Mr. Eric Giko recently visited Liberia and I had a conversation with him on burning issues affecting Maryland of Liberia.
Mr. Giko is a Marylander residing in the US. He was once an acting president of The National Maryland County Association of Liberia (USA). It indicates he's is a staunch member of the Maryland County community in the United States.
I have not personally known Mr. Giko during our day in Liberia and for the time both of us lived in the US. I have never interfaced with him at any time in the US and in Liberia during our formative days. One thing is, I have heard of Mr. Giko as a community oriented person in the US when it comes to Maryland County of Liberia. But have not seen him in person.
The very first time I interfaced with Mr. Giko was in 2011. By then I had been in Liberia from the US for four consecutive years. This first meeting was in Pleebo City. Pleebo is Mr. Giko's hometown. As for me, my hometown is Harper City. From my hometown to his is less than one hour motor vehicle driving time.
When I met with him, he was in a campaign mode; running for the office of Representative for Pleebo/Sodokeh District against the then incumbent Hon. Dr. Bhofal Chambers. Mr. Giko didn't win. Dr. Chambers was re-elected. Currently, Dr. Chambers is the representative of the Pleebo/Sodokeh district.
During the campaign, Mr. Giko and I didn't have much time to talk. He was on roller skates. I mean he was busy! And so we had little time introducing each other. But at least, we able to see each other face-to-face for the first time. And to me, that was progress thus far!
Later on, I met Mr. Giko in Monrovia. I'm not sure whether it was during or after the same Election in which he aspired for the Representative post in Pleebo/Sodokeh District. But for sure, we met for the second time. This time we met at King Burger Restaurant on Broad Street. Again, the conversation between us was brief. I don't remember why, but it lasted for less than five minutes. So we did not get to knowing each other better. But at least, by then, I was able to have an opportunity to evaluate the young man from his speech.
Recently,Mr. Giko arrived in Liberia on another visit. This time he wanted to see me. Why? Well, he told me that he wanted to compare notes with me. Whatever that meant.
According to Mr. Giko, he tried to reach me via my cell phone but up to no avail. Probably because I was too busy running on my daily work schedule or that the network was bad that time. When he informed me how hard he tried to reach me, I believed him. But I couldn't understand why.
Maybe there was a problem with my phone or his or the network. I checked my "missed" call record on my cell. For some unknown reasons, I did not discover his "missed" calls. Technologically speaking, I should have discovered the “missed’ calls. And that's because technology has made it easy for us today in the world to track down information. But like they always say in Liberia, "This too, is Liberia."
The situation in Liberia is always different. Why? Please don't ask me. I know for sure, the system is always off-and-on. And I think that's why I missed Mr. Giko's calls. All in all, we were able to reconnect when he called back. From there on, things began to fall in place.
On March 13, two days prior to my birthday (March 15) Mr. Giko came to see me at my residence deep in the belly of the earth; in the environs of Monrovia. Somewhere deep in Barnersville is where I reside currently. When we met, he was in a hurry again.
Is it me or something just not right that each time we meet Mr. Giko is always in a hurry? I wonder. But all the same, we talked for less than five minutes. The time was short but significant: he let out his gut feeling on my work in Liberia. I too responded to the wrong views about me harbored by a handful of Marylanders in the US.
Here are some of his concerns:
Mr. Giko expressed his concerns on my "Who's Who" in Maryland post. I issued this post in late February, 2013 in my BEDELL SPEAKS & WORKS blog. He was wondering why I did not mention other people (Marylanders) in my post. In his opinion, he believed I left out people who have done a lot in Maryland and for Maryland but residing in the US. For example, he named a few persons that I will not name herein and included himself.
At another point, Mr. Giko also wondered what sort of criterion did I use to figure out Who's Who in Maryland. In other words, how did I derive a those names I posted.
He kept talking and I was just listening.
He went to further to state how could my claims of social justice advocacy be "verified." Immediately I twisted in my chair. That means he tormented right there by questioning my revolutionary integrity. I wanted to jump in. But no! I did not. I wanted him to finish. Because he was in a hurry to leave the meeting as he was prepping to leave for the US the next day.
When he concluded, my turn came to put forward my defense, if you may call it that way.
I am Thomas G. Bedell working and speaking on the ground in Liberia and has become a police brutality victim
To be continued
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