By: ABSAS
In the enduring history of the All People’s Congress (APC), leadership is never an accident of timing. It is the deliberate harvest of struggle and the sacred duty of intellectual stewardship. True leadership does not merely occupy an office; it inherits a generational responsibility.
This is the essence of the Heir of the Ages—a figure forged in the crucible of the past, tested by the friction of opposition, and uniquely prepared to architect the future of Sierra Leone. Prof. DIB stands today as the living embodiment of this lineage, a leader whose loyalty is not episodic and whose authority is never borrowed.
The foundation of this authority was laid in the darkest hours of the party’s history.
On April 29, 1992, when the NPRC coup overthrew the APC government of President Joseph Saidu Momoh, the party faced an existential crisis. While many sought safety or switched allegiances, a young Prof. DIB—then only a secondary school student—refused to let the flame die. Driven by the bitter experience of that overthrow, he began the dangerous work of regrouping the Sons and Daughters of the APC.
He understood early that if the party’s soul was to survive military rule, it had to be preserved within the hearts of the next generation.
As he transitioned into higher education, this clandestine resistance evolved into a sophisticated institutional movement.
During his historic two-term tenure as the first President of the first APC students’ body on Fourah Bay College, that later to the National Union of APC Students (NUAS), Prof. DIB became the “Gin Pole”—the central, load-bearing pillar upon which the party’s student structure was erected.
He recognised that previous administrations had been vulnerable to student hostility due to an ideological vacuum. To correct this, he transformed potential alienation into active inclusion, using NUAS to socialise students into the APC’s national vision.
It was from this seat of student power that Prof. DIB performed a masterstroke of strategic foresight. In 2002, while the APC was in the “political wilderness” and facing a dominant SLPP, Prof. DIB invited Ernest Bai Koroma to Fourah Bay College to launch his campaign.
Though the party did not win that year, the seed was planted. By the time Prof. DIB graduated in 2004, he had already made the APC leader a household name among the intellectual elite. When the 2007 elections arrived, this foundation allowed the APC’s popularity to spread at the speed of light, ushering in a decade of transformation.
What truly distinguishes an Heir of the Ages, however, is the ability to remain constant when the “shine” turns to “rain.” Since 2018, while others retreated into the shadows of opposition, Prof. DIB has remained the party’s intellectual engine. He has transitioned from the student leader of the early 2000s to the Principal Architect of the movement, serving as the lead author of both the 2018 and 2023 Manifestos.
He has successfully translated raw party philosophy into a world-class blueprint for peacebuilding, economic development, and sustainable livelihoods.
Prof. DIB represents a rare synthesis of academic rigour and political realism.
As a Professor of Peace and Strategic Security with advanced degrees in Development Economics, Gender Studies, and International Relations, his leadership is rooted in evidence rather than noise. He is the bridge between the 1960 founding, the 1992 resistance, and the modern sophistication required for national renewal.
Having served the party through thick and thin for over thirty years, he stands as the Fountain of Distinguished Esteem—a leader who has earned the right to command the present because he never abandoned the past.
