Tendai Franklyn-Brown, Staff Reporter

( L - R ) Paul Kelly, Ras Kojo - Photos by Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

Already a hero in the eyes of Jamaicans and the international community, there has been much debate as to whether Bob Marley, who has already been bestowed with the Order of Merit, should be made a National Hero.

Professor Rex Nettleford, vice-chancellor emeritus at the University of the West Indies, told The Gleaner yesterday that Marley, "like all great artistes who have excelled, is a hero in his own right and there is no doubt about his greatness".

Professor Nettleford is currently on the honours committee reviewing the criteria for awarding a person National Hero status.

Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, minister of information, youth, culture and sports, has fond memories of the man she deemed to be "all heart and always available".

"It doesn't mean he was a perfect human, but he had good qualities, more than the average person," Grange said.

"Bob was a warm person, I knew him fairly well, not as an artiste but as a Jamaican Rastaman; very kind, good personality and was a friend and benefactor to many. He was a disciplinarian and loved children," she added. "Bob was a poet and a lyricist. I would even go as far to say he had a sexy voice, a real ladies' man."

Scheduled events

Many events have been scheduled to celebrate what would have been Bob Marley's 63rd birthday. Among those activities are today's football match between the Reggae Boyz and Costa Rica, the premiere of the documentary Africa Unite and a banquet at Strawberry Hill, hosted by Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, Marley's record label.

However, Ras Kojo, who says he became friends with Marley in 1971, questions the motive behind the celebrations.

"All well and good, but who is really gaining?" he asked. "I mean, the Government riding on the band wagon; everybody is, so this is more reason for them to make him a hero."

Paul Kelly, another friend and an accountant at the Bob Marley Museum, met Marley in 1975.

"We used to come up here and reason, but I knew him through Rastafari. Otherwise he was a musician," he said.

According to Kelly, the football match is a fitting tribute to a man "who love football bad".

"As he put down him guitar, is a football him pick up. Physical fitness on a whole, and the music, he was about them things."

When pushed on whether Marley should be made a National Hero, Kelly said the esteem in which he is held precedes any award by the Government.

"When you're talking about freedom, Bob Marley freed the people with music, not only Jamaica but internationally, with positive, conscious songs. People fight against Bob Marley because of him religion, but put those things aside and look at his works. As a man, you have to say he's far superior. If the Government want to sign a piece of paper, that is their business."

tendai.franklyn-brown@gleanerjm.com