At the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary (LBTS) graduation, Rev. Mrs. Dialokai Golanyon Kemayah delivered a powerful and emotional farewell speech. She issued a clarion call to her fellow graduates, the government, and the nation to confront the epidemic of drug addiction with structured rehabilitation and compassionate action.
Graduating as the valedictorian of the Class of 2025 with a historic Grade Point Average of 3.82, the highest in the seminary’s history, Kemayah centered her speech on the theme “Prophesying Life to the Streets: A Mandate for Rehabilitation.” She opened with traditional acknowledgments, honoring LBTS leadership, faculty, family, and her husband, H.E. Amb. Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr., before turning to what she termed a dire national crisis.
A Nation of “Dry Bones”
Kemayah painted a stark picture of Liberia’s youth, describing a generation “fading away” under the influence of substances like Kush, Spike and Die. She challenged the audience to look beyond stigmatizing labels like “Zogos” or detached political terms like “disadvantaged youth.”
“Look at the cemeteries in central Monrovia,” she urged, “where some young men and women addicted to drugs sleep because the land of the living has rejected them.” Drawing a parallel to the biblical Prophet Ezekiel’s vision of a valley of dry bones, Kemayah declared, “Today, Liberia is a valley of dry bones.” She critiqued a societal response marked more by judgment than compassion, noting the contradiction between Sunday sermons and Monday indifference.
A Challenge to Theological Graduates
The valedictorian directly addressed her fellow graduates, stating that the degrees they received were “not licenses to be served, but a mandate to serve the broken.” She argued that a theology that does not function “on the streets and in the ghettos” will ultimately fail in the pulpits. “We cannot claim to be experts in caring for the soul, while ignoring the destruction of the body,” Kemayah asserted.
A Call for Structured National Action
While acknowledging efforts by families and local organizations, Kemayah emphasized that goodwill is insufficient against the scale of the catastrophe. She called for a decisive shift in national policy. ‘We must speak truth to power,” she stated. “We must tell the Government that arresting addicts without rehabilitating them is a waste of human lives.” Her proposal centered on the establishment of “properly funded, well-staffed, and equipped medical rehabilitation centers,” moving away from makeshift camps. She advocated for a comprehensive model integrating spiritual, psychological, and vocational support to ensure genuine reintegration. “The Government and society must build Institutions of Hope, where science and faith embrace, where detoxification is merged with prayer, and counseling is merged with compassion,” she said.
A Collective Mandate
Kemayah called on the graduating class and the Church to lead by example—lobbying government, mobilizing resources, and transforming churches into centers of welcome and aftercare. She stressed the urgent need to end stigma, arguing that language itself must change from alienation to kinship. Invoking the biblical parable of the lost sheep, she asked, “In Liberia today, the ninety-nine are sitting safe in the pews, but the one is out there, cold, hungry, forgotten and ashamed. Are we willing to leave the comfort of the ninety-nine to get the one?”
A Vision of Resurrection for the Present
Concluding with a vision of tangible hope, Kemayah imagined a Liberia where restored youth find purpose and contribution. “Imagine a young woman currently high on Kush singing in the choir tomorrow. Imagine a young man or woman currently sleeping in the graveyard becoming a minister, doctor, or teacher tomorrow,” she said.
“That is the ‘Resurrection’ we preach about! It is not just for the afterlife; it is for here and now.” She charged her classmates to be defined by their deeds, concluding, “Let’s go forth and rebuild the walls of Liberia, not with bricks and mortar, but with the rehabilitated lives of our youth.” The address was met with a sustained standing ovation, framing the commencement not just as an academic celebration, but as a launch point for what the valedictorian termed a national mandate of prophetic action and healing.