party but for the betterment of the country. It is time to come together, to genuinely heal and be reconciled”.
“I know we cannot change our past, but we can make our nation’s future better. I know change is hard. I know it will require a lot of work. But I also know we can do it” Cummings added.
The ANC Political leader commemorating the 174th Flag Day of the African oldest nation, Liberia on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, said, “54 years after Liberia’s Declaration of Independence, in 1901, a 19-year old Edwin Barclay wrote our nation’s patriotic song symbolized in the Flag.
Desert it, Barclay asked, and answered: No, never! Uphold it? Yes, forever. This call to patriotic duty and national service is as important today as it was written 120 years ago”.
According to him, the government which represents the collective aspirations of the people – share in this patriotic duty that is not simply to stand at attention as the cloth on which the impression of the Flag is designed is being hoisted.
“ Our patriotic duty is to uphold the values of the Flag, and to always strive to fulfill its various promises to all Liberians”.
“This is why when we lead by division, exclusion, and marginalization; we desert the Flag”, he indicated.
Cummings believes that when public offices are abuse and the act of corruption is rampant, people are denied opportunities and unprotected, the flag becomes deserted.
In furtherance, the ANC head maintained that it was now time to help farmers, the young people, women, and amongst others who are struggling to earn ends meet.
“Rather than setting higher expectations and aspirations for ourselves, when we set lowering standards and trap ourselves in negative self-fulfilling prophecies of what we can and cannot do as a nation;”.
“When our streets are overtaken by drugs, a sense of hopelessness, as well as rising unemployment and crimes, and the minds and capacities of many of our young people are not being productively employed; we desert the Flag,” he lamented.
Furthermore, Cummings noted that support to underfunded hospitals, schools, and clinics and reaching out a hand of understanding and assistance to parents struggling to pay rent, school fees, hospital bills, feed their families, and keep a roof over their heads should be the way forward.
