"My wife Jebe, the mother of my three children, used to forget that she was married to a fool. She always loved me, supported me. I loved her so much. During the Ebola outbreak, she worked as a nurse and got infected. I lost her."

When Alfred tells a story, the line is always blurred between him and Dragon, his character in Talking Drum Studio's radio drama Atunda Ayenda. "It felt so real that I cried. It was my best show."

For 20 years, the character of Dragon has made the hearts of Sierra Leoneans beat to the rhythm of his setbacks and outbursts. "I am the stubborn character, always on the offensive and never compromising on anything." A veteran of the civil war, Dragon is the only one of the characters to have retained his temperament and convictions from that time.

"My nickname comes from the fact that I was a fierce, fearless fighter with a thunderous voice. I killed a lot of people. Even today, I still get angry and threaten to kill whenever I get the chance. It is tough to control me because I see myself as a hero who fights for the people."

Dragon is inspired by the lives of actual combatants. When Alfred was offered the role, he went to meet the fighters of Freetown. "In my neighborhood, they accounted for 70% of the inhabitants." Some never went through the disarmament process. Still holding their weapons, Alfred sat with them, listened to them, and soaked it all in. "I started imitating them, talking like them, until it became my own language. It became a part of me." Dragon was born.

Dragon's younger brother embodies the voice of reason. "He's always there to bail me out. When I get carried away, he reminds me that this is no way to approach problems and behave. I keep getting into heated arguments, but at the end of the day, I always calm down, thinking my little brother is right. Engaging in peaceful dialogue is definitely a better option than falling into violence and setting the stage for a return to war."

Dragon embodied the consequences and damage caused by unfortunate life choices. "There was this new drug introduced in Sierra Leone. Dragon tried it, and it was a descent into hell. My role was to discourage young people by showing them that drugs will do no good for you or your family. When you destroy yourself, you destroy your whole nation. Thank God there has been a dramatic change since then".

Atunda Ayenda tells the stories of all Sierra Leoneans. Over the years, the program has consistently addressed the prevailing issues that affect them, including corruption and fraud. It did not please everyone.

"There was a massive problem around land fraud that came from relatively high up. I played the role of the bad guy, and it started to stir things up. I got calls, threats. From there, it became a no-surrender operation." Talking Drum kept tackling the issue for a month, raising awareness of laund fraud among the general public. No one could play deaf or blind anymore. People got fired, the threats stopped.

A society in transformation requires a rethinking of models of heroism. Dragon, the anti-hero, is the modern hero. And, there is a bit of him in all of us. With his thundering voice and his ideals, he continues to push those who listen to him to question themselves.