I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him. – Abraham Lincoln.
Our learned Prime Minister Freundel Stuart will undoubtedly be familiar with these quoted sentiments of the former United States president.
We dare to add that he almost certainly shares them.
Whatever flak we may be able to hurl at him at home over his leadership style, tardiness in taking action, and lack of interaction with the Press, we can’t help but accord Mr Stuart kudos for his magnanimity during his stopover in Britain on the weekend.
We can’t question his being “faithful to the tradition” of singing the praises of home, while acknowledging the contribution of Barbadians in Britain to the sustenance of their families back in Barbados – and the country therefrom.
Mr Stuart quietly boasted to nearly 200 Barbadians, many of them representing organizations, that for the most part their fellow Bajans back home, in all the difficulties abounding from the global recession, were keeping their heads above water and holding their own.
But not without the “massive and invaluable contribution to the development of Barbados” of “the many loyal Barbadians” in the diaspora “like all of you in this room tonight”.
There would hardly have been dissent to Mr Stuart’s proclamation. Any true-to-form Bajan, anti-Stuart as he might have been, would have been mindful of former British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill’s mantra.
When I am abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.
Mr Stuart’s declared gratitude was not anything the Bajan Brits had not heard from any other Barbadian Prime Minister before. But it was significant coming from Mr Stuart who seemed a little less of the colossus he projects himself to be and more of the humane, understanding leader.
Travel overseas never ceases to make our political leaders more open and amenable – more from the heart! The accommodated crowd at the London Holiday Inn, compliments of the Barbados High Commission in London, would have been impressed “to see a man proud of the place in which he lives” – and leads.
No doubt, the Barbados High Commission Friday night’s guests, in the euphoria of all that is Barbadian, would want to see the man Freundel Stuart so live – and lead – that his country would be proud of him too.
