"Those who do not remember past are
condemned to repeat it"
This above George Santayana's quote is one of
favorite quote of all time which emphasized the need for us to look into past.
Today Afrikastem brings you the story of Africa's youngest leader of all
time Valentine Strasser of Sierra Leone.
Valentine
Esegragbo Melvine Strasser (born on 26
April 1967 in Freetown,Sierra Leone) served as head of state of Sierra
Leone from 1992 to 1996. He had been a junior military officer but
in 1992, he became the world's youngest Head of State when he seized power
three days after his 25th birthday. He was the leading member in a group of six
young Sierra Leonean soldiers who overthrew president Joseph
Saidu Momoh in the 29 April 1992 military coup. They established a
military junta called the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC).
On January 1996,
after nearly four years in power, Strasser was ousted in a second military
coup, but this time it was his own NPRC soldiers who were not
satisfied with his handling of the peace process. The coup was led by his
deputy, Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio.
Strasser was born
and raised in the neighbourhood of Allen Town in the east end of
Sierra Leone's capital Freetown to Creole parents. Strasser
did his secondary education at the Sierra Leone Grammar School in Freetown and
graduated in 1985 at age eighteen. Strasser enlisted in the Republic
of Sierra Leone Military Forces (RSLMF) at age eighteen, immediately after
graduating from secondary school.
Strasser is the
first Sierra Leonean Head of State born in the post colonial Independent nation
of Sierra Leone. Strasser is the second Sierra Leonean Head of State from the
Creole ethnic group; and he is also the second Sierra Leonean Head of State
born in Freetown.
EARLY LIFE
Valentine
Esegragbo Melvin Strasser was born on 26 April 1967 in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, to parents from
the Creole ethnic group. Strasser grew up in the
neighbourhood of Allen Town, in the
extreme East End of Freetown.
Strasser completed
his secondary education at the Sierra Leone Grammar School in Freetown and
graduated in 1985 at age eighteen. While in secondary school, Strasser was a
gifted student in math and chemistry.
MILITARY CAREER
On graduation from
secondary school in 1985, he enlisted in the Republic of
Sierra Leone Military Forces (RSLMF) at the age of eighteen and
was deployed for military training as a cadet officer
at the Benguema Military Training Academy inBenguema, a town located just outside Freetown. After his
training, he rose to the rank of junior officer in the Sierra Leone army at the young age
of nineteen.
As a young
ambitious soldier, Strasser was commissioned to a military barracks in Daru, Kailahun District in Eastern Sierra Leone in 1987 at the
age of 19. The Revolutionary United Front (RUF)
led by Foday Sankoh began their first attack
on 25 March 1991 in Buedu villages in Kailahun District. Strasser and other
soldiers who were already in a military barracks in Kailahun, were sent to
command and rout the rebellion against the RUF.
PRESIDENCY
During Strasser's
time at the war front in Kailahun District against the RUF, the Government of
Sierra Leone led by president Joseph Saidu Momoh hardly
supplied enough boots to the soldiers and the necessary military equipment to
help fortify Strasser and his fellow soldiers in the war against the RUF. The
soldiers never received their salaries on time and their welfare was hardly at
the top of the government's list of priorities.
After many
appeals, warnings or threats, the young soldiers decided to march down in their
combat from Kailahun to the State House in
Freetown on 29 April 1992, to protest about their setbacks in pursuing the war,
demanding their outstanding salaries. The group of soldiers was led by Strasser
himself and his best friend Solomon Musa. The emergence of the soldiers into the capital
city forced president Momoh to flee the country and he went into exile in Conakry, Guinea. That motivated Strasser and his men to seize
power, forming the NPRC, with Strasser as its leader and the Head of State of the country. Strasser became the
youngest Head of State in the world at just
twenty five years old.
POST-PRESIDENCY
On January 1996,
after nearly four years in power, Strasser was ousted in another military coup, but this time it was his own NPRC members who
were not satisfied with his handling of the peace process. The coup was led by
his deputy, Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio, Colonel Tom Nyuma and Captain Komba Mondeh. Bio quickly rose as the leader of the coup, with
the support of Nyuma and Mondeh and took over as Head of State of Sierra
Leone.
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