At Jarsey Memorial, Press Secretary Fofana Calls Out Reckless Activism, Urges Discipline and Ideas

Monrovia, Liberia: Liberia’s Presidential Press Secretary, Atty. Kula Bonah Nyei Fofana, on Tuesday called on student leaders to pursue disciplined, knowledge-based activism as she delivered a memorial address honoring the late student leader Varney Alieu Jarsey at the University of Liberia.

Speaking at a memorial ceremony held in the university’s auditorium, Fofana described Jarsey as a principled advocate for justice whose leadership reflected Liberia’s long tradition of student-led reform and resistance against injustice.

“We gather here today united by grief but also by purpose,” Fofana said. “Varney Jarsey was not merely a participant in student politics; he was a voice for accountability and a conscience for a nation still striving to perfect its democracy.”

According to the Press Secretary, Jarsey believed change should be pursued through civic responsibility, principled advocacy, and peaceful engagement with authority rather than through violence or division.

She urged current and future student leaders to move beyond emotional and personalized activism, emphasizing that Liberia’s major challenges  including corruption, inequality, and weak institutions  are systemic and require strategic, informed engagement.

“When activism becomes personal, it becomes short-lived,” Fofana said. “But when it targets unjust systems, it becomes enduring.”

Fofana also cautioned against political mockery and ridicule, arguing that such approaches weaken public discourse rather than strengthen it. She stressed the need for serious intellectual debate grounded in facts, policy analysis, and historical understanding.

“A nation is not strengthened by who shouts the loudest, but by who thinks the deepest,” she added.

Addressing the growing influence of social media on public opinion, the Press Secretary encouraged student leaders to use digital platforms responsibly, warning that misinformation and impulsive commentary can be harmful to national cohesion.

“Social media must be a tool for education and national dialogue, not a platform for personal attacks or misinformation,” she said, urging students to reflect before posting and to prioritize truth and public understanding.

Fofana described Liberia’s democracy as “a work in progress” that requires leaders who are courageous yet disciplined and bold yet thoughtful. She said Jarsey understood leadership as service rather than personal recognition.

She concluded by calling on Liberians to uphold the values she said Jarsey embodied, including justice anchored in truth, freedom guided by responsibility, activism strengthened by knowledge, and leadership rooted in service.

“Varney Jarsey may no longer walk among us, but his spirit must continue to walk with us in our classrooms, our campuses, our communities, and our national conscience,” she said.

The ceremony was attended by university officials, student leaders, family members, civil society representatives, and members of the public. Jarsey was remembered as a passionate advocate for student rights and democratic accountability.

Fofana closed the address with prayers for Jarsey’s soul and urged Liberians to ensure that his legacy inspires a nation where dissent is protected and ideas, not intimidation, shape political life.