MONROVIA : As the clock ticks closer to the 2023 presidential and general elections D-Day, Liberians are beginning to talk about a new political phenomenon that has reared its head over the horizon of Margibi County, to the extent that the majority of pundits and bookmakers are wagering on a Nathaniel Falo Mcgill landslide victory at the October 10 polls, especially going by the mammoth crowd that the former Minister of State pulled over the weekend when students, teachers, marketers, and other Margibians from all walks of life turned out massively to petition their son to run for the senate seat.
Providing their analysis of the event that was marked by a shocking display of loyalty from the citizens to senatorial aspirant Nathaniel McGill, almost all of the panelists on the May 6, 2023 edition of the Spoon Talk TV Show spoke glowingly of McGill’s high stake at the October polls. In unison they agreed that the man is poised to become the political godfather of Margibi County, just as Senator Prince Y. Johnson is considered the godfather of Nimba County, and Edwin Melvin Snowe has now worked his way to becoming the godfather of Bomi County.
“McGill is doing something that nobody from Margibi has done. He pulled the biggest crowd in the history of political rallies in Margibi County on Saturday. McGill will be the godfather of Margibi if elected. With what we are seeing, and the level of groundwork from McGill and his people, nobody will put foot in Margibi except they go through McGill,” one of the panelists said, adding, “McGill pulled one of the largest crowds like a presidential crowd. I don’t think even President Weah can pull that crowd.”
While other panelists disagreed that, with the exception of Mr. Alexander Cummings who had not pulled crowd in a given political rally; and that President Weah and Ambassador Joseph Boakai can pull crowd three times bigger than the Lower Margibi crowd, there was a growing consensus that indeed, Nathaniel McGill is a force to be reckoned with in contemporary Margibi politics.
“I heard that Nuquay ran away. Everybody that is behind Nuquay is now running behind McGill. Nuquay must go to McGill and make peace, because McGill is going to be the godfather of Margibi County,” another panelist conjectured.
On the issue of McGill riding on the coattails and popularity of President Weah, all of the panelists said McGill does not need the Liberian leader’s physical presence when the campaign season starts.
“During the campaign season, McGill doesn’t need Weah on any campaign trail, just like Saah Joseph has captured Montserrado County because of what he has been doing for the people,” one panelist stated.
“Our people are on the ground giving us information. Every corner in Margibi that we send our people, the only name on the lips of the citizens is McGill. Though it’s still early, we can easily predict that McGill will win the Margibi senatorial seat hands down. The people will vote for McGill because he has been investing in them. He tapped into the people, something most politicians are not doing,” another panelist said, noting that it is the same with Saah Joseph of Montserrado County.
Quite contrarily, one of the panelists said he felt let down when politicians steal from the people and give them handouts for their votes.
“The standard for electing our leaders in this country is so low. Politicians steal from the people and give back to them to win elections. I am not a fan of politicians who tread this dangerous path,” said the only panelist who, while agreeing that McGill’s popularity has increased exponentially, totally looked down on the method of winning votes from the people due to the acute poverty level in the country.
It can be recalled that over the weekend, thousands of citizens from Lower Margibi thronged the grounds of the Rock International Church to petition former Minister of State Nathaniel Falo McGill for the senatorial seat of Margibi County. The program, which was organized to also appreciate the citizens for unprecedentedly registering to vote during Phase 2 of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR), saw an influx of renowned Liberian musical artists including DenG, Kpanto, PCK, and an array of cultural performance rocking the crowd in a manner and form reminiscent of a full-fledged CDC political rally.
Following the presentation of their petition and the proffering of glowing remarks from cross section of the citizens, Mr. McGill accepted the citizens’ petition, firstly stating his wholehearted appreciation for how Margibians turned out to register to vote.
“Thanks to our motor cyclists, at-risk youths, students, to our professional people and doctors, our nurses, our plumbers, and to all our professional citizens of Margibi County, for going to exercise your right to vote. “I want to thank the citizens of District # 1. You did something that never happened in the history of Margibi. You were able to make sure that we registered 63,000 persons, two times the number of any of the districts in Margibi,” McGill said.
Touching on the issue of unity and togetherness, Mr. McGill said all Margibians are one, belonging to one Liberia, and that, gone are the days when the country was divided along tribal lines.
“Whether you are from Gbarpolu, Sinoe, Grand Kru, or Grand Gedeh, we are one. Those who want to sectionalize our county must be rejected. Let us reject the notion that you must be rejected because your country got more numbers; or because we come from a particular section of our country.
“When you are qualified as a Liberian, you will have to work to be elected for any office in our country, because our constitution says you must be a Liberian citizen. Our constitution did not say you must come from a particular county before you are elected. So, individuals in our country who want to tribalize our country should be rejected because they want to destroy the future of our country.
“In Margibi, we have Kpelle people, Bassa, Kiss, Gbandi, Gola, Mano, Grebo, Gio people; we have all the tribes in Margibi. And therefore, Margibi belongs to everyone. Liberia must be built on the foundation of unity. And I want to say to you Margibi, we have not started the elections. The campaign hasn’t started. So, we have to be careful before we make campaign speeches; because I know the National Elections Commission is observing once we start to make campaign speeches. This is not a campaign. This is an endorsement of my candidature. But we are marching to victory. We are marching to make Margibi a great county. Because gone are the days when you in Margibi, students of Margibi cannot even benefit from their County Development Fund; when students are catching hard time and can’t pay their school fees, and the leaders of Margibi cannot even think about how to help their students; when our poor parents in Margibi cannot afford, and our leaders in Margibi have abandoned to even give our people loan to do fire coal business. Those days are gone. We are about to make history and make Margibi great.
“A lot of people criticize our government. But in 2018, the enrollment at the University of Liberia was 8,000 students. Because of the free tuition program, the current enrollment is now 20,000 students who are going to school and not paying school fees. This is an achievement.
“I want to encourage you to look at the future of our country. This year 2023 is an important year in the history of Liberia. The future of our country is in your hands. We are marching towards development. The journey is going to be tough. But we have to look at what is best for us. Don’t look at all of the political rhetoric. There are people in Margibi who are telling you to vote for this or that person because they belong to a specific tribe. Those individuals are not good for Margibi. That’s how the war came in Liberia and they started killing certain tribes. We will never tribalize our country. It will never happen again. The country is now moving ahead.
“I accept your endorsement. I want to assure you that, in 2023 we will be on the ballot paper, and we will campaign to make sure there will be no second round. There will be no second round because I cannot be a successful senator without a successful president. Together, we will make Margibi County great.
“When president Weah wins, the majority of those in the government will not go back, because they are very mean. They live in communities and cannot cater to the people, and the people will blame the president. We know you can’t change them now, Mr. President. But some of you will meet me in the Senate. President Weah will return to the Executive Mansion, but the majority of you will not return to the cabinet,” aspirant McGill promised assuredly.
DISGRACED AND RECALLED LAME DUCK MICHAEL MCCARTHY, ARE YOU WATCHING? WHAT CAN BREEZE DO TO ROCK? A GOOD PLAYER NEVER FIGHTS FOR JERSEYS. WHEN CHICKEN WHER AYE WHER! MCGILL IS MARGIBI. MARGIBI IS MCGILL!!!