Judging from the strong foundation laid by her administration in the past six years, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Monday raised hopes that “Liberia is poised for prosperity”.

In her seventh annual address, the President told her compatriots: “We have faced the crossroads and chosen the path of peace, and we stand here today ready to reap the rewards and embrace a new Liberia.”

She went beyond that which is required by law, and also focused on “the new Liberia – the legacy of our generation” as highlighted in her inaugural address a fortnight ago.

The President promised that her administration would spend the next six years making the government and economy work for the Liberian people.

The Liberian leader explained should do that by “reducing inequities, ensuring equal opportunity and providing guarantees of social justice” which deemed the hallmark of “true reconciliation”.

She said, her administration will in the next six years “address more urgent issues— land reform, ethnic strife and inadequate communication between the Government and the people—that have resulted from tensions, war and marginalization over the years”.

In her address under the theme: “Reflecting the Past, Claiming the Future”, the President emphasized that Liberia’s most recent election acclaimed internally as historic must remind “us that we are all part of something greater – something more than individuals, communities, parties or tribes.”

She indicated that the election reminded us that “we belong to a family, citizens of a proud nation and we are bound together by a common destiny.”

The President affirmed: “there is no country, no society, no people in human history which has advanced only on the actions of their leaders,” adding, “every successful society has attained that success because each individual member played a role, made a contribution.”

Therefore, she said the nation will only move forward based on the hard work of Liberians, and this is the essence of patriotism—the essence of love for our common patrimony, Liberia, our only home.

She vowed that her government “will do all it can to make this possible, but we cannot do it alone,” adding: “The people, our people – you, Honorable Legislators, you, my fellow citizens, must play the leading role in our next chapter of national renewal.”