When the country’s Minister of State for President Affairs Nathaniel McGill buried his mother Watta over the weekend in an elaborate but private funeral that showcased her body being placed in a privately constructed mausoleum, his many critics descended on Minister McGill for the apparent ostentatious burial which they decried as not being representative of the current situation of the ailing Liberian economy wherein majority of the masses eke their living on the margins. Although Minister McGill had adequately responded to his critics, The Analyst has observed a plethora of reactions from some citizens against those they consider “insensitive” to the dead, terming their criticisms as politically driven, and not in line with the common Liberian ethos of empathizing with the bereaved.
COP Former Exec Blows Streams
Menipakei Dumoe, a former senior executive of the Council of Patriots (COP) that has continued to pressure the Weah-led government on alleged economic and fiscal anomalies, has termed one of Mr. McGill’s ardent critics as “disgraceful and distasteful”.
“No way to talk to someone who is mourning the loss of a parent. Where is your class and humanity? I am no fan of Hon. Nathaniel F. McGill but surely this is un-Liberian and unAfrican: talking ill of the dead. We can surely play our roles as oppositionists without going this low my brother,” Mr. Dumoe said in reaction to a social media post from the COP Chairman Henry Costa regarding McGill’s burial of his mother.
“The Henry P. Costa I know should be more sophisticated than this,” Dumoe stated over the weekend, adding, “Do unto others as you will have them do unto you. I will not want people abusing me while I mourn my mother so I won’t do it to another person and so I will not support it.”
Dumoe said the Liberian masses will always be angered by anyone who seems to be doing better, even if one is a radio host living lavishly. “But what justifies you joining the chorus? Votes, Facebook likes, Political relevance?” Dumoe wondered.
“On this one you have shown yourself an opportunistic, ruthless politician who will go to any length to hurt your political opponent. Absolutely disgraceful. I await the insults from your Facebook mob but Shepherds should not be following flocks: I will take decisions based on my convictions rather than what the crowd is screaming. I will be willing to take Hon. Nathan F. McGill on if I find out that he took even a dime of public money to bury his mother. Until then, all I can do is send him my condolences,” said Dumoe.
CDC Partisans Fume
At the extreme end of the political spectrum, staunch supporters of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) have come out openly to support their kind, condemning what they see as attempts by the opposition camp to tarnish the hard-earned reputation of their stalwart Nathaniel McGill.
According to Mr. Dixon D. Nebo, Sr., a staunch supporter of the CDC from Grand Gedeh County, McGill’s critics should stop the tumultuous utterances and agitations against their most celebrated Minister, in person of Minister Nathaniel McGill.
“Before I make further comments, let me officially extend my deepest condolences to Min. Nat. McGill, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and the rest of the bereaved families for the irreplaceable loss of Ma. Zoe,” Mr. Nebo said, decrying further that despite Minister McGill’s mother’s death, every little event is politicized by opponents to the ruling party.
“If you really care and have inner love for your biological mother/parents like Min. Minister McGill, knowing the fact that she played meaningful roles, her challenges, sacrifices made towards you, then you wouldn’t have criticized the Minister for giving his mother a decent burial,” Nebo stated emphatically.
Nebo said the adversaries to the ruling establishment (CDC) need to change the political strategies to get electorates’ attention and favor for the sake of 2023 elections.
“They must redirect their intellectual prowess to issues of irrelevance and those that are developmental to our society instead of trivialities and mere propagandas, because these negative propagandas will not develop our society,” Nebo reiterated, stating that Minister McGill is a public official who works as minister of state for presidential affairs, in furtherance, he earns salary and allowances monthly, therefore, “it’s no violation in our organic law to purchase golden casket and erect a cemetery (House) for his late mother Ma Watta Varmah with his own cash”.
“This a manifestation and affirmation of his endless love for his late mother and in confirmation to our traditional norms, practices and to showing lasting respect and love for his mother,” Mr. Nebo said.
Montserrado County District #8 Representative Moses Acarous Gray remains one of the staunchest stalwarts of the ruling CDC. Gray believes that Minister McGill’s critics are dead wrong into believing that he doesn’t have the financial wherewithal to bury his dead mother in a befitting ceremony.
“Nat, take courage and be strong for I know the friends you do have locally and internationally. As Minister of State which is equivalent to Prime Minister in other States your connections are so mammoth that just a single friend that I know you have can do more than the place you buried Mama. People called you a poor man which is good, but they are yet to accept that God has blessed you so much that your accomplishments are not ascribed but achieved,” Representative Gray intoned in a social media on Liberia’s current Independence Day anniversary.
“Your position in Liberia has put you at a point of having presidents, top politicians, business men, the poor, etc who are your friends and will do everything to sympathize with you so why do these people think that you need your pay to bury Mama menh. Be strong my dear brother and know that you are that struggling child from remote Gbarpolu so a few think that nothing good must come from there. Give God the glory for lifting you up for many will make you jealous and believe that you don’t deserve where you are today because it’s not them nor their class group.
“You, Tweah and I went through the struggles from UL and made an unbelievable decision to make a leader from the slum of Gibraltar. We were called stupid people, fools, ate our school fees, uneducated, thugs, uncivilized, etc. Some are yet to accept the fact that they have no option but to interact with you. In short, McGill doesn’t need his pay to give Mama a befitting burial,” Representative Gray boasted.
It can be recalled that Mr. Henry Pedro Costa, the face of the Liberian opposition pressure group, the COP, recently chided Minister Nathaniel F. McGill for providing a justification in what Costa termed as “a lazy justification for your wasteful, insensitive and reckless display of opulence in the form of a luxurious mausoleum for your fallen mother. I have known you since 2005. You were a poor man who struggled to make the rent, and on many days, I had to help you gas up your beat-up car and put some cash in your pocket.”
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