Brown University students and members of the local Liberian community turn out as Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of the Republic of Liberia, receives an honorary degree from Brown yesterday.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

PROVIDENCE –– Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said her country still has a long way to go before it recovers from decades of civil war and mismanagement in remarks at Brown University yesterday.

Johnson Sirleaf, on campus to accept an honorary degree, said her administration has been able to restore electricity to only 3 percent of the country since she took office in 2006.

Roads are in poor shape, she said, hindering economic growth. And the country does not have enough schools, teachers and books for its children.

But in remarks that were largely hopeful, Johnson Sirleaf suggested that Liberia is turning a corner.

Electrification should reach 7 percent of the country by the end of the month, she said.

A presidential decree making primary education compulsory has led to a sharp uptick in the number of students in school, she added.

And the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission is sorting through a painful past, she said.

Liberia’s forward momentum, she argued, is part of a larger African story of renewal.

“I think Africa is on an irreversible path toward improving its competitiveness, consolidating its peace and its progress, despite one or two pockets of difficulties,” she said.

Johnson Sirleaf, who delivered a formal speech and sat for a question-and-answer session with Brown University President Ruth J. Simmons, was making her second visit to Rhode Island since taking office.

The Harvard-educated economist also visited the state –– home to an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Liberians –– in March 2006.

Several thousand Liberians braved bone-chilling cold to hear her speak on the steps of Providence City Hall, greeting Africa’s first female president with chants, drumming and singing.

She asked the crowd that day to help their homeland achieve “peace, reconciliation and national credibility.”

Johnson Sirleaf made a similar entreaty yesterday to the often-boisterous contingent of Liberians who joined a packed house at Sayles Hall on Brown’s main green yesterday.

“We need to develop our capacity and that’s where you come in,” she said, adding later, “you’ve got to make that sacrifice.”

But Johnson Sirleaf, often referred to as the “Iron Lady,” also displayed a touch of humor –– and tact.

Simmons drew laughs and cheers when she suggested that a Barack Obama administration might do more to improve relations with Africa than a “Bush-Palin” administration, in a sly attempt to link Republican presidential candidate John McCain and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin with the unpopular President Bush.

But Johnson Sirleaf, smiling, did not take the bait.

“I’m so glad that Liberia enjoys strong bipartisan relationships,” she said, in deliberate tones, to laughs. “And we know that whatever happens, that relationship will last.”

Johnson Sirleaf, 69, spent more than a year in jail under the military dictatorship of Gen. Samuel Doe.

She lived in exile twice, once in Kenya and later in the United States, where she worked as an administrator with the United Nations.

In 1997, she came in second to Charles Taylor in a presidential election. And in 2005, she defeated international soccer star George Weah to become Liberia’s 23rd president.

Liberians living in Rhode Island turned out in crisp suits and traditional African dresses yesterday to cheer on Johnson Sirleaf.

One woman waved a Liberian flag. And Victoria Wehjla, 19, Miss Liberia Rhode Island 2008, turned up in her sash and crown.

“I have never in my life been so proud to be a Liberian,” Wehjla said, after the speech.

Mator Kpangbai, president of the Liberian Community Association of Rhode Island, said the honorary degree was just one sign that “this tiny nation on the west coast of Africa has attained its rightful place internationally.”

Johnson Sirleaf flew to the United States to participate in the opening of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

She came to Providence for the day to accept the honorary degree from Brown and meet with members of the local Liberian community.

dscharfe@projo.com