Former Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher “Dudus” Coke still has a number of years left in a United States federal prison term. However, local clergyman Reverend Merrick “Al” Miller is urging the incarcerated gang leader to heed the advice he had passed on before Coke was captured by local law enforcers in June 2010 in Miller’s motor car.

“I encourage him to do the same thing we talked about when I was taking him in at his own request. I was telling him that he and others like himself must be part of the answer and cannot afford to be, and certainly not continue to be, part of the problem,” Miller told the Jamaica Observer shortly after Easter Sunday morning service at his Fellowship Tabernacle in St Andrew.

Miller was responding to the newspaper’s request for a comment on what advice he would offer Coke as he is scheduled to be released in another five years.

Coke, who was wanted by the US Government on drug and gunrunning charges, was sentenced to 23 years in a New York court in June 2012 after a deal in which he pleaded guilty in August 2011 to drug trafficking and assault charges. At the time Coke was captured he was being driven by Miller, who said they had been en route to the United States Embassy in St Andrew, as Coke had wanted to turn himself in to US authorities.

The plan was for Miller to act as a middleman in the handover process at the embassy; however, the motor vehicle was intercepted on the Mandela Highway by members of the security forces who held Coke at Up Park Camp, the Jamaica Defence Force headquarters in St Andrew, before he was taken to New York by US Marshals.

Coke’s capture and extradition came weeks after gunmen loyal to him barricaded themselves inside Tivoli Gardens and exchanged gunfire with police and soldiers to prevent his arrest. A total of 73 civilians and a soldier were killed in the skirmishes, during which time Coke fled the community.

On Sunday, Miller, who was in 2016 found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice and fined $1 million or 12 months in prison for transporting Coke, said that there were a few things he would like Coke to reflect on as he serves out the remainder of his sentence and prepares for his return home.

“My word would be to him, coming back in the system, he should come back — having been away and been able to assess and analyse — create the change and be a part of the answer and the healing of the divide,” Miller said.

“On our way to the embassy and even in dialogue before that, he was open to change. Not just him, but I have been through communities talking to many of those who we see or consider causative agents in the demise of the nation and a number of them are tired of it and want to do something about it,” Miller shared.

“However, we have not yet created a framework that they can begin to do what is right. By themselves it is not easy to do what needs to be done. We have not yet, as a society, come up with a methodology that can engage them and put them in a position of real change. Can it be done? I am convinced. Let’s do it, man. What we have is cosmetic change in a couple of areas. Real change gets down in the hearts and minds, the thinking of the people,” Miller said.

The outspoken clergyman pointed out that at the same time, politicians must not forget that the divide which created someone like Coke started with the political system and the leaders. As such, the leaders need to begin to acknowledge this and seek forgiveness.

“A lot of what we must bear in mind — because we are pretending as if it doesn’t exist — is that all that is happening was created by the political divide in the nation that has not healed because we have not gone back and acknowledged it for what it is. Nobody has asked for real forgiveness for how they acted that created the problem. If you do not repent of your actions you cannot produce the change,” he said.

“The leadership in the political sphere has got to come back and say ‘Look, we messed up, man, we contributed here but we are turning away from it’. The divide in the nation is how a Dudus got into it. We are saying, no more divide. Let us work for the healing and restoration of the nation for the future of our children. The future and success of this nation has all the potential and the ability to help to impact the world. Let us harness it,” added Miller.