Jamaica’s Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Olivia Grange, said she will lead the advocacy for Marley to be declared a national hero.
The Order of National Hero is Jamaica’s highest award and should Marley be bestowed that honour, he will join the likes of Sir Alexander Bustamante, Norman Washington Manley, Paul Bogle, George William Gordon, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Sam Sharpe and Nanny of the Maroons.
The Jamaica Observer reported that Grange told a national radio audience and those gathered at the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston on Sunday, 6th February, 2011, to celebrate the late singer’s 66th birthday that Marley was a “great Jamaican” and that she “supported the idea of making him a national hero”.
The minister said people who believe Marley should be made a national hero should formally present their case through letters and petitions and that she would advocate on their behalf.
Marley’s reggae music has thrilled millions all over the world, and Jamaica footballers are known as the Reggae Boyz and Jamaica is now known as reggae land.
(Content for this article was obtained from a Caribbeannewsnow report)