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Thursday 24 June 2010

African Fathers and Father's Day

We have noticed a great deal of ludicrous men who have taken the title of a "father" quite unjustly upon themselves. These men excite hilarity as their only pride is in the position and not the concomitant duties and responsibilities that come with fatherhood. We could effectively liken them to the condition of enjoying the pomp and pageantry of a position and not doing diddly-squat about the duties of the role. They are comical since they do disregard the reality that paternity is a long journey whose path is strewn with never-ending demands for commitment, love and responsibility. Now that the hubbub of the emergent Father's Day has come and gone, let us shed some light on fathers—we will concentrate on African fathers in this write-up—and find out if a lot of people who thump their chests and arrogate to themselves the meaningless class or new-found status as a father deserve the patriarchal appellation at all—if they have any right to taint the budding Father’s Day.

It is miserable to remark that many people who have become fathers are mere sperm donors in the end. And most unfortunately, this horrendous description is not a preserve of just African fathers but fathers wherever they are found. With most African men, the pregnancy with a girl may have been a sheer accident, out of wedlock and an unfathomable pleasure-seeking spree which went awry. Most of these men stumbled upon fatherhood because, in addition to their wives and fiancées; many of them allowed themselves to be fascinated by the adventure of sexual escapades which would have surpassed those of Tiger Woods, were they as popular as him to warrant some intrusive journalists into their private lives, monitoring their every move and recording their nocturnal libido activities.

Consequently, many a man has had children out of wedlock because of some of the reasons of accidental one-night stands, bizarre satyriasis and the sheer desire and fun to acquire concubines. Professor Mills has recently come under public scrutiny about a so-called out-of-wedlock child. Rawlings, and almost every public figure, including ex-president Kufuor, has been accused in a similar fashion. In Europe and the US, it has always happened when very prominent people in society have— on impulse and out of adventure and the desire to fall prey to their concupiscent urge—made unwanted babies with very credulous mothers. It must also be said that sometimes, some of the mothers have served open invitations to men who are ready to enjoy their “booties” and pour their seeds into any holes without thinking about the consequences of their actions. These irresponsible men for whom giddiness is both a watchword and an undeviating motto, forget that the seeds they plant in the bosom of these women—whether they were lured or they sought adventure— can and will gestate one day to expose their underhand sexual affairs.

However, many of these men who become or want to be known as fathers refuse to grow up and accept liability for their nebulous actions. It must be recorded that we are not in any way claiming to be perfect; but we understand that when errors are made, the floundering people should hold their hands up rather than taking some ridiculously immoral stances by feigning knowledge for their actions—an attitude which is quite prevalent in many fathers. Therefore as aforementioned, we find it incomprehensible when sperm-sprinkling idiots evade their responsibilities when what they have sown has grown to expose their hidden activities. This normally arises from the acrimony and mortification their secret accomplishments convey; which is why they only express anger, brainless regrets and then, they cap it by rejecting the offspring which emanates from their three-minute pleasures. Does anyone wonder why there are so many fatherless children in this world and particularly Africa? With the exception of those who become orphans because their conscientious, loving and doting fathers die early, many fathers utterly and blatantly refuse to accept their out-of-wedlock children. How many times have we not heard people intimating that some prominent person is their father who refused to care for them? The lurid insensitivity which some of these fortuitous fathers display at law courts to prove that they are not answerable to pregnancies is quite repugnant! In most cases, Nature has always demonstrated it does not connive by giving the man in question a baby which is anything but his photocopy!

But the irony of the whole situation is when these men come back to lay some tenuous claims to these progeny who were once outcasts. This happens when they detect that; the hopeless bastard they brought into the world has—by a freak and unnatural twist of Providence—prospered. There have been many examples of semi-orphans and fatherless children who have been blessed to the utmost infamy and derision of their fathers that; the once proud men who did not want to know anything about the so-called illegitimate children have been diffidently forced to go back and ask for reprieve. There was the recent media hype concerning Michael Essien and his apparent neglect of his father. Rumours abound regarding the fact that his father decided to use his money wisely on alcohol and the fairer sex. This is just information being churned out by the rumour mill and as such, we may only know the truth from the two horses’ own mouths but we cannot downplay the recurrence of numerous real-life stories a la the Essien saga which support our contention.

Besides, many of these fathers have always belittled the girls they have impregnated by accident. This is why they express the rather senseless resentment, the gibberish regret and then refusal of their own blood. Parents of some of these fathers will normally want to disown their children for engaging in illicit sexual activities with girls who could be better described as riff-raffs par excellence. The fear for this sort of denunciation coerces them into making every effort to deny responsibility for the pregnancy even when it has been proven beyond all misgivings. Some of them will idiotically placate themselves by not looking after the child they bring into this world because they feel superior to the girls they impregnated. To them, having any sort of affiliation (sexual connection especially) with such a woman is an affront to their high-class standards. But as men, we must realise that if one is a graduate and decides to have fun with some poor groundnut seller, the graduate either brings himself to the level of the poor girl or elevates the girl to his status. Thus, he should definitely acknowledge whatever happens after the sexual pleasure whether there be an unwanted baby or not.

The African father has an extreme obsession with many things but with his wife and children. The things which preoccupy the minds of African men are the lottery (how they can win cheap money), palm wine in public places coupled with the dexterous game of draughts, football, almighty politics and most unfortunately women—in spite of the fact that they may have two or more wives already and with a countless number of girlfriends. The African father is both interesting and humorous. Pay a visit to the palm-wine selling place and you could be addicted to the place at once! Usually, the palm wine selling place is a wall-less dirty hut roofed with thatch which possesses a synthetically invincible stench of palm wine. Going hand-in-hand with that intoxicating liquid which also produces the most potent liquor known by the alias of "akpeteshi" and many other droll monikers is the game of draughts. It is always said that chiefs should not play this game and we all know why. Some fathers can spend the whole day playing this game, quaffing the potent whitish liquor which is extracted from the palm tree while casting outrageous insinuations and innuendos, very effective insults and contemptible revelations of offensive secrets. When you happen to have skeletons in your cupboard, do not go playing this game as the keys to those cupboards are kept with members of this all-important drinking-cum-gaming committee.

The next fixation of African men is the different workings and permutations of the National Gambling Machinery, to wit, the lottery. Most of them are as conversant with this game as they are with the palms of their hands. The mental sharpness of the African man denotes his mathematical prowess when it comes to predicting the lotto—a feat which only Nature can explain! Just in case they are not at work, not watching football, drinking the indefatigable palm wine or bickering about politics, these fathers are speculating on the possible outcome of the lotto numbers. The lottery paper makes me think that Ghanaian fathers should be invited to the World Mathematics Association, if any such group exists. Even the most illiterate of African men can sit, work out and possibly forecast the right numbers. They could write their own Mathematics books based on the National Lottery. From where they are able to get the formulae, only their Intelligent Quotient can tell but it works! We may safely intimate that most of them have got the IQ of Colin Powell when it comes to this gambling game.

Not belabouring the point on women, we will take on the next passion of African men. And it is sports! Football is almost the epicentre of African fathers’ lives. Ask them about football and they can give you very accurate information about the inception of the World Cup, all the different Leagues in the world, the names of all the best players in the world including those who have won the FIFA World Player of the Year Award, the numerous winners of the Golden Boot Award including players' biographies. They can tell you about the number of kilometers per hour Pele's shot travelled in a World Cup match and the size of Ronaldo's boots. Yet, these fathers are in a continent where half of the men do not know their daughters’ birthdays or their wedding anniversaries. We can state on authority that the behaviour of these men is not dictated by the lack of brilliance. The simple grounds for our argument stems from the fact that these men can recite the Bible by heart, tell with impressive precision the width of the River Nile, enumerate all the capital cities and population of every country in the world; not forgetting their expert knowledge about presidents of the United States from Washington to Obama. But, we lament the social disconnection from their mothers, wives, sisters, daughters and in some cases even from their fellow men.

Dejectedly, men in general do not know what to do with children. Scores of African men have the vigour and the sexual drive to father an entire village of children, but they seldom know how to raise those children. Showing up at their children’s Graduation Day, Sports Day or even taking their children to the hospital is regarded as a frivolous expedition. African fathers inherit this character trait from their parents and progenitors. They have no idea what it means to be hugged or loved by their own fathers and so they accept this as part of their tradition which must not be toyed with under any circumstances. This is why we would like to question African men’s insatiable craving for education. An African man has more university degrees than an American, European or Japanese by foraging and combing the world for the best type of edification. They have detached themselves from social networks and relocated thousands of miles away in pursuit of education. But, the real question is what has that education done for Africa? Some men in Africa have a dozen degrees; scores of diplomas, a shedload of certificates and multiple PhDs. However, education for most African men has become an inopportune tool for daunting others and transforming them into braggarts rather than giving them an inner emancipation. One of the reasons why the Nobel Prize has fewer Africans and more Europeans and Americans is that Africans are still doing their theses while the others are in the laboratory and on the ground practising what they have learnt.

At this juncture, we would like to request for the highest esteem for womanhood. We do not want to accept the erroneous impression that, asking one’s wife how her day was is more cumbersome than asking her if dinner is ready. Many are the men who demand respect but forget that respect actually thrives on the law of reciprocity. The only time most men show respect to their wives is when they are in the presence of their wives’ relatives. They are very good at name-calling as long as those words are not sweetheart, sweetie, love, sugar, baby or honey. In effect, they treat women like slaves. Therefore, we will entreat African fathers to learn to communicate with their wives, children and neighbours. Speaking only when angry is what results in yelling. And being able to say sorry to only an officer of the law is never a civilized way of being a man. For lack of respect, some men compel their wives to work until their faces wrinkle; until their hands blister; until they have no desire to look beautiful to anyone. And when they have succeeded in achieving their nefarious endeavour, they turn around to hound a very lazy gold-digger whose unmistakable splendour stems from her doing no work at all.


Nevertheless, this article is not an indictment on all African men. Africa has produced some fine men, great scholars and parents who have contributed to the welfare of society. We can enthusiastically mention Nkrumah, Danquah, Mandela, Annan, Lumumba, Kenyatta, Soyinka, Achebe, Toure, Boigny, etc. These men have liberated Africa from its historic shackles; they have fought imperial powers that colonised not only the continent, but the African mind. We express our profound and heartfelt gratitude to these men. We are appealing to African men to put away their extreme views of politics away a bit and monitor how the proponents and inventors of Democracy conduct politics. If the passion African men put in their football and politics is the same zeal they put in their women, they would be the yardstick for measuring other men. Human rights in Africa are just another academic work. Children across Africa are still child soldiers, street children and “child parents”. All this while, African leaders—majority of whom are men—fly around in luxury, disconnected from society, content with the misuse of power with impunity. Systems in Africa abuse women and children but celebrate mediocre men who are otherwise called politicians. These same systems ridicule men who appear like women only because these men care and are connected with their gentle side.

We do not intend to malign or attack anyone; we only mean to open a dialogue that African men have shelved for decades. We would like to remind these men that times have changed and it is time they addressed this area of their lives. The ceaseless cries of women have regrettably been deafened by the bouncing echoes of the successes of these men. Or is it really success? Fathers' Day should be celebrated but it should only be in honour of those who fulfill their fatherly duties so that it can also gain the same eminence like the hitherto debauched Valentine's Day. We are not offering any suggestions on how to become a good father as we believe African men know the right thing but lack the courage. Consequently, we want to encourage them. We have a philosophy that every boy or man can be a dad but it takes a great man to attain the level of fatherhood. We do not dispute that such men do exist but the trouble is they are the exception rather than the rule. This explains why we are optimistic this article will spark a discourse that will positively affect the next generation so that they are better than the current one.

Sunday 13 June 2010

Who is Man's Worst Enemy?

The pros and cons of the argument as to whom or what should be perceived as man’s worst enemy have raged on for centuries and there is still no end in sight. Many are the great thinkers who have propounded their theories backed by very authentic illustrations supporting their thoughts on this subject. Those motivated by the Christian faith have held the belief that His Majesty Lucifer is man’s worst enemy. Other thinkers have maintained it is greed--Radix malorun est cupiditas: to wit, greed is the root of all evils. Some have blamed pride, others women. I once read that a man’s greatest weapon is his mind but, his worst enemy is his mouth. In my view, however, after an extensive, profound, careful observation of man, I can state that man’s sexual desire is certainly his most powerful and deadly enemy.



This issue has been well documented and the argument could now be rekindled agreeing or differing with our adored truth-seekers. Money has proved a very worthy customer when talking about man’s bitterest enemy; so has greed which has driven others to kill for money. The devil has also done his best in terms of proving he is man’s worst enemy: he denied Adam the earthly Paradise through deception and as triumphant as the devil has been, he has been constantly held culpable when he has not even thought of a particular sin. However, one cannot discount women when it comes to the search of man’s worst enemy looking at the seeds of discord they normally sow between the best of friends to make them the worst of foes to the disintegration of families, making brothers perpetual adversaries.



First of all, the idea that our sexual volition is our mortal enemy can be traced to the origin of the Garden of Eden. Although the Bible intimates that the downfall of Adam and his subsequent expulsion from the Terrestrial Paradise was the consequence of his eating of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, some religious enthusiasts have always maintained that the story is metaphorical. In reality, these pious men attribute the loss of the Eden garden as being the consequence of a sexual intercourse between the very first couple —an event which the Bible blatantly refuses to expatiate on. It thus, means that our enmity with our sexual drive dates back from Adam.



For those who shore up the notion that women are the source of man’s misfortunes may also have a point. After all, they can back it up with the figurative tale of the Garden of Eden as Eve was the pulling power who led Adam and mankind into eternal damnation if indeed mankind lost the Garden through coitus. They normally point out that it is women who whet men’s sexual appetite. What with women westernising themselves these days with some of them showing their boobs and other sumptuous bodily parts in public which indeed should be displayed in hidden places! The desperate attempt by some women to feel and look sexy with its concomitant obscene way of dressing that bears all is always potent to knock every man off his feet (including very religious men). Nonetheless, our sexual craving can be metaphorically likened to car or a horse—it can be controlled. It is when we refuse to control it—when we succumb to its never-diminishing influence-- that it veers us off the right path.



Yet, man has always been incapable, since time immemorial, to properly and constructively conduct his sexual yearning. This case has been since the beginning: Adam could not control it; nor could the blessed David be in command of his eroticism as he took the wife of one his generals and shortly after cleverly organised his death.The wisest Solomon, in spite of his astuteness, had a ridiculous number of wives and concubines. There are an uncountable number of examples of men who have all crumbled in the face of this mighty tyrannical antagonist—their sexual urge. Certain men of God have experienced the same fate as Adam due to their sexual inclination but some of these godly characters justify their sexual sins by the same Bible by which they revile all vices—a case which makes sense of the Shakespearean axiom that the devil can cite scripture for his purpose. In the end, these religious men wallow in the vice they are meant to admonish us against.



It is worthy to note how our lust has haunted and continue to nag us in all spheres of life. By this insatiable sexual pleasure, some men in responsible positions have lost their sense of impartiality. What do you think of the Managing Director who employs his staff, especially the women, with the sexual relations he can have with them at the back of his mind? This seems to be the new phenomenon in many countries. Can you consider the teacher who grades his female students not because of the content of their work but by the content of their ravishing corporal parts?! Most of us have been witnesses to this problem but have had to cast silly innuendos against these offending tutors.



It was exactly his sexual longing which brought about the fatal end of president-dictator Sani Abacha. His detractors were looking for the most potent way of eliminating him, having failed through a coup d’etat and poisoning. Having cudgelled their brains for years and finding no easy way out, they happened to try the simplest of all solutions in the end to eliminate Sani Abacha: to bring some of the most gorgeous ladies from India to seduce him and then poison him. Under the tutelage of his sexual gratification, Abacha was immediately behaving like the proverbial billy goat who smiles only after inhaling the urine of the nanny goat. Thus, the downfall and the resulting death of Abacha came easily after a few minutes but his death is blamed on a heart attack!



A headline story “Sex Scandal Rocks Presbyterian Church” was carried on Peace FM’s website on the 19th of May about an alleged sexual transgression involving one Doris Sobre, a female administrator and some leading members of the Presbyterian Church. Prominent among the suspected sexual offenders was the District Pastor, Reverend Kissiedu Ayi whose main defence was captured in the platitude “… mere fabrications by a faction in the church…” to tarnish his reputation. The next day, the ramifications of the same headline story had reached a crescendo where the administrator whose sexual escapades brought about the furore was given the sack. The Bible cannot be mistaken when it declares judgement will start in the house of God. For, if the men who are to conduct the Lord’s sheep into His Holy pen decide to lead them to the lair of a pack of hungry lions, then we are doomed. It is quite unequivocal that these men of God are watching and benefiting instead of watching and praying. What is quite baffling is when Reverend Ayi blames his predicament on a “faction” in the church who wants to cast a slur on his good name. Why must there be a faction in the church? – a place which is meant to be a sanctuary and a refuge to the afflicted; a place of worship and a place of togetherness and one accord all in the name of God.



George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm that: “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others”. We all know that we are not all equal before the law but nobody thought it will be so glaring and ludicrous when two people commit the same felony.

Captain George Mfodjoh (Retired) and a man whose alias is Kumasi Rambo engaged themselves in some unsavoury sexual bouts of epic proportions. The former is a law-maker in Ghana’s Parliament charged by his constituency to make laws to punish bad people of which rapists are not exempt. The latter is your normal well-built neighbourhood bully who acts as he pleases. The law-maker finds himself in a sexual mood. He checks around and sees a poor girl; he pounces on this girl, seizes her by the neck, and with a pistol to her head drives her home and assaults her sexually without using a condom—after all this is not a heinous crime since he is a legislator. Kumasi Rambo on the other hand catches a poor girl running to catch a bus and in a brutal manner like we normally witness in Hollywood films, drags this girl begrudgingly to a drinking-bar in front of everybody, grabs a condom from nowhere like a magician and in broad daylight quenches his sexual flame by acting a pornographic film before scary but attentive people reeling between awe and pleasure.



The remarkable thing was while the Rambo was disgraced (of course he blamed the devil for his libido), arrested, charged and finally sentenced to 30 years imprisonment using the laws made by the Captain and his colleagues, the captain was exempted from the incongruous court system which wanted to trial him. The Rambo was a menace and a social misfit who was a great encumbrance to society and so he deserves his 30 years imprisonment. But the Captain is needed in parliament to ensure good laws are enacted so that confounded scoundrels like Rambo can be removed from our neighbourhoods. It is gratifying to realise that colleague legislators of Honourable Mfodjoh acted to allow good sense to prevail. How could any judge worth his salt sit on a preposterous case like that with the purpose of finding the honourable man guilty because he has entered uninvited the legs of a riff-raff who is required by law to open her legs for the facile entrance of prominent people like the Member of Parliament for Ho Central? The collusion by colleague MPs beggars belief, but the fact is that the laws of Ghana are made to punish people like truck-pushers, farmers, masons, carpenters and the common man and not an MP!



In the end, a study of man can really show that maybe Satan, woman, greed and money are his enemies but they are not as deadly as his sexual volition. Envy, enmity, incompetence, mediocrity and injustice are the vices which co-exist with our libido. And if man believes in God and His Holy Scriptures, it is definitely this uncontrollable sexual inclination which will conduct all of us to hell if there be one. And no matter how convincing our outward holiness is, it is these secret sexual immoralities in private places that “will come before the judgement seat of Christ”! For, if God is a just God—and we know He is—and He did not spare the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, do we think He will pardon those of us who have had the benefit of learning from the downfall of these people?

Sunday 6 June 2010

The 1979 Revolt: a Candid Opinion

The widely acknowledged adage that opinions are like noses seems credible and true. But nowhere is this saying truer than when it comes to the June 4 Uprisings. The tabloids were littered with various media reportages with headline revisits mainly from pundits in the Ghanaian political background. As usual, the internet and websites with Ghanaian connexions were not spared the blighting bills and pernicious placards called articles with various divergent views on the Revolution. Comments posted by readers normally and miserably either had an Umbrella prefixed to them or had an Elephant transmitting them. I would like to begin by issuing a very uncompromising admonition to those dawdler brains who serve as the means of letting the Elephant out of the zoo or the forest and likewise to those daft ones who are always eager to expose the rather dirty Umbrella in public.

This article seeks to bring about a very sombre reflection—devoid of party politics—upon the momentous events of May and June 1979—incidents which from where one stands, have made or marred Ghana. I invite discerning readers to rid themselves of party politics and make a dispassionate assessment of the incipient events which led to the unrests of 4th June 1979. Once again, I would like to admonish readers that this piece is not meant for the dogmatists of the anti-dogmatists who may represent the twilight of dubiety and whose logic often becloud the effulgence of their intellectual superiority. I have not the slightest resolve to give any dog chance to questionable characters, who united with the requisite modicum of humbug of hypocrisy and perhaps sycophancy, are always ready to descend into the humdrum comments about the 1979 Revolution. I will entreat you to stop reading if you happen to fall into this category.

Honestly, nobody can deliberate on and do ample justice to the 1979 Insurrection without considering all the other coups d’etat, from Ghana’s first of 24th February 1966 to the palace coup which replaced the Supreme Military Council 1 with Supreme Military Council 2 after converting itself from the National Redemption Council. The first coup led by General JA Ankrah ended the reign of Dr Nkrumah and possibly his illustrious life. Any coup which topples a legitimate government must be condemned in no hesitant terms—no matter the wrongs of the democratic government. But we cannot behave like the ostrich when it comes to expressing our views. Dr Nkrumah is arguably one of the greatest sons Ghana has ever had but factually, his blunders of turning Ghana into a one-party state, the precariously clandestine activities of the Youth Wing of the CPP, the rather obnoxious Preventive Detention Act of 1958 which sent Dr J B Danquah into a premature grave among others unfortunately fertilised the grounds for his elimination.

The conspiracy theorists have constantly blamed Dr Nkrumah’s demise on the West, especially the US. However, the heroic worship and adoration Dr Nkrumah experienced in his early days as a leader degenerated until he came to represent an antagonist instead of an African hero. This was mainly due to some of the reasons enumerated in the preceding paragraph. Again, his downfall mirrored the discrepancy between his election promises of democracy and liberty and the reality of life under his leadership. For instance, the PDA of 1958 gave the Police absolute powers which led to tyranny. Therefore, even if the US had a hand in his overthrow, Dr Nkrumah more or less contributed to his own downfall like a tragic character. The general mood of Ghanaians especially when Dr Nkrumah declared himself “President for Life” in 1964 was that of despair. In a tribute to Dr Nkrumah, Lt. Gen Afrifa summed up the mood of Ghanaians thus: “Nkrumah could have become a great man. He started well, led the independence movement and became, on behalf of Ghana, the symbol of emergent Africa. Somewhere down the line, however, he became ambitious, built a cult of personality and ruthlessly used the powers invested by his own constitution. He developed a strange love for absolute power”. A lot of Nkrumaists will take this with a pinch of salt but looking at events in those days will persuade everybody that, what Afrifa said holds a bit of water. But can anyone comment on the 1979 Insurgency forgetting that; events which brought Dr Rawlings into the political limelight began as far back as 1960 when Lord Listowel left the shores of Ghana with Her Majesty’s representatives?

Sadly, however, the 1966 coup did not conclude the military’s unsolicited intervention and subsequent involvement in Ghanaian politics. Perhaps, if the military had conceded that democracy was the way forward for Ghana, Flt Lt Rawlings would never had ventured into politics. Somehow the military found faults with the democratic government of Dr Busia and Edward Akuffo-Addo as untenable. Consequently, a second coup in Ghana’s political history surfaced. Well, the National Liberation Council could not liberate Ghanaians nor could the National Redemption Council redeem anyone. But I can say on authority that if any coup—of course all coups are illegal—legitimised the appearance of Dr Rawlings and made the 1979 Mutiny inevitable, it was undoubtedly the SMC and the despicable military government of Gen Ignatius Kutu Acheampong! What with the corrupt practices which engulfed the whole country, bad economic management, “Kalabule” and the much-touted sex-for-car policy this man and his government instituted! The mass poverty, injustice and the extreme and indescribable abuse of office only justified the uprising of 4th June 1979. Indeed there is not a single military government which is not tainted with widespread encouragement and endorsement of corruption.

It must be understood that I am not in any way justifying the wrongs and perceived transgressions of Dr Rawlings. The point of this piece is about the 1979 Uprising and not Dr Rawlings’ whole political life. I know someone who lived in the 70s and loathed Rawlings with all his heart, soul and spirit. One day, however, he conceded that the coming of Dr Rawlings was both invigorating and expected. Thus, to do a proper appraisal of Dr Rawlings and his eternal June 4 Movement, without any iota of bigotry, one must have lived in the 70s or must have been given very accurate and unprejudiced facts by somebody who lived in that decade. For a sworn nemesis of Dr Rawlings like Kwaku Baako to reiterate even in 2010 his enduring support for the 1979 Revolt and going on to describe it as “unavoidable” should get all of us thinking. Unlike the usual apologists, I would like all of us to mull over the upheavals of 1979 in terms of both its gains and its regrettable excesses and not just one of them.

By deposing Nkrumah and Busia in 1966 and 1972 respectively, the perpetrators benefited immensely. Most of the leaders of those coups and their members promoted themselves in a twinkle of an eye. Most changed ranks with the flick of a finger; from being colonels to Lieutenant Generals and Generals. Looking at various blatant acts of both encouraged and sanctioned corrupt practices including self-enrichment, it is quite right to say that perhaps, all those who were executed deserved their fate. The heat of the moment must also be considered when discussing June 4 which shaped the country’s political landscape. A few people got so stinking rich that, they could hardly tell whose magnificent munificence brought them the wealth. Some owned expensive properties because of their affiliations to the NLC, the NRC and its metamorphosed SMC. Above all, it can be argued that the Revolution brought about the nation’s awareness to its social responsibilities. A lot of people must have been thinking what awaited anyone who raped the country: probity and accountability was going to catch up with everyone.

All said and done, it will be a travesty of justice and a mockery of common sense if the fatal and regrettable overindulgences of the 1979 Insurrection are ignored. In the same vein of talking about things impartially, the disrespect of our cultural set-up where the elderly were remorselessly whipped in public and made to do tediously back-breaking exercises, women stripped naked and publicly horsewhipped in-between their legs, the confiscation of assets of industrious people, the devastation of businesses and so on must be sadly mentioned. However, heaping all the blames on Dr Rawlings is unjustified. Psychologically, whenever there is a mob action or justice, cowards normally undertake very brave and daring acts. Do a flashback of school or university demonstrations and you will realise how some very calm people took the law into their own hands.

The final point is about the relevance of the June 4 Rebellion. Not to take anything away from the achievements of this crucial episode in Ghana’s history, it can be argued that the unrest of June 1979 was a bit uncalled for. The fact is that the country was being prepared for general elections following the massive rejection of the Union Government proposal by Acheampong meant to perpetuate the military in power. Though the referendum was rigged, Acheampong and his followers had to give in to the vehement will of the people. So contrarily to popular perception, it could be inferred that the June 4 Disturbances was not the sine qua non of democracy to Ghana. The consequent 1981 coup went against the pledge of the AFRC that June 4 was to end all coups. Unfortunately for Rawlings—and I must add that perhaps his worst resolution though he will not overtly admit it—he decided to topple Dr Limann’s government—a government he had helped put in place. This is because it is quite evident that; had he been patient, there is no doubt Rawlings would have won the next elections hands down, hugely owing to his popularity after his court speech and June 4.

In the final analysis, the most important question of all is as to whether the events of the 1979 Mutiny should be celebrated. The justification or denunciation of the 1979 Revolution has always been viewed from a political standpoint. Some have described the events as “morbid” due to the melancholic sentiments the Revolution evokes. It is quite comprehensible considering the lives which were lost. Upon a sober reflection, I feel those who milked the country dry—though deserved their fate— should have been imprisoned instead of facing the firing squad. For Dr Rawlings, it was a relief from incarceration and a possible death sentence. Consequently, if he celebrates, it should be understood. Dr Rawlings was ably nicknamed “Junior Jesus” but his detractors have changed it to “Junior Judas”. Even if he has become the despised Judas, it has to be noted that one of the disciples had to betray the Christ to bring perpetual damnation upon himself before mankind could have salvation. If Judas had not done it, it could have been Peter or John. Any balanced argument concerning June 1979 should take stock of the good, the bad and the ugly sides. Seeking to justify all the accomplishments at all cost will be a mockery and the same goes for anyone who damns every part of it.

To sum up, the relevance of June 4 1979 should not be discarded; neither should it also be given the flamboyant festivities we are accustomed to. It should however be marked as a National Consciousness Day; a day where we empathise with people who went to prison unlawfully; when we sympathise with those who lost relatives and their property and those who had to go to exile. Ghanaians should remember the public humiliations due to the inhuman treatments which were meted out to people in the frenzy of the moment when people were fed up with all the suppressed anger emanating from the corruption, poverty, hunger, etc called for the blood to flow. Ghanaians should understand that governments will be elected via the ballot box and may be toppled by the power of the thumb and not the barrel of the gun. It is clear what we know of Dr Rawlings: you can love him for his charisma and oratory or detest him for being an enigma. Dr Nkrumah’s overthrow was greeted with a universal approbation but he is now celebrated posthumously. No matter one’s animosity—sometimes Rawlings does invite antipathy for himself— he will be the devil for many and the messiah for many more. Never again will Ghana repeat the excruciating but somewhat indispensable events of June 1979!

Thomas Dickens (yesiah2003@yahoo.com).


Customer Service and Treating Customers Fairly

The universal conventions that “Customer is King” and “Customer is always right” are mere clichés Ghanaian ears are accustomed to. However, these statements are so lacking in essence to the Ghanaian that one can liken them to the Paternoster being recited by a class one pupil. The wretched state of customer servicing in Ghana should be brought forth to the public domain so that the slumbering people in authority get their acts together to bring some sanity into how businesses, companies and public bodies treat customers.

Being a double-edged sword, customer service is both the bane of every business and its backbone. If well managed, it can bring in customers and if not it can hound out clients. In Ghana , though, this most vital ingredient is deficient in the meal of every aspect of Ghanaian businesses and public offices. In developed economies, customer service is given such an emphasis that almost every advertisement is inundated with talks of a company's exceptional customer service. And these talks are rendered plausible by visual signs— a matter of backing words with actions. In Ghana , most advertisements only stress the ingeniously humorous side— which is gratifying as I have watched the Cargo Gin Bitters advert on Youtube several times.

Primarily, the most important facts about improving customer service is treating customers fairly and with respect, acknowledging their complaints and resolving them in a satisfactory manner, being helpful to them and going the extra mile for them. We seldom see this in Ghana because of the domination which exists in the Ghanaian market. If Ghanaians had the embarrassment of riches that exists in some developed countries, companies will be paying more attention to their customers. If they know that word of mouth and verbal recommendations can give them a bad reputation and chase away their clients and even reduce their customer base, companies would take better care of their customers. For the same customer recommendations and positive word of mouth can also increase a company's customer base, boost sales and a company's profits and share—the cheapest way of advertisement.

Believe it or not, we are all customers though it is not quite obvious in certain situations. Going to the hospital, visiting a government department like the Ministries, going to a school or visiting a university make one a customer and so the most important constituents of customer service must be on display in all these places. Companies and public organisations ought to instill the fact that customer service is the lifeblood of any business into their employees. Employers and government departments should use this maxim as their anthems and drum it into the reluctant and obstinate ears of their employees until they can recite it in their dreams. For, a company cannot be profitable for long if the customers who troop to its stores during the sales period do not return after the sales. Companies and businesses should form relationships with their customers—relationships clients recognise and pursue.

Regrettably, the lengthy waiting times at these places with nobody acknowledging the presence of stranded customers leave much to be desired. The situation is quite sickening in government offices. People who are paid by the taxpayer should be quite supportive when the taxpayer who has employed them comes asking them to work. Ironically, people working in these places see people who walk into their offices like vomit which must be discarded. Such buffoons see themselves as doing people a favour instead of realising that they are only fulfilling their job roles. I can thump my chest and state, without fear of contradiction, that customer service is non-existent in Ghana let alone treating customers fairly. Many companies have "Goods sold out are not returnable" printed on their receipts and invoices. I find this thoughtlessly callous. To think that this is not the practice in the countries from which most of these companies and individuals originate and import their goods; and for them to squat and take the piss like this in Ghana because Ghanaians are endangered species is extremely regrettable. This means that the TV, the stereo or the washing machine you are purchasing cannot be returned if it happens to be defective. What a fastidious way of protecting the consumer!

The next place where respect for customers is absent is the SSNIT. The derision and insolence with which pensioners are received at these offices can only be described in superlatives. I once went to the SSNIT office in Gulf House, Shiashie. Before you enter the reception, there is a notice which advises one to lodge a complaint if one is dissatisfied with the service received. In most countries, such a notice will mean that you can expect nothing but an outstanding service from such a place. But the dastard disrespect and humiliation that await anyone who enters these premises cannot be properly illustrated. There was nothing like a warm welcome when I entered the reception—the receptionists whom I later learnt were National Service persons cared less about who entered let alone find out one's mission. They looked up briefly and showed me a bench with very hostile countenances as if they were forced to come to work. One of them was occupied with her manicure while the other was on her mobile phone talking to you know whom. Welcome to the wonderful world of customer service in Ghana !

What was remarkable was; not only were these ladies not ready to serve the people who were waiting to be seen but we were all to face a rather bad-tempered middle-aged woman whose name was given as Aunt Maggie. The lack of respect with which this woman spoke to pensioners whose only crime— forget about their shabby outlook—was contributing their hard-earned cedis into the coffers of a nonperforming organisation—a deed which has put some many people including Aunt Maggie into gainful employment— incensed me almost into swearing some nasty imprecations at that woman and the young ladies. Unable to control my emotions any longer, I intervened and told the woman I was going to report the incident to her boss. Hearing this, hell broke lose and before her so-called superior, Aunt Maggie galloped into rage and was quite disposed to commit assault and battery to the bewilderment of everyone save her boss whose only benignant clarification was that the indomitable Aunt Maggie had a bad temperament.

Far worst services to people going to the hospitals cannot be suitably described. With the exception of doctors who are sympathetic and respectful to their patients most nurses see themselves as doing the patient a favour. They normally talk to patients as if they are talking to hopeless prisoners about to be hanged. Like the magistrates in the villages who expect sheep, goats, foodstuffs or even bags of cocoa to adjudicate cases in the right manner, so do these tender-hearted nurses expect encomiums as incentives so that they could do their jobs! The same situation exists in the banking industry. Customer advisors hardly see customers as people who save their moneys with the bank but as time wasters. I once confronted a customer advisor at Standard Chartered Bank in Ghana after much frustration in other public places that when I found that she knew nothing about my request for an International Bank Account Number (IBAN) and a SWIFT code, I had no strength to insist or lodge a meaningless grievance— all such complaints end up in the dustbin once the complainant leaves the premises of the company. Of course I do not expect employees to know everything but where there is lack of knowledge, it is not a crime to ask or go and find out. The people who need our pity are cocoa farmers who are normally cuffed and buffeted in banks before they can get the money from their labour.

Foreign High Commissions and Embassies are very courteous in their countries of origin but the same cannot be said about the ones in
Ghana and Africa. If in doubt, ask our leave-these-shores-at-all-cost brothers and sisters who go to them for visas. They seem to have realised that it will amount to some form of prejudice if they themselves abuse us. After all, why must they respect us if we have no iota of deference for ourselves? Ergo, they have mischievously subcontracted our own indoctrinated and whitewashed brothers to do their dirty work and dump us on the rubbish heap! You start queuing at dawn, and then you face the midday sweltering sun only for a dark-faced Ghanaian to teach you the meaning of impudence in both its connotative and denotative meanings. An action which is likely to be a headline story is normally given both a muted mouth and a blind eye in Ghana.

Again on the culprits on poor customer service in
Ghana are the profitable Telecommunications companies of which MTN is the prime offender. Before MTN took over, Spacefon metamorphosed into Areeba and raked billion of dollars from the Ghanaian market. But if ever there is a lucrative company capable of giving heart attacks, it is definitely MTN. Being the one-eyed business in the market of the blind, MTN enjoys next to monopoly which Vodafone, in spite of its enormous input, is yet to rival. They normally keep you on the phone for half an hour when you question why your credit is decreasing when you have not made any telephone calls only for the incompetent advisor to come out with the usual blatant lie that the computer is playing up or that the data are yet to be updated. You call back after an hour and the same lie is repeated to your absolute astonishment. You obviously get excited at the explanation only for the customer service advisor to rub it in thus: "Why don't you let it go as it is just one cedi and twenty pesewas you have lost?"

What about Ghanaian High Commissions abroad? We have all read about the pitiable service that our brothers and sisters who have travelled abroad get when they go to these places for help which they are entitled to by law. There is always the erroneous notion that Ghanaians who work in High Commissions will be exceptional at customer service and dealing with people with their exposure to foreign excellence in this field. But the reality when you go to these places will be taken for exaggerated accounts. For readers who are in
Europe, the US or Canada, you have you own experiences to buttress this point. Einstein once said that “doing things the same way and expecting different results is insanity”. I trust Ghana needs a Watchdog like the UK has the Financial Services Authority and the Financial Ombudsman to oversee public bodies like banks, hospitals, the SSNIT, schools and universities and so on. Such a body will be charged with ensuring that firms treat customers fairly; that products and services meet customers' needs; that customers are always given clear and excellent information throughout the sales process; that all advice given are correct and suitable; that every product lives up to expectations and finally, that customers feel comfortable if they wish to change products at a later date or complain.

There is an unflinching need to have this Watchdog to administer the day-to-day activities of all companies and public organisations which deal with people. It is needless to say that such a body should comprise of men and women of the highest integrity. This group will be responsible for taking complaints, investigating them and acting on them to ensure that customers are treated fairly and like a king if indeed that conviction holds any water. They should, in addition, be emboldened and mandated to issue fines to companies-- no matter a company's size and influence-- to deter other companies which may want to follow their bad example. Such actions should also be given prominence in the both the print and audio-visual media. What an execrable effect such step can have on a company's reputation!

Then, there should be a branch of this body (Watchdog) which will be dealing solely with complaints against public bodies already mentioned. If ever there was a body like this, the enormous difference it will bring into
Ghana will be felt everywhere as Passport offices, hospitals, school administrations will mind how they treat people. When a company has been fined and given bad publicity, they may want to go into image repair and redemption by mending its ways. The fact that companies enjoy quasi-monopoly in Ghana must not constitute taking people who keep them alive for granted. This sort of laissez-faire attitude which has yoked the whole country should be checked so that Ghana does not lag behind for eternity. For, if an investor should come to Ghana and see this apologetic state of affairs, he is likely to rethink how to invest his money.

If this is properly adhered to, it will stem the tide of abuse of office and its simultaneous effect of blatant corruption. Under the guise of doing you a favour, certain corrupt people have developed very subtle ways of asking for bribes in an indiscreet manner. Namely, they tell you that to get your passport or your birth certificate promptly, you will have to see the boss. The boss, due to the consistent way he has been asking for and taking these inducements, exhibits no shame when he sees you. He comes out and in a jovial I-don't-mean-it sort of way, tells you to pay your dues—which dues and why you should pay them is a mystery to every good sense. Not yielding to his demands means it will take a long time before you get something which should take less than a week to obtain. The fellow normally submits with a bashful look, dips his hand into his pocket and produces a few notes which brighten the countenance of the corrupt boss. These notes work like a catalyst and in a few hours, something which was going to take not less than six months appears within two or three hours.

Did someone mention the Ghana Standards Board? Such a toothless bulldog; a byword of mediocrity, incompetence and high-handed bureaucracy constituted of a bunch of ridiculous men whose only obsession is getting paid for busying themselves with big talks and no action. These people have effectively turned
Ghana into a dumping ground for perished foreign goods. The Koala Supermarket incident comes to mind when it was found that Ghanaians were being sold expired goods. If Koala sells outdated goods to the populace, what about the rather unconstrained corner-shops? By their relentless ineptitude, Ghana is flooded with SQNY for SONY, EILA for FILA, ADIBAS for ADIDAS and PHILIBS instead of PHILIPS to name a few. What standards is this eminent bunch of indifferent group checking?

In conclusion, good customer service is what steers any business. Doing a little bit more for customers will bring about customer fidelity. Customer loyalty generally increases a company’s customer base as satisfied customers advertise by word of mouth and recommendations. People who work in customer service should remember how pathetic they look if they are only courteous and reverent to paler skins or western accents. Ghanaians should no longer accept poor customer service as a norm. Those who work in government offices should stop the paltry bribes and remember that; the poor, dismally dressed man whom they disregard and frown upon is the same man who has given them jobs and put them into the air-conditioned rooms they call offices.

Thomas Dickens (yesiah2003@yahoo.com)

Adulterating Ghana's Education System

The cliché that education is the key to success is undoubtedly one maxim seriously understood in Ghana. Anyone who doubts this may want to go the length and breath of Ghana to see how many private schools ably given the sobriquets of Academy or Preparatory schools there are. It must be given to understand that I trust Education is a country’s breath of life without which any such nation—civilised or primitive-- is doomed. My problem at the moment is against the mercenary taskmasters who are bent upon destroying education in Ghana and I feel it is only right to raise a strident advocacy against the numerous charlatans, worst and despicable than Squeers and all the Yorkshire schoolmasters put together.

I once saw an educator with the following written on a T-Shirt he was wearing: “All professionals can boast but, the teacher taught them all!” If this dictum should be trusted, then I have some qualms about the unchecked mushrooming of basic schools in Ghana. I am focusing on the primary school education in Ghana as a form of giving credit to the Biblical truism of teaching the child the way he should go so that he does not depart from it when he grows up. It is therefore—in my view-- of paramount importance that early childhood edification is conducted in an apposite manner as it is what possesses the potential of forming good or bad citizens. The massive disregard of education, especially in the hinterlands, where children are taught next to nothing; with some of them unable to write their own names (shocking, isn’t it?) after school, with proprietors charging exorbitant fees, should be a concern to every well-meaning Ghanaian.

Ghana is essentially littered with very pricey private schools, with some having circus-like school uniforms. What should preoccupy us is certainly the rationale for setting up these schools and not the fancy dress uniforms the poor pupils are made to wear like some forlorn prisoners. The first guess is that the originators of these schools are only interested in conducting savages into a modern terrain of civilisation. But, a second deeper look is all it takes to realise that forming good citizens or future leaders is the last thing on the list of these founders-- if it happens to be there at all among their very many motives. The point is that: if the doctor is held responsible if his operation of a patient goes wrong; if the economist is charged if he messes up the finances of a country; if the architect is blamed if the house he designs is defective and the mechanic is slapped with legally-motivated compensatory claims when the car he builds is
substandard; what then happens to the swindler who tutors these professionals if he happens to be woefully inadequate with the knowledge he claims to possess to want to impart?

I hate to mention this but despondently, the monstrous neglect of education as a way of forming good citizens and so-called future leaders has brought in its wake the quite superfluous production of schools by some people who see education as their short cut to riches! The prominent private schools, I will say without fear or favour, seem to have taken it into their heads that churning the best of grades out of their pupils is the best form of education without any intention of developing their mental faculty to its full capacity. I have come across a lot of people whose grades pit them against the likes of Einstein, Newton, Aristotle and Plato, to mention a few but whose level or reasoning is like that of a naked man on the street who accuses everybody of being crazy. A lot of "intelligent" people cannot even think on their feet; consequently, any problem whose solution is outside their textbooks always leaves them dumbfounded, fumbling for ideas.
Dejectedly, this is the type of education many preparatory schools or academies are inculcating into our younger brothers and sisters in this 21st Century.

For this reason, I must reiterate that while the description of the education system in Ghana as derelict, dilapidated and ramshackle may be considered offensive; I must apologise to use them as they are only an understatement with regards to the gruesome neglect of these schools and must not be seen as the writer's penchant for exaggeration. It is poignantly distressing to observe that men who have proven their unfitness for any occupation in life are free, without examination or qualification, to open a school anywhere; although the preparation for the functions they undertake, is required in the surgeon who assists to bring a child into the world, or might one day assist perhaps, to send him out of it—in the chemist whose prescription can chase away a nagging illness or rather jeopardise a rather healthy person into an early grave.

Nevertheless, the irresponsibility of some parents and their helpless children make these petty school owners the millionaires who should be accorded the highest form of respect in the land. Many are the parents whose main priority is how many “A” grades their wards can make while in a particular academy. Most importantly, these Shylock school founders know what colourfully embellished language to use on radio advertisements to get these grade chasers to part with their moneys and abet their chosen pedagogues to distort the brains of their children for eternity. Is it any wonder that we are always being taken for a ride by a few politicians whose impeccable resort to sophistry, as distasteful as it is, is mistaken for the astuteness of Solomon? But since majority of Ghanaians are ready to believe some of these half-educated politicians and what they expound to them—and with scores of people refusing to think for themselves-- the devil is certainly
bound to have all the best tunes. This is why when a fairly balanced opinion is expressed, sympathisers of some political parties and some disgusting "tribalists" route for abuses simply because of an inexplicably extreme form of bigotry or brutish logic due to the stagnation of their brains caused by the nebulous education system being talked about.

With financial gains as the reason for opening schools, these school proprietors are just traders in the avarice. These ignorant, sordid, brutal men, to whom a few considerate persons would entrust the board and lodging of a dog, form the worthy cornerstone of a structure, which, for absurdity and a magnificent high-handed laissez-aller abandon, has rarely been exceeded in this world! I do not need to mention the reasons why boarding houses of such schools have become a den for criminality, a lair for drug abusers and a practising brothel for future prostitution and prostitutes. Has anyone mulled over our education system producing graduates with no jobs to occupy them? Well, it appears that is the raison d'être of some graduates using the school system as a springboard to future “better” jobs. How pathetic! That many troop into the Police Service with its paradoxical motto of “Service with Integrity”, the Immigration and the Customs Excise and
Preventive Services as a means of enriching themselves in the shortest possible time in occupation.

Let anyone come out and say what a nation we expect of Ghana for posterity when pedagogic moral moulders trade grades for sexual favours from their female students. These people who are fit for teaching pigs relegate pedagogy to the background and end up polluting innocent children both morally and academically. With their dodgy money-making managers at the helm of affairs, the most vital preoccupation of some of these teachers who need to school themselves on how to pass on knowledge to others only force children to fill their heads with irrelevant nonsensical understanding. Children are thus forced to “chew the cud” as they have to commit so many unimportant stuffs to memory and become the bleating sheep of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Perhaps, it is apt to paraphrase Montaigne's contention that a well-formed head is better than a full head!

Need I quote Alexander Pope?: “A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep or taste not the Pierian Spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again”. We are all happy to quote this saying to impress our intellectual prowess on others but do we know where exactly this Pierian Spring is, let alone attempt to sip it lightly or gulp it down voraciously? A Ghanaian professor will normally have his name written proudly followed by a long paragraph of his degrees. Much as I respect these learned folks and envy what they have achieved, I am quite baffled that they have very little or nothing to show for their degrees. Edison, Fleming, Einstein, etc, boasted in what they achieved after years of researches and not their university degrees. We have thousands of scientists yet, we still import cars and common drugs from China; we are yet to develop a potent antidote against malaria. We have thousands of
journalists however, most of them are bedfellows of politicians, who disguise the truth of which they are meant to be a watchdog; we have very brilliant economists yet, our economy is so badly broken that the name for it is now “ecomini”; we have thousands of musicians still, most of the songs we hear are sampled from other countries. The list can go on and on but how wretched we look if this is all that we have to show for our 53 years of Independence.

Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge the aphorism that there is an exception to every rule as I am not seeking to entangle myself in the web of a fallacious generalisation argument. It is therefore noteworthy to say that there are very excellent pedagogues out there. Each of us can give names of these excellent teachers without whom we could have landed on the moral and academic rubbish heap where most youngsters are being dumped now. What I do know of good teachers is that they choose the profession for the love of it and not as a means of fulfilling a gap year to better jobs! I have overheard some graduates who go into teaching with the devilish thought that they will teach until they find a good job. Such is how the mercenary taskmasters as aforementioned, are bastardising the noble teaching profession.

Maybe it is about time we reminded ourselves that knowing all the classical Greek literature, the entire psychology books, every bit of the philosophy books and being able to recite the whole of Shakespeare do not make an intelligent person. What are our deductions from these books? We have read, re-read and memorised the Bible umpteen times but we always leave ourselves open for impostors with crooked reasoning and arguments to mislead us. Men who should be titled “Men of Lies/Darkness” have always entered our homes and led us on to believe that they represent Light. How many times have we not seen or heard two people pretending to be part of the same religion but interpret the same literature differently for their own whims?


Bringing this article to an end, I must reiterate a point I have made earlier: we hear sometimes of an action of damages against the unqualified medical practitioner, who has deformed a broken limb in pretending to heal it. But, what about the hundreds of thousands of minds that have been forever malformed by the incapable pettifoggers who have pretended to form them? I am not against the abundance of private schools in Ghana. All that I am requesting is that the Ghana Education Service adopts very stringent measures to ensure that the fellow who stands before twenty to thirty children with the aim of moulding their mental faculties is both of the highest integrity and pertinent at the shaping of these young brains.

Thomas Dickens (yesiah2003@yahoo.com).