“Our County Needs a Leader, Not a Manager”: Maryland Senate Hopeful Elijah Nippy Toby Launches Anti-Drug, Youth-Led Campaign, Says Liberia’s Crisis Is Lack of Courage, Not Talent
BY: Rufus Divine Brooks Jr.
HARPER – Aspiring Maryland County senator Elijah Nippy Toby has launched his campaign on a platform centered on youth leadership and combating illicit drug trafficking, arguing that Liberia’s primary deficit is not talent but “courage.”
In a statement released this week, Toby declared his candidacy for Maryland County’s senatorial seat, citing “insecurity” driven by drug trade as the county’s most urgent crisis.
Platform focused on drug enforcement and youth inclusion:
Toby accused the national government of failing to curb what he called Liberia’s “deadliest epidemic” of illicit drugs.
He argued that legislative action alone is insufficient and pledged to take a community-based stance to “eradicate illicit drugs from our communities.”
“Drugs that enter Liberia come through seaports, airports, and borderlines,” Toby stated.
“If our government means business, it can put a stop right there.” He maintained that the government cannot be trusted to address the issue solely through legislation.
Rejecting the narrative that young people are “not ready” for leadership, Toby cited Burkina Faso’s President Capt.
Ibrahim Traoré as an example of young leadership driving political and economic change. He urged Liberian youth to “seize power and disrupt the status quo through the ballot box,” emphasizing that “power is actively competed for, not freely given.”
Drawing on biblical reference, Toby said courage was the foundation of leadership: “Liberia’s problem is not a leadership gap because we don’t have an intellectual crisis. We don’t have a talent crisis.
We don’t have a competent people crisis. We don’t have any crisis of such except courage.”
He argued that young Liberians must move beyond social media advocacy and enter “the hallway of the Capitol Building” to draft policies focused on accountability and ordinary citizens rather than policymakers.
Structural reform:
Toby said Liberia’s leadership challenge is “often structural,” and called for systems that “actively trust, invest in, and include youth in core decision-making” instead of treating them as peripheral.