UN General Assembly
1998

put the international ship of state on the right course, and my delegation wishes him continued success. This time last year, my President addressed the Assembly on the subject of the situation in Sierra Leone. I am sure most members will remember the picture he painted of the tragic events and the turmoil that followed when a democratically elected Government was overthrown by a bunch of military adventurists, aided and abetted by some civilian opportunists who became their active collaborators. Thanks to the resilience of the whole of civil society, encouraged and backed by the international community, I am here today representing the legitimate, reinstated Government of Sierra Leone. Against all odds, our people defied the violent and misguided gun-toting anarchists who appeared to have one objective, and one only: the total destruction of the civil society of Sierra Leone. Mercifully, that nightmare is now behind us. In February this year, the forces of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), under the then ECOWAS Chairman, the late General Sani Abacha of Nigeria, led