I have not taken the liberty to write even a short biography about Siray Timbo as he was fondly called because innately I am convinced that I do not have the wherewithal of the facts about his human gestations within my purview; but, what I feel very confident to do, and do within my brevity, is to dot a eulogy about a Man whose disposition rose beyond what he was perceived and conceived to be in the course and cause of his life.
Long before I met the late Mr. Timbo, I had heard grandiose descriptions and sentiments about him. I first met him in 2008 in the capacity of Chairman and Commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission-NATCOM. Upon a confirmation of an appointment with him; I had gone to see him at his Hill Station office and the secretary, Laura, had asked me to wait in one of the visitors’ chairs located right in front of his office. When I eventually entered his office and sat face-to-face with him, I was overwhelmed by his welcoming demeanor, the simplicity of his persona which thoroughly conveyed his keen sense of humour and intellectual posturing. He spoke to me with the voice of a Spanish Ballerina and as he did so, the shy smile on his face was so glittering with a deft of some unknown self-possessed confidence-all punctuated by a very deep sense of humanness.
For the relatively brief time many staff of NATCOM got to know and work with the late Siray Timbo, there were many things, many will reckon, he stood and represented. Siray Timbo gave so much to humanity and received or expected, at best, very little in return of his largesse. He was a man of all seasons, all peoples and all situations.
When NATCOM had its ever first staff retreat at Makeni in 2008; Mr. Timbo displayed the height and paragon of the experience and knowledge he had acquired from his endeavours with many walks of life, and because he was a very good listener he was on that occasion so happily well-disposed to give everyone the platform to speak and articulate on issues that will take the Commission forward. The audience was on a waiting cliff for Chairman Timbo to say something and when he finally availed himself to give the closing remarks; he spoke with such professorial audacity. One thing, amidst the litany of others of what he said, was this: you are only as rich as you are content. When he said those words, with that softly-meek tone of his, you would wish to have been there to appreciate the serenity, placidity and added adage value that came from that very wise head.
Not once, not even for a quarter of a second, did the late Siray Timbo, as Chairman/Commissioner of NATCOM, ever raise his voice. He made his point emphatically, never minced his words but did so with sobering softness that would be mistaken for weakness by a shallow insensitive and unsuspecting mind. But Mr. Timbo was hugely respected and to put it more religiously, he was revered by all Officials and Employees of NATCOM.
The late Siray Timbo was a match-maker of opportunities because, when you meet him and work with him, he gave you only one option-and that is Success! For many employees, he brought about a plenitude of individual and collective satisfaction, for Mr. Timbo wrote the scripts of a grass-to-Grace story in which many featured and reveled.
He was a very kind man, driven by the urge to be fair to all and sundry. For him, everyone was a Sierra Leonean and nothing else, and he so profoundly and avowedly held on to the view and belief that, no one, no complain, and no situation can compel him to be unkind, to be unsavoury and reactionary. He made sure that no employee’s future hung in a situation of imbalance because someone had come to say something negative about the next person.
The only time Mr. Timbo will temporarily cease to be a friend to an employee is when that employee fails to handsomely take advantage of the opportunities made accessible by the Commission. Mr. Timbo inspired hope and belief in the employees, providing mentoring at all times to a barrage of young people for whom he was a perfect Role Model.
Perhaps, the greatest weakness of the late Mr. Siray Timbo was that, he was too averse to vexations, for nothing vexed him. He was thought to be too calm, and indeed he was, to tackle head-on some of the very desperate and conflicting meandering interests that were compelling him to act tough and with high handedness which were never his management leadership styles.
Mr. Timbo wined and dined with his staff; through rain and shine he jollied with them, cried with them, sat with employees in common audience, exchanged gifts and pleasantries with them. With sweat, blood and tears, Mr. Timbo will stand up for the right of the NATCOM worker.
But this Siray Alpha Timbo for who all above have been said is today no more! He has gone on a journey which steps he can’t ever retrace from where he is presently lying. Oh what a loss, a colossal loss, a loss of biblical proportion and a loss to Mama Salone because one of her giant warriors is no more!
The late Mr. Timbo will be certainly remembered because he touched the lives of many; he made the poor to become rich, the faint-hearted to become strong; he changed the face of telecommunications in Sierra Leone; he took NATCOM to places, and he selflessly disposed of those virtues he had in his lockers just to make others’ lives become better.
Oh the wings of time have flown and, like the hawk, has hooked the former NATCOM Chairman and flown him away.
We wave you bye! We will sorely miss you; we would remember you for all the good things you stood for and on the sands of times, your steps of humaneness will be boldly printed.
Go and rest in peace Ambassador Architect Siray Alpha Timbo and May the bliss of eternity permanently stay with you in your final resting place because Inna Lillahi WA Inna Lillahi Rajoun.
