By: Anthony Q. Jiffan, Jr.
The return of Henry Pedro Costa from the United States on May 16, 2019, has added impetus to the “Safe the State” campaign of the Council of Patriots, a group of opposition political parties planning to field thousands of Liberians in a street protest on June 7. The tough-talking talk-show host’s return was seen as a major campaign boost of the June 7 protest for which Montserrado County District #10 Representative Yekeh Kolubah has been mobilizing likeminded Liberians to Nimba, Bong, Margibi and Grand Bassa Counties and other sub-political divisions to protest the irking economic conditions, corruption and violation of the rule of law and the Constitution. Received by a tumultuous throng at the Roberts International Airport to Central Monrovia, Costa told the crowd the George Weah who they thought was a down trodden has turned out to be a “Pharaoh.” The ANALYST’s Anthony Jiffan followed the parade and reports.
Prior to his touchdown at the airport, fans, supporters and well-wishers from all walks of life started to arrive at the RIA in their numbers to welcome Mr. Costa, a staunch member of the Council of Patriots.
The thousands of Liberians who gathered at on Thursday, May 16, 2019 to welcome him to his homeland after spending several months out to the United States of America.
It all started on Thursday morning, May 16, 2019, when groups of Liberians gathered on Ashmun Street at the front of the Roots FM, a radio station owned and operated by political commentator, Henry Pedro Costa, from where the boarded several buses to the Roberts International Airport (RIA) to meet and welcome Mr. Costa to his motherland, Liberia.
Mr. Costa who wins the admiration of scores of Liberians because of his critical voice on his talk-show, the Costa Show, has been vocal against societal ills. His returned came as part of his plan to form part of the ensuing protest, and the crowd that went to receive him showcased in Monrovia the strength of the June 7 protest which has been the talk of the town.
The crowds disembarked four jumbo buses otherwise referred to in the Liberian language as “Killer Bean Buses” from the airport to the VAMOMA House in Sinkor and paraded the streets with Mr. Costa to Central Monrovia.
Mr. Costa paraded with thousands of Liberians in the streets of Monrovia, chanting political slogans and songs, such as “This kind of suffering we never see it in Ellen time, this kind of stealing we never see it in Ellen Time;” the sang other revolutionary songs as the march with a band from Sinkor through Capital By-pass to Central Monrovia.
The Costa and the crowd finally made their anchor on Carey Street at the Center for the Exchange of Intellectual Opinions (CEIO) where Costa, standing over a vehicle addressed the crowds that brought the entire Carey Street to standstill.
Amidst jubilation, Costa then started to address the Crowds. “Do you hear Me?” With the echo of Y-E-S, he continued, “This is not about me; it is about Liberia, it is about our people that are suffering,”
Liberian talk-show host and political commentator proceed further to described President George Manneh Weah as a “Pharaoh”, noting that the Liberian leader has changed from what Liberians saw in him to be for which he was elected at the 2017 polls above rival Joseph Nyumah Boakai of the former ruling Unity Party (UP).
“You are a patriot that is why you are here to stand by one of your own, because the man you trusted as a down trodden has turned out to a Pharaoh” Costa asserted. Biblically, Pharaoh was the hard-hearted tyrant of Egypt who ruled over the Israelites with iron hand.
Mr. Costa said the masses of Liberians including University of Liberia students, market women, street peddlers and yana boys who turned out to welcome him back to Liberia are Patriots.
He urged the Liberian people to turn out in their mass come June 7, to send a message to the world that Liberians are ready to save the state from Economic strangulation, violation of the constitution, corruption, inequitable distribution of the country’s resources amongst others.
“The number you see here today must be nothing as compare to June 7; we must save the state from the bad economy, from abuse of the constitution, and from corruption,” Mr. Costa admonished Liberia.
The Liberia political commentator also expressed delight over the huge number of youths, market women, student groups and others who received him first at the Roberts International Airport in Margibi County and later converged in Sinkor and then to Carey Street in Central Monrovia to honor his return to Liberia.
He believed that only a patriot who wants to see Liberia transformed and progress could leave their basic schedule to assemble for his welcome in the face of the poor leadership practices and lack of respect for the rule law carry out by the George Weah led administration.
The turned out of the masses of Liberians to welcome the vocal political commentator, indicates that they are actually suffering and tired with such condition, a belief they share with Mr. Henry Costa who has been critical on policy and national issues.
Costa has the conviction that Liberia can only get better under President Weah when he stops what he termed as “abuse of the constitution, make corruption his greatest enemy; institute good economic recovery measures amongst others.