By Joe Noutoua Wandah, Media Advocate/Contributing Writer
As a young lad living in Clara Town adjacent Gebrata in the early 1980s, the now World class iconic personality in person of GEORGE OPPONG MANNAH WEAH was sharing one room with sixteen of his siblings. Occupants of that room included his grandmother due to poverty. Then, the young Manneh was an avid footballer playing for Bong Range United and Survival football clubs.
The Invincible Eleven (IE) fan club, which gave financial and moral support to the Invincible Eleven Majestic football association later became his lifeline after I.E heard of the name George Oppong Mannah Weah.
I can vividly recall when this young talented Oppong Weah left from Bong Range and Survival football club of Clara town and moved over to the Invincible Eleven soccer team in the mid1980s.
Oppong, popularly known at the time among Liberian soccer lovers, was once invited by the Clara Town IE fan club at one of our many funds raisers where we had a live band entertaining the audience in the then Clara Townhall near the Methodist Church adjacent the Clara market.
The George Oppong Mannah Weah, that I knew at the time as one of those guest stars, who were invited to grace our program, took to the microphone joyfully singing one of those old popular Ghanaian highlife songs of the 1970s, rocking the entire audience’s at the fund raisers function.
The Oppong that I knew was highly respected in the Liberian footballing community prior to extending his soccer career to Cameroon. He was one of those who brought Liberians back together in the wake of the brutal civil war that divided the nation in the 1990s.
Fortunately for Liberians, their “black diamond” Oppong’s foreign football expedition, which begun from Cameroon to Europe and the Middle East, put Liberia on the international soccer map. The nation began to reflect on the golden days of the 1950s remembering legendaries Waniboto,John Mokey Brown, Joshua Johnson,Paul Broe to name just a few of Liberia’s football arena.
This highly esteemed “African soccer wizard” as he was referred to by World soccer analysts, commanded respect from leadership’s the World over was an Ambassador without borders!
Unfortunately, group of greedy geniuses succeeded in convincing this World class citizen to enter into the dirty Liberian politics due to his love and popularity especially in Liberia to join their criminal political cartels!
This was made known, to the Liberian people when my George Oppong Mannah Weah that I know openly told Liberians through his Special Aide, Kalasco during lives video podcast on Facebook at the refurbished Clara town sport pitch in which Weah made this statement:
“I AM NOT A POLITICIAN, IT WAS THOSE PEOPLE (GREEDY GENIUSES) WHO PUT ME INTO IT BECAUSE THEY WANTED SOMETHING’S!”
With this open confession, what more these greedy geniuses want my George Oppong Mannah Weah that I know best to tell them before they got to understand that this their criminally driven dirty Liberian politics is not part of his DNA?
He’s just an astute soccer Ambassador accredited to this Universe from Liberia poised to reduce racism from the arena of professional soccer’s as evidence of his recent appointment by the World governing body of sports the Federations of International Football Associations FIFA!
The George Oppong Mannah Weah that I know gained his love and popularity through his God given talent in football and not so-called Liberian dirty politics as has been the perception in today’s Liberia by those blood Sucking Vampires known as politicians!
Those greedy geniuses, who think that using the person of the George Oppong Mannah Weah that I know to gain relevant in the so-called criminal body politics in Liberia must have a second thought because the true behind their political gamicks has been exposed!
The George Oppong Mannah Weah,that I know has taken his rightful place in the World as the World governing body of Sports FIFA has called him to service for the betterment of the World best entertaining sport to champion the reductions of RACISMS that has now beclouded the game especially in Europe and Asia !
The George Oppong Mannah Weah, that I know who Liberians adore is the soccer icon who came from poverty-stricken Gebrata a suburb of Monrovia unprecedently took the golden ball.
So-called greedy geniuses, please give this World Soccer Ambassador without borders the chance to better concentrate on his world duties than Liberian criminally driven body politic that stands to divide her practitioners which are those cases in today’s Liberia!