Media Hub Liberia and the Wedeobo-family humbly request the Government of Liberia to memorialize the late Gabriel Nyantee Wilson cka, Executive Horn for his invaluable contribution to Liberia’s art, culture and politics. He perfectly did this through hooting the horn at different places particularly, national functions our Presidents including President George Manneh Weah, addressed. Gabriel carried on with the activity from the administration of President William R. Tolbert through to President Weah’s. Implicitly, Gabriel, unwaveringly blew the horn after President Tolbert, President Doe, President Taylor, Interim President Bryant, President Johnson-Sirleaf and President Weah until he died in a fatal accident Sunday, February 10, 2019.
We must mention that none of these illustrious leaders of our Motherland at any point or time stopped horn-hooter Gabriel from practicing his vocation especially around the Presidency. Each of them retained him possibly because they understood the positive message the traditional wooden instrument blower conveyed.
Hooting horn at national functions happens nowhere else in West Africa and perhaps beyond. Neither Nigeria’s Iso Rock, Ghana’s Castle, United States’ White House, Britain’s Number 10 Downing Street or Russia’s Kremlin have the horn tooted when their Prime Ministers or Presidents speak. This is another telling of the uniqueness of Liberia as the Mother of Africa liberation, civilization and democracy. We must pat Gabriel on the back.
To various ethnic groups of Liberia, the horn communicates a lot. It acclaims good community or public servants, hails the brave, motivates community-group workers, signals or warns of dangers or risks to public good, spices up festivities, and so on. The art of tooting the communication tool Gabriel brought from his home-village of Cavalla in Maryland County into Monrovia and right up to the Liberia Presidency. There, it mesmerized diplomats and foreign guests that graced our State functions. Even former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton so admired the hooting that she took a picture with Gabriel when President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf addressed an occasion she attended during one of her visits to Liberia. It is at this highest level Gabriel brought the infamous art – an effort that needless wither with the tooter’s demise. Therefore, Media Hub Liberia and the Wedeobo-family call on the Government to memorialize Gabriel in the following ways:
- 1. Dedicate a space to him in the National Museum
- Display the broken-horn and some traditional garments of his in the space
- Showcase portrait(s) of him hooting the horn as well as copy(ies) of
the Ministry of State’s monthly magazine: ‘Executive Horn’
- Display a memoire of his in the space. This could be coordinated by Media Hub Liberia
- Outdoor Gabriel’s trainee: Nathaniel Sie Payne and treat him well
- Replace the current Liberia Broadcasting System news bulletin’s signature tune with the horn
- Setup an ‘Executive Horn Foundation’ to propagate the forgotten parts of Liberia’s art and culture
- Give assistance to Gabriel’s children to further their education, and
- Erect a ‘Sculpture’ or ‘Statue’ of him on the Providence Island.
During a meeting on Saturday, March 2, 2019, Gabriel’s family consented to the idea to venerate its son, and expressed its readiness to provide whatever feasible to appropriately honor the deceased.
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