By ABS
In the dimming light of Sierra Leone’s political stage, where slogans have become empty mantras and power is a game of musical chairs played by the same tired actors, emerges a figure not from the shadows of patronage, but from the disciplined corridors of academia and international diplomacy: Dr. Ibrahim Bangura.Yes, that Dr. Bangura — the Associate Professor who moves between lecture halls at Fourah Bay College and Oxford University with equal ease. The soft-spoken intellectual who has dissected everything from youth agency in postwar Sierra Leone to the ethical failures of global health systems in The Lancet. A man of both mind and mission, with enough credentials to wallpaper the State House — but more importantly, the moral clarity and lived experience to chart a new course for Sierra Leone.
And now, he’s stepping into the fray, offering himself for leadership of the All People’s Congress (APC). In doing so, Dr. Bangura is not merely contesting for a party position — he is inviting a nation to rediscover its dignity.
The Case Against the Status Quo
Let’s be honest: Sierra Leone deserves better than what it’s gotten.
Under the current dispensation, we’ve seen inflation tighten its grip on the average Sierra Leonean like a noose. Youth unemployment festers like an untreated wound. Corruption has morphed into a grotesque creature with too many heads to count, thriving under a leadership that talks reform but breathes impunity.
Meanwhile, the institutions meant to protect democracy and the rule of law are either gagged or on life support. Civic space has shrunk. Protesters are branded enemies. And the nation’s potential — so abundant, so undeniable — remains squandered in the echo chambers of political rhetoric.
The APC Crossroads: Past Glory, Present Drift
The APC, once the engine of national development and political innovation, is now drifting dangerously close to becoming a nostalgia machine — powered by recycled faces and repackaged, over ambitious entitled politicians. Founded in 1960 as a party of liberation, it gave us decades of governance, for better or worse, from 1967 to 1992 and again from 2007 to 2018. But nostalgia is not a manifesto. And what the APC needs now is not another political strongman with a vocabulary of war metaphors. It needs a visionary. A reformer. A scholar with calluses — someone who’s worked in the mud of post-conflict transition, seen the world, but still calls Freetown home.
That someone is Dr. Ibrahim Bangura.
A Leader With Substance
Dr. Bangura’s life reads like the roadmap to the very future Sierra Leone keeps praying for. He’s not here to memorize talking points or perfect the art of political theatre. He’s been doing the work for decades — quietly, deliberately, rigorously.
His publications are not vanity projects. They’re radical critiques and transformative blueprints — whether it’s rethinking disarmament and reintegration in Africa, or elevating the political voice of women through the arts in Senegal, or developing gender frameworks for ECOWAS peace support operations. He’s not just researching problems; he’s fixing them.
This is a man who has evaluated over 100 EU projects in 30 African countries. Who drafted the Women, Peace and Security Guidelines for an entire region. Who continues to teach Sierra Leonean students even while working with some of the world’s finest minds at Oxford.
Let’s be clear: Dr. Bangura doesn’t need to do this. He’s not hungry for power. He’s answering a higher call — to restore the soul of Sierra Leonean leadership and reconnect the APC to the very people it was born to serve.
The Moment to Choose Better
This is not just a political contest. It’s a referendum on what kind of country we want to be. Do we choose business-as-usual — the politics of tribe, noise, and self-enrichment?
Or do we dare to believe that intellect, integrity, and innovation can win in Sierra Leonean politics? Dr. Ibrahim Bangura represents everything this moment demands: a fusion of grassroots experience and global vision, a champion of youth and gender equality, and a product of Sierra Leone’s own academic tradition who now stands ready to transform that knowledge into power — not for himself, but for us all.
A New APC. A New Sierra Leone
It’s time to stop clapping for empty suits and start supporting substance. Time to trade grandstanding for grounded strategy. Time for the APC to redeem itself and for Sierra Leone to imagine again. Dr. Bangura is not just the leader the APC needs. He is the leader Sierra Leone deserves.
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