I AM PROUD to be a Bajan. I feel fortunate that of all the countries in the Caribbean and the world that I was blessed to be born in, it was Barbados.
That’s why Independence Day means so much to me. It is a day I give thanks for what Barbados has been able to achieve as a nation of a mere quarter of a million people living on a little rock in the Atlantic Ocean with no natural resources to give us a competitive edge in this dog-eat-dog world.
The fact that we have done as well as we have in our 44 years of Independence is due largely to the vision and hard, thankless work of our political leaders, business entrepreneurs and academics who have fashioned for us a presence in the international arena, where we are known as a country that boxes way above its weight class.
These achievements include free education; free health care; a national insurance scheme that administers old age pension, disability benefits and more; and free meals and transport for school children.
We also have a legal system that though severely challenged, still works for the benefit of all, and a healthy democracy in which we have held nine general elections without incident.
There are possibly no more than three or four countries in this world that provide the universal social welfare net that we have developed here, and that also have a low crime rate and stable democracy.
We should thank God for blessing us with leaders with vision and competence like Errol Barrow, Tom Adams, Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford and Owen Arthur who in their own way guided our small boat through the choppy international waters while much larger vessels floundered, and continue to do so.
But these men were just figureheads. Behind them they were capable lieutenants each of whom also contributed to our success.
I speak of people like Sir James Cameron Tudor, Sir Frederick Smith, Sir Harcourt Lewis, Sir Maurice King, Sir Philip Greaves, Sir Richard Haynes, Sir Frank Walcott, Sir Harold St John, Sir Henry Forde, Sir David Simmons, Dame Billie Miller and our newest knight, Sir Branford Taitt to name but a few.
In business we have had the energy and pioneering spirit of Sir Charles Williams and his brother Ralph “Bizzy” Williams, Sir Geoffrey Cave, Sir David Seale, Sir Fred Gollop, Harold Hoyte, James Husbands, and several others.
In sports our cricketers are legends. To name but a few, there is the greatest of them all Sir Gary Sobers, then Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Clyde Walcott, Sir Everton Weekes, Conrad Hunte, Malcolm Marshall, Joel “Big Bird” Garner,
Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes and the list goes on.
In academia and in the international arena the depth of scholarship we have produced include Sir George Alleyne, Dame Nita Barrow, Dr Chelson Brathwaite, Sir Hilary Beckles, George Lamming and Professor Edward Brathwaite, and in medicine professors Errol “Mickey” Walrond, George Nicholson and Henry Fraser among others.
In athletics there is Olympic bronze medallist Obadale Thompson, who in 1996 ran the then-fastest 100 metres race ever in 9.69 seconds.
However, as the tail wind was well over the legal limit it was never recognised as an official world record.
And there is of course World Champion, young Ryan Brathwaite, who should become a greater force to be reckoned with as he matures in the 110-metre hurdles.
In entertainment our shelf seems to be getting better stacked as the years roll on with Rihanna leading the list. But the yeoman work of the Merrymen and later Spice & Co did us proud internationally too.
Unfortunately too many Barbadians tend not to appreciate just what we have accomplished here and minimise the contributions made by others on the altar of political expediency.
That is the one sad development that has taken over the body politic of this country like a cancer and is eating away at the fabric of our very being.
This debilitating situation has reached the point where if one says anything that is not consistent with what is officially said you are labelled an operative.
Those who perpetuate such are guilty of undermining healthy national debate which can only serve to make this country stronger.
I pray that all those who have a contribution to make, however small, are allowed to do so for the benefit of the nation.
