For President George Weah, The Golden Boot-Opinion.

By Femi Mimiko, mni.

Thank you, President George Weah of Liberia!

In a West African sub-region defined by compromised election management bodies, convoluted and violence-infested elections, and wanton torturing of constitutional provisions to award sitting presidents illegal third-terms, you chose to be different! You chose to stand out!

You conceded defeat in an election in which the winner dusted you by mere 28,434 votes! You had options; but as an honourable leader, you went for that which will uplift your country, a la Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan, in 2015, and Uhuru Kenyatta in Kenya, not too long ago.

Yes, your outing as President could have been a lot better. But by these closing steps, which you have taken – to wit, the quality of the election you suprintended, and now, your concession of defeat – you have lifted up our heads, and our spirit, as Africans! You’ve fired our imagination for a better tomorrow! You’ve demonstrated that all is not lost afterall, for Mother Africa; and that democracy may yet work on the continent! For Liberia, it’s ‘forward ever, backward never’!

It would be nice for the incoming President, former Vice-President Joseph Boakai, to carry on with this process, and do, thereby, Liberia and Africa proud through the quality of the governance that should ordinarily come from his many years of experience in the public realm. That’s how it should be.

Congratulations, Liberians! Congratulations, George Weah. You may have lost the election, but for those who can see clearly, you won the victory cup, and the golden boot!

Professor Femi Mimiko is a Nigerian Educational Administrator and former Vice-Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, he can be reached at femi.mimiko@gmail.com