A devout Moslem, he will always be remembered for his soft spoken but stern nature. NAS Carew was a successful businessman who having sojourned first in England then moved on to the United States of America returned home a while back to establish a lucrative building materials supply and procurements business. He was frequent on the China route, easily recognized as one of the more successful Sierra Leonean to conquer trade with the Nation.
As a man who was famed for his love for culture, he was a leading light with the Fourah Bay/Foullah Town communities, their masquerades and traditional societies of hunting, ojeh and odehleys. The similarities with the life of another of Freetown East End’s favourite son Moseray Fadika stems from their close knit family and community links, their love for the same things and for the fact that Moseray Fadika was a benign influence on the politics and socio-economic life of his era.
NAS Carew was one of the closest people to Fadika and for that reason, they were both seen as the foundations of the Fourah Bay / Foullah Town communities and their traditional and cultural activities and celebrations. It is widely believed that they both were attracted to the All People’s Congress in their supportive role by the strong admiration that they shared for President Ernest Bai Koroma even before he gained power. Their close association to the President is more reflective on the aspirations of Moseray Fadika, his rise to prominence as a political actor and the knack for supporting young people through employment that NAS Carew so clearly shared with him.
Today, the East End of Freetown mourns again and laments the cruel hand of fate on their icons. Their cries are clouded by the whispers of hope and anticipation, the loss of opportunity that the departure of yet another kith and kin. NAS Carew was evidently the more sombre of the two and the less politically active but his influence with young people and his command of their immediate situation has always marked him as a man of promise in a future political dispensation. Their love for the APC was always borne out of their command over their environments and their deep understanding of the demands of the street.
NAS Carew was street wise yet eternally conservative. He is known to patronize the most unusual of food items commenting that since that was public fare, his name would never have been mentioned on such items in any way to do him harm. He was generous to a fault but prefers to use his generosity where it will help the greater good in society. He was not the type to encourage begging but he would be certain to meet any young man at the point of his need for work, education or gainful employment.