- A Legacy story of a grandchild
Eugenic R. Nice Sr. is a Liberian US based businessman who holds in the highest esteems and cherishes the memory of his maternal grandmother to an extent, in her honor, he has founded an organization, ‘Liberian Girls Rock’, which is solely devoted to empowering and honoring women across the World. Currently in Liberia to launch his organization and honor a few distinguished Liberian women, the CEO of Liberian Girls Rock, Eugenic spoke to Leila B. Gbati of our staff:
Eugenic R. Nice Sr. is a Liberian US based businessman and the CEO of Liberian Girls Rock currently visits Liberia to honor a few distinguished Liberian women.
Eugenic has an inspiring story: a mixture of Liberia’s civil war that gives some common and unique jests about family life during the course of the upheaval in the country. He was born in Monrovia, but when life in the City became so hostile, he said, his Mother, Madam Easter Kanneh, made a life changing decision to send him and his smiling to live with their maternal grandmother in Bowalahum, Lofa County. His grandmother name is Madam Miatta Kanneh who died in 2019 in Liberia.
At the tender age of 4, he had to grapple with life in village under the loving tutelage of his grandmother, who he said taught him basic principles of humanity that guide his life.
“While in the United States, grand mom said she wouldn’t die until she saw me returned to Liberia. I was happy to meet her when I returned in 2018, but sadly, she then died in 2019”, he said.
Mr. Nice said his late grandmother had a pure heart and always wanted to do good for people, especially stranger.
He said it is based on her principle of kind-heartedness that he wants her legacy to live on. “She meant so much to me and she is my role model”.
He said his grandmother provided help to strangers most especially women and children in the village where she lived. “She always told me to do good for strangers because as they travel to places you keep them travelling”.
The Liberian Girls Rock CEO, in an exclusive interview with Womenvoices Newspaper revealed that they will on December 30, 202 honor eight (8) women at the Liberian Girls Rock 6th Annual Honoring Gala at the Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, informing that since 2014, five award ceremonies have been held in America, the very first time in liberia.
He said the eight honorees would encourage other women to aspire for greatness by believing in themselves, emphasizing that great women are the true definition of Liberian Girls Rock.
Mr. Nice said he does not think women really receive the deserving credit for the contributions they make to society.
“I just felt that women don’t get all the credits they deserve and what they mean to us men and my late grandmother is a great definition of me learning from a powerful woman,” he said.
He however said, the eight honorees are into higher positions in private and public sectors while some of them are activists who are providing help to less fortunate children to become better person in society and others have done and continue to do great job in Liberia.
Mr. Nice claimed that though there are lot of women who are working hard in the interest of Liberia but they decided to honor only eight because they want the award to be meaningful in the sense that when it is received other women can look forward to actually receiving theirs so that women around the world can actually benefit from their hard work and services to humanity.
He stressed that when the honorees are many I takes away the value of the award as such they decided to plan the program around eight recipients who stories and accomplishments will be told on the night of the ceremony.
“We will tell their stories why, how and when they started with what they are doing and what motivates them so that the younger generation who are going through negativity and can be encouraged that they make it by believing in themselves.
“If they hear the story of how a woman went through a lot to accomplish her dreams and in return help others, it gives you that powerful definition to believe in yourself that you can do it and go through the same,” he said.
At the ceremony, everything that each of those eight women did throughout the years to merit the awards will be narrated, he said.
Method of selection
Speaking further on the selection processes, Mr. Nice indicated that before one can receive the award they go through several processes of scrutiny as the organization has teams both in Liberia and the USA, who he said, submit names for the awards. She said background investigations are conducted and nominees are presented 14 questions and out of which each of nominees answered 12 correctly before they nominated for qualification through open debate.
“We then come to the drawing board and talk about why those selected should receive the awards, what have they done and for how long, and after that we all come together and have a debate about it to ensure that the those women selected are truly Liberian Girls Rock that are doing great job before they become the faces that should define Liberia positively,” he said.
Mr. Nice clarified that there is no different package or money given to awardees, but they receive beautiful plagues that define all the work that recipients did over the years.
“What is new about the awards is that, this year we have decided, on behalf of the recipients, to offer 100 scholarships to children that are going through tremendous hardship; children whose mothers cannot afford medical or school fees”.
Mr. Nice said recipients would provide names of people that will benefit from the scholarship and they will pay the money to the school. “Another thing is that, if the mother of the child cannot afford medical services or feeding for the child or children we will also take full responsibility of that. That is what the recipients receive by networking with us in,” he said.
He told Womenvoices that the awards are lifetime because once a person receives it, he said, they automatically become part of the organization, emphasizing that the only way the award will be taken away or discredited is when an awardee does something that doesn’t represent what the organization stands for in term of behavior and character or if the person violates the policy of the organization.
“But we hope not to reach that point because all the women that are to be honored are very respectful and respected.
He said that ” a message was send to each of them that they will be honored at the 6th Liberian Girls Rock Gala, “we look forward to them coming along with family members and friends so they can be showered with love”.
“A lot of time we only celebrate people in death and when they are living we do little, he continues, so, we want to give our women their flowers while they are alive”, he said.
Mr. Nice said considering that this is their first time in Liberia, they look forward to and are open to partnership from other organisations who are also pushing the agenda and empowerment of women.
