A Patriot’s Diary
With Ekena Nyankun Juahgbe-Droh Wesley
When conscientiously-beleaguered Samuel P. Jackson sought to instigate a class war about the “Nobody-ness” of Cllr. Tiawon Saye Gongloe’s running mate in a social media post, right-thinking minds treated him with a pinch of salt. Veteran Liberia journalist John Kollie of LMDI immediately rebuffed Samuel Jackson in the wake of his condescending comments.
Folks, we are in a very crucial election year and Samuel Jackson, no doubt has an interest as it were. Many die-hard progressive elements have already stripped Sam Jackson of the garment of progressive tendencies he sheepishly once aspired for. Like Samuel Jackson, many a Liberians could be asking the hard question of “What manner of Man Is Dr. Emmanuel Urey-Yarkpowolo, now Integrity-2?”
Dr. Emmauel Urey-Yarkpowolo does not only represent the commonality or ordinariness of the vast majority of the Liberian people but offers a glimmer of hope for a youthful population of the small West African nation – on whose shoulders the prospects of a wholesome future rest.
It is imperative for the likes of Samuel Jackson and associated naysayers to know the Dr. Emmanuel Urey-Yarkpowolo is a proud and exemplary son of the border-adjoining town of Gumue, Zota District, Bong County. Yes, born 1981, Dr. Urey-Yarkpawolo must not carry so-called pseudo class tag as Samuel Jackson sought to pontificate but he represents the pain, agony, challenges, difficulties and aspirations of the mass of the Liberian people across every sphere.
Dr. Urey-Yarkpowolo lost his mother, Gormah Yarkpawolo at barely 2 years of age and for the rest of his childhood upbringing, fondly pays tribute to his aunt, Nyamah Yarkpawolo and his father, Yarkpawolo Taylor. Dr. Urey-Yarkpowolo’s father was one of the pioneering tailors of in Gumue, which positioned him as a household name especially when everyone wanted to appear fashionably elegant in the town.
Dr. Urey-Yarkpawolo’s early life was characterized by learning by the ropes in which farming, fishing, setting traps and palm-cutting occasioned him. He did come from any silver-spooned household. He was harshly configured as the trappings of the tumultuously cumbersome chores the vast majority of Liberians birthed under the claws of poverty endue variously. He does not in any manner of form present himself as ‘man of class’ as in the state of myopia of Sam Jackson.
Admittedly, he acknowledges his father, Yarkpawolo Taylor, who consistently nurtured him into wearing the virtues of integrity and honesty, which aptly qualify him as a genuine running mate to Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe – Liberia’s looming integrity icon.
As an epitome of hope in God’s grace – a refuge-stricken, Urey-Yarkpawolo told his worried “God will provide” father in Guinea – when confronted with the reality that although Refugee-operated schools were free-of-charge, on returning to Liberia, they would be challenged with funding his education. In 1995, at the Bheta Refugee Camp in neighboring Guinea, Dr. Urey-Yarkpawolo’s father tried to lure him into pursuing apprenticeship in blacksmithing but fled and returned to the refugee camp – where he resumed school.
Dr. Emmanuel Urey-Yarkpawolo, in 2005 graduated from the Lenn Miller High School in Monrovia as valedictorian of his class – winning 8 awards out of 12 subjects – where he also served as Student Council President. In 2008, he obtained his Bachelor’s Degree from the Cuttington University; a Master’s in Public Health from Cuttington graduate School; a Master’s of Science in Environment and Resources with emphasis on Political Ecology in 2013; and Ph.D in the same field from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2018. Dr. Emmanuel Urey-Yarkpawolo hols a certificate Leadership with Integrity from Les Aspin Center for government in Washington D.C. and certificate in Management and Entrepreneurship from Columbia University, New York.
In case the inconsequential ‘doubting Thomases’ still hold unrepentant cum nauseating qualms, Dr. Emmanuel Urey-Yarkpawolo served as the first President of the Salvation Army Polytechnic in Monrovia – who transitioned a little known institution of dilapidated building and zero students but in a few months mobilized funding, renovated the school and recruited approximately 300 students. With the Motto: “Education with Integrity” – which he coined – seeks to underpin Dr. Urey-Yarkowolo’s vision – not only to instill quality education in students but to make it parallel to integrity with a view to applying quality education to transform the lives of people and communities.
Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe’s illustrious running mate – Dr. Urey-Yarkpawolo is the founder of One Life Liberia (https://www.onelifeliberia.org/), an NGO based in Liberia and in the USA that helps build schools for marginalized children in rural communities in Liberia and supports sustainable agriculture productions. Dr. Urey-Yarkpawolo is founding member and Chairman of the Grassroots Alternative Movement (http://gamliberia.org/), a social justice organization established in Liberia and in the USA with the goal of instilling disciplines and fighting for equality and justice in Liberia.
Dr. Urey-Yarkpawolo is happily married to Vivian Yarkpawolo and the union is blessed with 5 children. He had 2 boys, Bobby and Joseph (JU) when he met Vivian and she had 1 boy, Lloyd (Nelly). Together, they had Emmanuel and Nyamah. Both Dr. Urey-Yarkpawolo and Vivian have installed in their children the values of self-disciplines, hard work and respect for fellow human beings. The Gongloe-Yarkpawolo Ticket is the surest hope for A Better Liberia. Vote accountability, integrity and the rule of law!!
