The 179th National Flag Day oration delivered by Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan offers Liberia an important opportunity to look beyond the colors of the Lone Star and examine the conduct of the people who live beneath it.
His central message is difficult to dispute: patriotism means very little if it does not translate into responsibility.
For 179 years, Liberia’s flag has represented sovereignty, national identity, sacrifice and hope. It has flown through moments of celebration and periods of national tragedy. It has witnessed political transitions, civil conflict, public health emergencies, economic difficulties and the long process of reconstruction.
Yet the question Liberians should ask today is not simply what the flag has witnessed.
The more important question is what the flag sees when it looks at us.
Does it see citizens committed to Liberia?
Does it see leaders who place the national interest above personal ambition?
Does it see public officials protecting national resources?
Does it see citizens respecting the law even when doing so is inconvenient?
Does it see young people being prepared for productive lives?
Does it see political opponents competing without hatred?
Does it see a society becoming more tolerant, more responsible and more united?
Those questions go to the heart of Minister Ngafuan’s oration.
The most powerful part of his message is perhaps his insistence that patriotism must become a practice.
Liberians are increasingly enthusiastic about displaying the national colors. During Independence Day celebrations and other national occasions, the red, white and blue appear everywhere. Citizens wear Liberian colors, decorate their homes and businesses, organize cultural events and proudly celebrate the country.
That renewed national pride is welcome.
But patriotism cannot end with clothing.
It cannot end with waving a flag.
It cannot end with singing the National Anthem.
And it cannot end with shouting “Long live Liberia.”
The difficult form of patriotism begins when the celebration ends.
A public official who refuses to steal public money is practicing patriotism.
A police officer who refuses a bribe is practicing patriotism.
A teacher who goes to school prepared to educate children is practicing patriotism.
A doctor or nurse who treats patients with dignity is practicing patriotism.
A businessperson who pays legitimate taxes is practicing patriotism.
A journalist who refuses to deliberately publish false information is practicing patriotism.
A citizen who protects public property is practicing patriotism.
A young person who chooses education, skills development and productive work over crime and drugs is practicing patriotism.
That is the kind of patriotism Liberia desperately needs.
The country does not need citizens who love the flag only when cameras are present.
It needs citizens who respect the country when nobody is watching.
This is especially important for public officials.
Minister Ngafuan’s observation that the national flag displayed inside government offices is not merely decoration deserves serious reflection.
Every public official should understand that the flag represents millions of Liberians.
It represents the market woman.
It represents the farmer.
It represents the student.
It represents the fisherman.
It represents the unemployed graduate.
It represents the Liberian living in the Diaspora.
It represents the citizen who may never have the opportunity to enter the office of a minister, legislator or senior government official.
When an official sits behind a government desk, that person is not sitting there as a private individual.
The office belongs to the Republic.
The resources belong to the people.
The authority belongs to the Constitution.
And the flag standing nearby should serve as a constant reminder of that responsibility.
This is why public service must never be confused with personal ownership.
Minister Ngafuan made another important point when he described Liberia as a common enterprise in which every citizen is a shareholder.
That analogy deserves to be taken seriously.
No president owns Liberia.
No minister owns Liberia.
No senator owns Liberia.
No political party owns Liberia.
No county owns Liberia.
No tribe owns Liberia.
Liberia belongs to all Liberians.
Public office therefore does not give anyone a larger ownership stake in the Republic.
It gives that individual a greater responsibility to the Republic.
This principle should guide Liberia’s political culture.
One of the country’s persistent problems is the tendency to judge individuals according to the group to which they belong.
If someone belongs to our political party, we are often prepared to defend that person’s conduct regardless of the facts.
If someone belongs to an opposing party, we can become equally prepared to condemn that person before the facts are fully established.
The same problem can appear along county, tribal, religious and social lines.
Minister Ngafuan’s call to “individuate” is therefore highly relevant.
A person’s political affiliation should not automatically make that person good or bad.
A person’s county should not determine his or her character.
A person’s religion should not determine whether we trust that person.
And government membership should not automatically make someone corrupt, just as being outside government should not automatically make someone virtuous.
Individuals should be judged by their conduct.
That is a much healthier foundation for a democratic society.
Liberia also needs this principle as it confronts the growing political tensions surrounding governance, accountability and national development.
Political competition is necessary.
Political disagreement is healthy.
Opposition is essential to democracy.
But political hatred is destructive.
Minister Ngafuan is correct that Liberians should be able to compete politically without treating one another as enemies.
The presidency is not private property.
A legislative seat is not private property.
A ministerial position is not private property.
Political office belongs to the Liberian people.
Therefore, the defeat of one political candidate should not be interpreted as the destruction of Liberia, and the victory of another should not be treated as the personal triumph of one group over another.
Liberia must reject the dangerous mentality that says one side must destroy the other in order to survive.
The country has paid an unbearable price for division.
Liberians know what happens when political disagreements become hatred and when hatred becomes violence.
The memories of the civil war should make every responsible citizen cautious about rhetoric capable of inflaming division.
That is why leaders across the political spectrum must recognize the power of their words.
A politician with a microphone has responsibility.
A pastor with a pulpit has responsibility.
A journalist with a platform has responsibility.
A social media influencer with thousands of followers has responsibility.
A government official with institutional power has responsibility.
Influence without responsibility can become dangerous.
Liberia’s young people are especially vulnerable to messages that turn political competition into personal hatred.
They deserve better.
They deserve a country where disagreement does not automatically mean hostility.
They deserve a political culture where evidence matters more than rumors.
They deserve institutions that work.
They deserve education that prepares them for employment and entrepreneurship.
They deserve opportunities to contribute to national development.
And they deserve leaders who understand that today’s political victory means very little if it leaves tomorrow’s Liberia weaker.
This is where the transition from heritage to hope becomes meaningful.
Heritage tells Liberians where they came from.
Hope asks where they are going.
But hope cannot simply be a speech.
Hope must be constructed.
It must be financed.
It must be protected by institutions.
It must be supported by infrastructure.
It must be sustained by education.
It must be defended by the rule of law.
And it must ultimately be measured by improvements in people’s lives.
The ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development, which Minister Ngafuan referenced, therefore needs to be judged not simply by its language but by its results.
Liberians need roads.
They need electricity.
They need functioning hospitals.
They need quality schools.
They need employment.
They need productive agriculture.
They need reliable institutions.
They need a business environment that encourages investment.
And they need public resources to produce visible public benefits.
Development itself can become a powerful force for national unity.
A road does not ask a citizen which political party he supports before allowing him to travel.
Electricity does not ask which tribe a child belongs to before illuminating a classroom.
A hospital should not ask whether a patient voted for the government before providing treatment.
A school should not ask a child whether his or her parents support the ruling party before providing education.
That is the beauty of inclusive development.
It treats citizens as citizens.
If Liberia can consistently deliver development that reaches people regardless of political, ethnic, religious or geographic identity, the country will strengthen its national cohesion.
The proposed expansion of the national budget to the historic billion-dollar level is therefore significant, but the size of the budget itself should never become the ultimate measure of success.
A billion-dollar budget means little if citizens cannot see meaningful improvements.
The real question is what the money produces.
How many roads?
How many schools?
How much electricity?
How many jobs?
How much better healthcare?
How much stronger are the institutions?
How much more prosperous are ordinary Liberians?
That is where patriotism meets governance.
And that is where the Lone Star becomes more than a symbol.
The flag cannot build Liberia by itself.
Liberians must build Liberia.
We raise the flag when we raise our standards.
We raise it when we demand integrity from ourselves.
We raise it when we refuse corruption even when it benefits us.
We raise it when we teach our children discipline and responsibility.
We raise it when we protect our national institutions.
We raise it when we respect people with whom we disagree.
We raise it when we choose peace over provocation.
And we raise it highest when we put Liberia above ourselves.
Minister Ngafuan’s oration should therefore not be remembered merely as another National Flag Day speech.
It should be treated as a national challenge.
Liberia’s heritage has already been given to us.
Our responsibility is to turn that heritage into hope.
And the best way to honor the Lone Star is not merely to salute it.
It is to live in a way that makes the flag proud of the people beneath it.
