The New Dawn (Monrovia)
15 December 2011
At the time thousands of Liberians have thronged the Roberts International Airport to welcome home their two Nobel Laureates, Co-Nobel Laureate, Leymah Gbowee, chose to share her achievement with Ghanaians over her native Liberian compatriots.
Ms. Gbowee has been residing in Ghana since the end of the civil conflict here some eight years ago. She shares the 2011 Noble Peace Prize with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who graciously believes that the award is for Liberians and women around the globe and Yemini activist Tawakkol Karman.
Some observers say Ms. Gbowee should have brought the award home first before taking same to Ghana for further exhibition but the fact that she would choose to showcase her award in Ghana speaks volume.
But unconfirmed report says Ms. Gbowee left in Ghana to take care of her children and will arrive in Liberia on Friday. However, many Liberians see this as disrespect to a group of people who made her to win the award.
But Ms. Gbowee, who led a group of women in white t-shirts that stared down warlords to help turn the tide of the civil war here, also spoke about the millions of others who were not on the stage in Oslo on Saturday.
“I believe that the prize this year recognizes not only our struggle in Liberia and Yemen, it is in recognition of the struggle of grass-roots women in Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote D’Ivoire, Tunisia, Palestine and Israel and in every troubled corner of the world,” said Gbowee.
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