by Adrian Gibson

First published in The Tribune on Friday, February 16, 2007 under the byline, Young Man’s View.

ON Monday, The Tribune’s ultra explosive front page photographs of Immigration minister Shane Gibson and the late Anna Nicole Smith stunned thousands of Bahamians, leaving many with wide eyes and dropped jaws as they stared at pictures showing a Cabinet minister apparently canoodling with a woman to whom he had recently granted permanent residency status.

It was highly inappropriate for Mr Gibson to have established such an overly friendly relationship with an applicant to his ministry.

In compliance with Cabinet procedures, Mr Gibson and Ms Smith’s relationship should have been nowhere near what we’ve now been told.

Last year, it was this same minister who fast tracked Anna Nicole’s permanent residency permit in 21 work days, defending his actions as just a result of his ministry’s new-found efficiency.

When criticized, this brash and boastful minister declared that he would have granted his friend her residency status in a day if he had had his way. Although Mr Gibson’s actions led to a hailstorm of criticism, he refused to resign.

Following the death of Anna Nicole last week, the eyes of the world again turned to the Bahamas.

Then, on Monday, the Bahamas and the world were shocked by the publication of photos showing our government minister in compromising positions with the former soft-core porn star.

The Bahamas, once again, was made to look like a banana republic and a nation for sale.

Mr Gibson’s relations with Anna Nicole were scrutinized across the globe, bringing shame to many Bahamians. For this, I say, shame on Shane!

It appears that compassionate Shane Gibson’s desire to mingle with celebrity types may result in the probable demise of what once was a very promising political career.

It is absolutely astonishing that Mr Gibson would jeopardize his career and go this far, particularly for a “close friend” he claimed to have just met in late summer of 2006.

It appears that when it came to Anna Nicole, Mr Gibson was mesmerized and gave the impression of a deer caught in headlights.

On Monday evening, Mr Gibson and his wife Jacqueline appeared in an interview on ZNS TV. During the interview, Mr Gibson exuded an air of immodesty, even blaming The Tribune for the storm he now must weather, as if the daily told him to take the compromising pictures.

Admittedly, I had anticipated that Shane Gibson was going on air to apologize to the Bahamian people for what appears to be a breach in Cabinet protocols, and to announce his resignation. This was not to be! Under the Westminster system of government, Mr Gibson’s resignation should have been forthright.

During the interview, the Bahamas discovered that not only was Shane Gibson a close friend of Anna, but that it was a family affair!

On the face of it, Mr Gibson obtained permanent residency status for Anna at breakneck speed, his wife led consolation and prayers, his father traveled to Florida to pilot Anna’s new boat to the Bahamas and his mother was the pinup girl’s baby sitter.

Fictional writers couldn’t make this stuff up! Our minister of immigration not only appeared to be tied into an exclusive baby sitting service for a permanent resident, but for Ms Smith, he must have seemed to be a jack of all trades and services!

Mr Gibson also claimed that he befriended Anna because he was concerned about people taking advantage of her, particularly as she was in a strange land. What a load of rubbish!

How many other foreigners, who did not have the celebrity status or riches of Ms Smith, has Shane Gibson befriended because they were in a “strange land?”

Did we hire Mr Gibson to chaperone foreigners that, of their own will, seek to become permanent residents in our country? Mr Gibson’s reasoning seems illogical.

It is interesting that Mr Gibson declined to provide a straight answer when asked by interviewer Jerome Sawyer whether or not he and his family had offered the same courtesies that had been bestowed upon Anna to any other permanent residency applicant.

And, why does Mr Gibson need to think deeply on whether or not he has any regrets? Is the answer no?

I would also like to pose some outstanding questions to Mr Gibson: What was in the box that you were seen holding in one of the photos? Was casually sitting on a lounge chair with Anna, as she downed what seems to be a beer, a part of the consoling and ministering process? Was Anna puckering her lips, in one of the photos, to give you a kiss?

When the Anna Nicole controversy initially began to brew last year, I originally though that this woman could not be much of an asset to our country. To some extent, I was wrong as her presence here has led to many troubling revelations about our immigration department, our court system, the breakdown of the Westminster system of government and, by extension, the inadequacies of our current government.

As the election approaches, an old adage is certainly coming to pass. That is: ‘The higher the monkey climbs, the more his tail is exposed’.

Shane Gibson appears to have acted with total disregard for decency and Cabinet protocols.

I would advise Prime Minster Perry Christie to follow his own advice and post Monday’s jaw-dropping photos on his office wall, simply to remind himself of what his government is up against and to wake up to the embarrassing reality of being at the fore of a wayward Cabinet.

It is clear that, as is his modus operandi, Mr Christie is giving the country the silent treatment and possibly hoping that everything would eventually just die down.

If Mr Christie refuses to request Shane Gibson’s resignation or fire him, he would then confirm the suspicions of many—that the PLP has set up a Third World government that encourages nepotism, cronyism and slackness!

It is a shame that to this day, Mr Gibson has yet to resign. While I feel it’s still not too late to do the honourable thing, Shane Gibson’s resignation should have been written and announced by noon on Monday (the day the photos were published). For Shane Gibson, the fat lady has sung!

Mr Christie, the Bahamian people are demanding that you act and swiftly kick Mr Gibson out of your Cabinet. Sir, in the name of the Bahamian people, just give Mr Gibson the steel tipped end of the boot and save face!