HOLLOW AWARDS IN A TROUBLED LAND

COMMENTARY 

By KEN ALI

THE citation by Howard University with respect to the honorary doctorate to Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley is remarkable.

Dr. Rowley is being honoured by the prestigious institution for “building a better society for us all.”

The Prime Minister has taken an ego-trip from a land besieged with murders and a declining quality of life to accept an award for his “proven capacity to improve the world.”

This is not to subtract from the institution of excellence and one of the United States historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU), with an enviable roll of ex-students, including Vice President Kamala Harris.

Several honorary recipients – including respected Congressman James Clyburn – have made tremendous and enduring contributions to society.

But it would stretch the truth to suggest that the leader of this tortured land deserves the exalted company of the distinguished honour recipients, each with an acclaimed body of work.

The situation is made murkier by the fact that Dr. Wayne Frederick, President of the university, was granted Trinidad and Tobago’s highest award in 2020.

The Order of Trinidad and Tobago is awarded for “distinguished and outstanding service” to the country.

Frederick is a recognised expert in medicine, but someone should remind us of his service to the land of his birth.

The bizarre back-slapping Rowley-Frederick awards is another indication of how far society has descended since the proud era of Dr. Eric Williams.   

Williams notably told the 20^th annual convention of the PNM at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre in 1978:

 “I wish, and never have wished, no honour, no tribute, no commendation, no commemoration of any sort, no official or public ceremonies when the time comes.

“I have asked my daughter, who agrees with my decision, to ensure compliance and plead for your goodwill and your respect for what is a deeply personal wish, aimed at nobody, critical of no policy.”

That did not stop the authorities from posthumously granting Williams the nation’s highest honour on Independence Day 2002.

His name has also been appended to several monuments, including a hospital that makes news whenever patients die on benches after waiting long hours for medical service.

The vulgar awards exchange is taking place amid just-come President Christine Kangaloo handing out senior counsel status to half her family,  also beneficiaries of hefty legal briefs.

T&T has spent almost a billion taxpayer dollars on legal fees over the past few years, and it has had no effect on crime.

The police service remains without essential tools, even as cold-blooded murders take place in broad daylight at busy intersections, as with a killing at Madras Junction, Cunupia on Thursday.

To a country burdened with social and economic woes, the Kangaloo caper does not pass the smell test and has a distasteful outlook of nepotism and blatant abuse of power.

But Rowley – in another act of leadership by press conference – badgered those calling for transparent and honourable governance with respect to the hollow awards.

The new senior counsels – including an independent senator! – would now routinely hike their fees and climb in society.

Ordinary people would continue the struggle of staying alive in this murderous land.