I don’t know how I managed to forget in the last blog post - commentary on one of the most brilliant political slogans of all time (This puts Obama’s pop art CHANGE slogan to shame, he should really get in touch with Ma Ellen’s peeps for this next election).
Take a look at this…really take a minute to take it all in!
I have to tell you, when I first saw this poster up around the city I thought “Now that is really playing dirty, why would you publicly refer to your political opponents as a Monkey or Baboon? In staff meetings, behind closed doors name calling I’m sure is completely appropriate and possibly even encouraged by publicly?” It seemed like political suicide to me, but here in Liberia it is just considered clever PR.
For those of you who have been studying up on Liberian English, you might be able to decipher the “wait small” part of the message. Or perhaps those who have spent time living and working in West Africa, or just have a lot of general animal knowledge might be able to work out the entire slogan all on your own.
But if you were anything like me when I first read this poster, most of you are probably thinking what the *&#! does that mean?!
So let me break it down. The Monkey represents current President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and she wants the country to know she is still working very hard for Liberia. It is particularly important for her to acknowledge this point because back in 2005, during the last election she publically announced that she would only run for office once. For those of you who are thinking, “How typically, another African leader promising to bring change and reform in only one term now decides they need more time – before you know it we have another Momard Gaddafi on our hands”. I think we should cut Ma Ellen a little slack.
First of all the woman is 72 years old, if she is elected for a second term and serves for the next 6 years, something tells me at 78 years of age she will be in the mood for a little well deserved R&R (retirement and red wine). Secondly, although 6 years may seem like a long term to those of us who have the privilege of living in a stable peaceful democracy, it really isn’t that much time when you are trying to rebuild a country that has had ever fiber of its social fabric violently destroyed for 14 years. 6 years is pretty much long enough to beg the international community to forgive your massive debts, start the rebuilding and vetting your security sector, fix roads so you can actually access the communities you are trying to rebuild and get some of your kids back into schools. 6 years is not long enough to electrify the country (I heard yesterday only 1% of Liberia is electrified, more on this later), provide safe drinking water, rebuild clinics and make sure your population is not just scrapping by on $1USD per day. In summary, the Monkey or Ellen is asking for a little more time so she can really get things done!
The Baboon is her political opposition, and here is the best part… baboons are notorious in the animal kingdom for stealing bananas or other fruits from monkeys instead of gathering their own. In other words, Ellen does not want the political opposition to come and “steal the fruits” of her labour, or more specifically to undo some of the progress and work that here administration has accomplished in this last term.
Wait Small is the Liberian English way of saying wait for a short time, or just a little while. So she is asking that Liberians reelect her so she can finish the work she is doing, and the opposition…well they only have to wait another 6 years before they can have their turn to lead Liberia.
My fellow Canadians - I know what you’re thinking…how can this be used by the Conservatives in the next election? The answer …it just can’t. The trick about calling yourself a monkey publicly, is that you have enough credibility that people don’t already call you a monkey behind your back; you can see how this would pose a problem for Harper!
