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Tuesday 17 August 2010

NDC's Rookies and Trivial Politics

Professor John Evan Atta Mills’ decision to introduce young bloods into the ministerial arrangements of his government soon after he was sworn into office as president was fittingly received with mixed feelings. Many lauded him for his thoughtfulness in becoming a pacesetter; many wondered (especially the die-hard NDC fanatics) why unfamiliar and apathetic rookies were picked above them. Many of us have been monitoring the performances, the comportments and overzealous attitudes employed by Messrs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Richard Quashigah, James Agyenim-Boateng and Miss Hannah Bissiw in dealing with national issues and wonder if they have ever taken the trouble to mull over their plights should another political party win the 2012 Elections. The politics of retaliation coupled with its culture of vindictive pursuit of perceived corrupt practices of people in power should tutor these rookies to tread cautiously in Ghana’s political minefield. And the way the NDC’s top hierarchy have dominated the airwaves with what can be humanely described as balderdash after the NPP Congress has become a cause for grave apprehension for well-meaning Ghanaians.

I have already been labelled as a New Patriotic Party advocate in an article I wrote and when another one appeared, I became a pure National Democratic Congress kingpin. Funny ridiculous! In my way of doing things, I will plead with people who cannot face up to the truth to stop reading as I do not want to be the source of somebody’s cardiac arrest. However, if anyone should read this article and decide to brand me with any unprintable and offensive lexicon known in the English Language, they are welcome to exercise their full, inalienable and undeniable freedom of speech. I would like to implore those who may appreciate the truth in this article not to wage any ethnocentric war of insult. It will not do anyone any good. Let people pour their venomous insults on me hiding behind fictitious names but the day of reckoning is not that far away—and I speak of 2012!

Once upon a time, the NPP found itself in power with so much goodwill of the people of Ghana that, they were deluded into thinking there was no dog chance the NDC would come back to power! As to whether the NPP’s hubris (hamartia) of entertaining such a thought proved fruitful is there for politicians, various opinion leaders and historians to apportion countless reasons why the NPP is now in opposition. We are in 2010 and various views have been duly expressed by both the pro- and anti-NPP concerning NPP’s demise in the 2008 General Elections. Many stalwart NPP apologists have been beside themselves with rage and compunction to have toiled only for the NDC to unjustly benefit from the fruits of their labour—they allude to the oil money. If the hand of the clock could be turned back, the NPP would be righting all the wrongs they did instead of pretending everything was right when indeed, it was quite obvious that there were internal wranglings, imposition of candidates on certain constituencies and turning a deaf ear to momentous whinges.

Fast forward and forget the flashback. We are in 2010 and the NDC is in power! The events leading up to the villainous “Swedru Declaration,” the bloodstained manifesto with its numerous voodoo interpretations and other fatal reasons which cost the NDC the 2000 Elections united with a vertiginous height of arrogance and the refusal by any stretch of the imagination that any political party at all can lose elections—flaws which booted the NDC out of power in 2000 have resurfaced in 2010. Ola Rotimi had better checked the Yoruba proverb that: “When the frog in front falls into a pit, the rest take caution”. For, the NPP became too comfortable in their perch in power that they were deafened by the same errors which caused the NDC Election 2000. One would have thought that the NDC government that won the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in 2008 would have first all of learnt from its false step prior to the year 2000 and its immediate predecessor’s downfall in Election 2008. One would be wrong since the status quo persists!

Let us now examine the rookies of the NDC. The four individuals mentioned in this piece have—because of their hubristic attitudes and pronouncements—incurred the wrath of majority of Ghanaians that we have all been inundated with various articles and comments as to why Miss Bissiw, Messrs Ablakwa, Agyenim-Boateng and Quashigah are not fit to hold public offices. Some of these comments may be borne out of malice but a good number may be out of a genuine disquiet looking at how these distinguished (the word is used ironically) individuals have been spewing out cheap talks due to the their drunkenness with propaganda and their resolve to belittle the intelligence of the Ghanaian electorate. These people may be young and untried but the fact that the entire NDC and its big shots have decided to engage in self-indulgent politics and to insult our integrity must be properly analysed. I believe the NDC was elected to come and better our lots and execute effectively the “A Better Ghana” agenda which our poor ears are accustomed to.

Ghanaians have been sitting on a lethal time bomb which was waiting to detonate until the recent NPP Congress which saw the overwhelming pledge reposed in Nana Akuffo-Addo. In less than an hour, the NDC unleashed Honourable Richard Quashigah to initiate his usual propaganda chatter for which he has gained notoriety. It will be essential to bring Mr Quashigah on Planet Earth that his party is no more in opposition; and that Ghanaians have voted for the NDC to rule for a four-year term and realise the paradisiacal promises of making Gold Coast a better Ghana. Mr Quashigah did not disappoint as he went on to trivialise the NPP’s non-violent Congress because ex-president Kufuor had pronounced Nana Akuffo-Addo the winner in NDC’s Ghana before the Electoral Commissioner’s formal announcement. This was notwithstanding the fact that all the other contestants had conceded defeat which in effect, made the EC’s declaration ceremonial and redundant. His conundrum was the NPP’s supposedly inability to “religiously follow the dictates of election rules”. I do not condone Mr Kufuor’s misdemeanour however, the EC was just going to state the obvious so this was not an issue to make the headlines.

The demoralising thing here is the NDC’s diversionary tactics of doing misinformation which normally befits a party in opposition. This would not have been that serious but the fact that they have also added an infantile but jovial attitude to running the country makes me wonder as to whether we should not have the celebrated Bob Okalla and his legion of joke-tellers as president and ministers of Ghana. The pro-NDC newspapers decided to insult the intelligence of Ghanaians by fabricating a story which the fictitious Ananse will be proud to recount to the effect that there were wild jubilations at the seat of government and NDC party headquarters when Nana Akuffo-Addo managed to scoop an overpowering 77.92 percent of the Delegates’ votes! Quite incredibly, the NDC claims they would have been very anxious had Mr Allan Kyerematen won the elections! Dear reader, is this not tantamount to proposing what tactics an opponent can use in a duel against you?! I thought we voted for serious-minded politicians to build Mother Ghana and not people ready to engage in primary school political theories. The NDC was divided prior to the NPP Congress on which candidate of Nana Akuffo-Addo or Mr Kyerematen they wanted Professor Mills (is it really going to be Professor Mills?) to confront in the 2012 General Elections. This aptly caps the humour in the so-called mass excitement at Akuffo-Addo’s election.

The NDC really respects their chronological way of doing things; they were effectively building their rebuttals of what transpired at the NPP Congress and their mockery of Ghanaians to a crescendo. I need a copy of the NDC manifesto for Election 2008 to see if they had added, as an afterthought: “We will ensure that former president Kufuor is extremely vilified should he ever dare castigate the NDC”. The NDC has been lying in wait for something to do when Mr Kufuor launched a scathing attack on the Mills Administration; accusing it of the mismanagement of the Economy, “incarnate” corruption and the threatened atmosphere of freedom with the relegation to the background of the Rule of Law by the hitherto legendary foot soldiers.

The swiftness with which the NDC turned on Mr Kufuor on his “sacrilegious” remarks only follows the chronological order which they pursue in dealing with their opponents. Another conscript honourable minister who has been used mischievously for saying things that the substantive Minister of Information would not normally summon the courage to utter was dispatched. Honourable Ablakwa, the usual scapegoat and suspect swung into action and with the same venomous comments he had once observed on ex-president Rawlings, he repeated the propaganda effectively peddled in 2008 that Kufuor had exploited state funds to renovate his private residence; that he had abused his position to buy a hotel for his son and presented other points to buttress his point on Kufuor’s so-called sordid corruption record. In all this, what saddened me was that the allegations had been cleared by the CHRAJ (Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice). Yet, it had been trumpeted repeatedly and given a semblance of truth. But what was more disheartening was Mr Ablakwa’s admonition to Mr Kufuor to desist from making unprovoked attacks on the Mills Administration. This was nicely captured in a Myjoyonline news headline of 09/08/2010 entitled “Ex-President Kufuor to watch his mouth”.

There are a few points I would permit myself to make here before I proceed. I should like to know if the indecorous reproach to ex-president Kufuor cannot be construed as an attempt to gag his freedom of speech which supports his (Mr Kufuor’s) claim of the threatened atmosphere of freedom. Then, we should also question Mr Ablakwa’s action of being uncouth to Mr Kufuor, an act which is un-Ghanaian towards a man who can father him. And we need to query the aggressive nature of the NDC towards Mr Kufuor if they kept mute over Mr Rawlings’ calling some of the NDC members as greedy bastards, adding he was not going to sit down for people to extend their corrupt practices. Mr Rawlings told the cadres in 2009 at Prempeh Assembly Hall to go to the castle and ask that man who only listens to Prophet T.B. Joshua when asked which people he was alluding to. Perhaps, Mr Rawlings was provoked and hence his rants were expected. Oh Ghana!

Nevertheless, when the rookies of NDC have finished setting the agenda did their gurus go to town! The scene opened with Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, NDC’s General Secretary affectionately known by his military accolade of General Mosquito. He blurted out a catalogue of his own views of the squalid realities of Kufuor’s Administration, enumerating instances of Kufuor’s excellent corruption record among other flamboyant accusations. His conclusion leaves an indelible impression on my memory when as the official mouthpiece of the NDC, he says: “We are waiting for President Kufuor to come back and we will deliver our next set of arsenals”. In the same vein, Honourable Enoch Teye Mensah joins in the whole caboodle. Like unwanted spare tyres used only when needed, NDC foot soldiers are called upon by Mr E T Mensah and charged with the admirable task of propagating Miss Gizele Yajzi’s confessions. I commiserate with these foot soldiers who are badly threatened and condemned when they seize toilets and lock up NHIS offices but are the first to be called upon to do the NDC’s dirty work!

I cannot possibly conclude this article by leaving out Honourable Hannah Bissiw. I do not know her personally but I believe she is a lady. Her abysmal performance on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo programme on 03/08/2010 painted the picture we normally see of village girls—I say this without impropriety. Apparently, she was not happy with Miss Ursula Owusu’s vivid portrayal of the NDC’s alleged distortion of facts, its insensitivity to the plight of the people of Swedru when economic activities were hampered by a collapsed bridge after a flood and rebuking them for taking undue credit of the throw-the-police-into-frenzy Single Spine Pay Policy. Kwami Sefa-Kayi had to intervene but the resolute Hannah Bissiw will not be deterred. Minus the piece of cloth usually tied at the waist of village girls, the little multi-coloured blouse, the chewing-stick and the irritating chewing-gum, Miss Bissiw was the very byword of these girls ready for a verbal brawl with sharpened lips as they say in Ghana via the politics of insult.

In conclusion, these are a few instances of the trivial politics and the act of the rookies we are witnessing in Ghana. I am asking politicians to learn the difference between propaganda when in opposition and working to realise campaign promises once in government. I believe that if a government performs very well and fulfils its promises while in power, electorates do not really need convincing. I would also like to remind these young politicians to remember that they are Ghanaians and should not discard our timeless traditions of displaying reverence towards the elderly. These politicians should ask what their fates will be should another political party replace the NDC in 2012 or 2016. Will Okudzeto love to go through the same plight of Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng? History is not just written to recount past events but as measures from which to learn lessons. Could Mr Ablakwa have said the same loutish stuffs when Mr Rawlings descended on Professor Mills and others calling them greedy bastards and corrupt? Why is he now showing his manliness towards Mr Kufuor? It is quite clear that the foot soldiers and former cadres would have asked for his blood or simply hounded him out of the deputy information ministerial position which has given him the audacity to insult Kufuor and others. Finally, these young men and women may have attended Dr Anthony Aidoo’s Ideological School of lose talks and acute foul language but can they face the consequences of utter disrespect and vituperations in future when they are out of power?

Sunday 15 August 2010

Legalising "Galamsey" in Ghana

It is both ignoble and depressing to note that one cannot comment on any issue—economical or environmental—without stepping on political toes. But how can one dissuade himself from talking politics when politicians only mount on stage and blurt out promises in the most negligent manner? The spate and upsurge of illegal mining, known in Ghanaian parlance as “Galamsey” is both distasteful and monstrously immoral. And to learn that it became an electoral pledge during the frenzy of the 2008 elections only confirms that the only thing politicians cannot do is to change sexes of humankind! For, promising to allow galamseying in Ghana, a country already suffering from the obnoxious effects of this canker, is tantamount to promising orderliness in an already chaotic hell.

The clandestine activities of galamsey bring in its wake economic, environmental, human, health and social problems to the society and the country as a whole. Looking at these problems and the overall costs of galamsey, it is quite incredible to see politicians adding it to their catalogue of electioneering promises on campaign platforms. This leads to the conclusion that politics is all about winning power at all costs; just promise anything that will bring power. If anything said on political platforms is meant to help politicians gain votes, then we are in trouble. For instance, if a politician goes to a community which has gained notoriety for anything criminal, all that he has to do is to promise to legalise it to win the votes of that community. By this analogy, a politician who goes to another community known for armed robbery only has to promise to make it legal!

Now, let us examine what really pushes people into the dangerous service of galamsey. Social injustice is the first reason that forces people into such a deadly venture. I am not going to develop this point as the fact that there exist a countless number of towns and villages with no employment at all. All the major companies look at the regional capitals and the capital city when they are setting up. As a result, jobs are concentrated in the capital cities so people in the hinterlands are meant to find in galamseying a gainful employer no matter how abhorrent this employer is. In addition to this social injustice is the problem of general genuine jobseekers. Look at the streets of the major cities of Ghana if you happen not to know the meaning of unemployment. Therefore, the scale of unemployment (for not everybody is ready to sell dog chains on the streets) pushes genuine job seekers into illegal mining.

However, mention must be made of the apparent accusations being levelled against mining companies in certain gold-rich communities like Obuasi, Prestea and Bogoso. Some galamseyers argue that their lands have been appropriated by mining companies and as they cannot farm, they must eat and hence, venturing into illegal mining: a case of a hungry man being an angry man. But some mining companies have taken upon themselves the policy of corporate social responsibility by which they are helping people go into agriculture as we see in the Western and Ashanti regions. This policy, as laudable as it is, has failed as more and more people are digging their own graves in collapsed tunnels. The simple rationale being that illegal miners do not see agricultural projects and ventures as a way of making money as farming in Ghana is unfortunately seen as an occupation for the poor.

Having looked at the causes of illegal mining, let us now look at some of the effects of this electioneering campaign assurance. The first point to consider is the human cost of galamseying. A lot of lives have been lost through illegal mining. As aforesaid, many people have been buried in the earth due to collapsed tunnels. These are tunnels normally dug using primitive methods and are normally, weakly supported by woods. Such tunnels which abound in mining communities can be defined as certain death but for the sake of living comfortably in this world, life is rendered worthless by the galamseyer as he may never return from “work”. In the Judgement Day when the sea gives up its dead so will the earth give up its buried illegal miners.

Furthermore, there is the health risk part of illegal mining to list. Basically, some of these illegal miners are illiterates. Consequently, they unknowingly use hazardous methods to process their gold. Mercury, the chemical used to process gold, is poisonous yet; these miners handle it as if it were some piece of cake. It is quite perturbing to see these miners inhaling the vapour of mercury from archaic boiling pots to purify their gold. The painful truth about mercury is that, like fire, it is a good servant to help purify gold, but it can be a bad master with lots of health problems. When discarded into streams, mercury builds up in fish consumed by locals. Mercury in humans can cause kidney problems, arthritis, loss of memory, miscarriages and psychotic reactions.

Moreover, one cannot turn a blind eye on the environmental vulnerability of illegal mining in the community and the country. Bulldozing the topsoil and trees, removing entire slopes, destroying streams and polluting groundwater are some of the environmental problems associated with illegal mining. We know that not every part of Ghana has access to potable water so what happens when these streams and rivers—which serve as drinking water in mining communities-- are polluted, when trees are haphazardly felled, when the land to be cultivated is devastated?

Briefly, we can talk about the economic hazards which outweigh the money these miners get. The trees felled will have to be replanted under very slow, expensive, time-consuming and tedious afforestation programmes. Illegal mining destroys tarred roads as some of the miners inadvertently dig their tunnels into road networks. These roads normally need millions or billions of cedis to repair. The cost cannot be estimated.

In July 2009, I went to the Western Region and I had the shock of my life! Obviously due to the immoral talks engendered by election fever, “legalised” galamsey was being practised in the full glare of Ghanaians. Galamsey (a Ghanaian lexical item for illegal mining) which used to be a covert operation was being practised in broad daylight! Some unpatriotic Ghanaians and their Chinese condoners were felling trees, removing the topsoil and digging with the most modern of digging equipments in search of gold. Taken aback, I tried to wake up from my nightmare! In all my life, I have seen illegal miners at work but with their primitive shovels and pickaxes, they could not cause much harm to the environment. There were Chinese men calling the shots with their conniving Ghanaian counterparts robbing Mother Ghana.

I do not say this because I have anything against the Chinese; I believe the world should be a one big continent with no boundaries. But can you imagine a Ghanaian replicating this same thing in China?—felling Chinese trees, digging up Chinese topsoil to get Chinese gold? Could someone tell me how many decades of imprisonment this Ghanaian is likely to get if by a stroke of good fortune, he escapes the gallows? I have read recently about Chinese men being arraigned before court for indulging in galamsey but the painful truth is that some very prominent politicians did promise Ghanaians the chance to excavate all over Ghana for our gold no matter the means they employ. And truth to tell, I do not see how a group of Chinese men could be destroying Ghana’s vegetation for gold if they were not authorised by some faceless politician!

I have been monitoring the progress of a lot of countries in Africa and the world. Ghana may not be rich but when one sits and considers the fact that anything which is buried into a Ghanaian soil germinates, we have nothing to do but to thank God with all our hearts. Maybe, we take this for granted because the grass is greener on the other side. But if the people of Chad, Niger, Mali, etc, had our kind of vegetation, they would perhaps have considered themselves in seventh heaven. The question we all ought to ask ourselves and our leaders is: are we ready, in our insensitive effusions, to turn Ghana into any of the aforementioned countries?

It is rather appalling that a thing or an action which exudes the propensity to obliterate Ghana to the detriment of future generations should be uttered on political campaign platforms and be given absolute approbation by followers of a political party with the goal of satisfying a few people in the short term. By human nature, we are all bound to look at our selfish interest first but, have we thought about what posterity will think of us or say when they come to realise that Ghana once had thousands of miles of forests, forest reserves and an uncountable water bodies but has become a desert because politicians promised to make it so.

Finally, illegal mining should be seen as a national problem and must be given the attention it deserves. Politicians should be brave to take bold decisions to save the country for future generations and not sacrifice what is good on the altar of political expediency. Having said that, I must also say that some people’s livelihoods depend upon galamsey. Taking it away from them is equal to condemning them to eternal starvation. Such an action, if not well thought out, could bring crimes with them—prominent among them is armed robbery. Thus, the problem of illegal mining and miners should be debated upon in Parliament. Mining companies should be encouraged to employ and train former galamseyers and give them jobs and not just disregard them as unemployable because they have no qualifications. And we should all be weary when politicians start with promises; we should think for ourselves: can they achieve what they are promising or do their promises make sense?

Sunday 8 August 2010

The Un-Apotheosis of Holders of MA, PhD, LLM, MSc, et al

Giving credence to the truism of giving credit where it is due, I will endeavour to state that the self-acclaimed professors and our learned folks who flaunt their knowledge in general, and on the Queen’s English on various Ghanaian websites are prolific writers. The subtly humorous way of expressing the aforesaid adage is its Ghanaian rendition of praising the skunk for its formidable speed despite its repulsive odour! Following various opinions and contributions on our cherished websites, I must acknowledge that I am really envious of our learned fellows with their ideas and wealth of diction together with the lengthy suffixes of university degrees which follow their chosen pseudonyms and right names. However, in this piece, I will grapple with the abhorrent consensus that holders of the highest university degrees represent the crust of astute custodians of wisdom.

This write-up is dedicated to our most learned man who writes on Ghanaweb and Myjoyonline. I am somewhat exhilarated that the learned men are refuting the assertion that the educated few are cultured and custodian of sagacity due to the pernicious placards they have been posting on Ghanaian websites! It is a fact that Professor Okoampa-Ahoofe has come under incessant assaults both on his ideology and on his style of writing. A lady commenting on an article written by the Professor writes: “Please, write simple English”. With his ideas, it is clearly obvious that everyone has an opinion; but, nowhere is this saying prominent and truer than in Ghana and among Ghanaians! Then, his style of writing has been scrutinised by both the learned and the dubitably learned. As to why the ridiculously dumb mischievously pretend to be scholarly and flummox their brains with grammar against the compelling advice of Tony Lumpkin in Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer, I am yet to unravel the mystery! But in spite of the flaws in humans and hence Alexander Pope’s (1688-1744) “… to err is human…” Professor Okoampa-Ahoofe has yet to find empathy with most readers. This blatant neglect of Alexander Pope’s philosophy by many Ghanaians stems from Professor Okoampa-Ahoofe not being just any commonplace person but a fully-fledged university lecturer of the English Language!

As humans, we may not essentially sanction everything we read; most people may not essentially share our views and opinions, but this must not prevent us from respecting people in general. I do regard my superiors without fail because I am foremost an African and I believe that the best tradition must always go on unlike the barbaric human sacrifice, the nauseous decapitation of people to escort a king to the other world and an equally inhumane facial scarifications. Professor Okoampa-Ahoofe is really being mistreated by many readers on Ghanaian websites. The fact that he still writes about Ghana for Ghanaian readers makes me think that he is indeed a brave man! This remark stems from the aggression he has been sustaining and enduring (some people have even delved into the etymology of the first of his compound name and maintain that it is not Akan). Since many people are incisive in their own eyes, anybody who writes and expresses an opinion is bound, in one way or the other, to receive this sort of treatment. I am not into politics but if a political subject is worth commenting on for the general benefit of society, then I will not waver to do so. But the verbal injury on this man perhaps ought to teach him to examine his life. I know he may not intend to please anyone but he wants to be read which is why he writes on public forums and so behaving like the ostrich when tirades are rained on his person and his qualifications everyday is pathetic.

For Professor Okoampa-Ahoofe, what is disturbing is the fact that he is incessantly being attacked by both sympathisers of the NDC and the NPP—the two dominant political parties in Ghana. In a country which is ideologically entrenched and divided politically; where every incident is dissected along NDC and NPP lines, it becomes equally disconcerting when one is continuously maligned by members of his own party as if a divided house can stand! He recently had a slanging match with an NPP sympathiser and a regular contributor to Ghanaweb and Myjoyonline known by the name of Akilu Sayibu. Professor Okoampa-Ahoofe is loathed by Nkrumaists as he seizes the least opportunity to write derogatory articles about the enigmatic Dr Kwame Nkrumah; he is detested by the NDC due to his detestation of JJ Rawlings and is accumulating enemies even within his beloved NPP. But with his persistent diatribes on prominent members of a political party whose ideologies he claims to share leaves a sour taste in the mouth of most followers of the NPP. I always thought there existed a civil way of resolving misunderstandings with friends and opponents instead of resorting to articles loaded to the muzzle with vitriolic bombs. By criminally engaging in vilified name-calling of Dr Osei-Akoto and others to the extent of calling the other four potential flagbearers of the NPP the “Rascal Four” is a bit sickening to say the least.

However in all this, my whinge against Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, PhD, is his impenitent and perpetual fomenting and rekindling of ethnic debasement of some tribes in Ghana. It is extremely appalling that Professor-of-English Okoampa-Ahoofe has encouraged AGersis, Laryeah, Sarpong, etc, to rekindle and feed the flames of ethnicity which would have been clinically construed for racism in the West by these same writers who live in Europe and the US. It is quite horrendous that these people, who domicile in London, New York, Texas, and so on do not care a hoot about the repercussions of the articles they post on Myjoyonline and Ghanaweb; that the divisive ideas propounded in their write-ups can result in an ethnically-motivated rumpus whereas they live in peace and comfort in the US and the UK. I mean to ask my brothers and sisters who are always eager to play the tribal card to recoil from this mentality of earlier centuries. As a country which is struggling in these modern times with very dwindling fortunes, the last thing we need is the inflaming of ethnocentric passions by consistently debasing other tribes with prejudicial comments with impunity.

Africans have been fighting first as a united country and then as a united continent but we have become the Ghanaian adage of the forest. Far away, one could be deceived that all the trees are united until they get closer to realise that every tree is on its own. It does not amount to any Utopian view to request for a United Ghana—a United Africa is rather dreamlike and elusive! Many Ghanaians clamour for a United Ghana where all Ghanaians will speak with the same voice, respect each other as one people with the same fortune and destiny and fight for the progress of one another. If we are able to achieve this daunting but possible aim, we will be the best country in Africa if not in the world. Ghana was once compared to South Korea and Malaysia in terms of wealth; we will be peerless this time when it comes to unity—this is feasible and not Utopian! But how can we do this when our so-called enlightened men come together, not for progress and unity but for an inexplicable longing for retrogression and disarray? Professor Okoampa-Ahoofe and his likes—I have read a few on Ghanaweb and elsewhere—are destroying the morale of Ghanaians including punching gratuitous holes in the fabric which should bind us together.

I call on every right-thinking individual to condemn people like Professor Okoampa-Ahoofe, A Gersis, Laryeah, Lonto Boy, Justice Sarpong, etc and their practice of sowing seeds of disunity among Ghanaians without any reserve. The fact that such people hold PhDs, MAs, MScs, and so on should not hold us to sway. They may be enlightened but if they are not showing any good value for years of pursuance of higher education, then we should avoid them, their company and their venomous writings. Due to our peaceful nature, a lot of people have become complacent and are downplaying the Rwandan Genocide and the Liberian War as unfathomable events as far as Ghana is concerned. That is wanton optimism! We will be very wary were we all pessimists thinking that any impossible calamity can happen in our country. That way, we will definitely ensure that any cracks that have got the propensity to sink the country will be mended instantaneously.

I have already questioned our education system. Ghana seems to be producing so-called intellectuals whose logic is nicely expressed on paper but quite contradictory in reality. Else how can we allow the Okoampa-Ahoofes and people of their mentality to be debasing other tribes, displaying insolence towards people in authority and treating them like articles of repugnance?! And these are the learned men; the men full of knowledge that they should be empowered to pass it on to ostensibly empty heads! Must our education—an edification we are proud to brag about—not teach us to be tolerant, understanding, loving and at least rational? I call upon everyone that we should foremost see ourselves as Ghanaians and think along the following line: my brother is wrong in stealing; should I say stealing is a virtue because it is committed by my brother? If this simple contemplation is accurate, then what do we say about the rampant propagating of tribal hatred and demeaning of other ethnic groups by people from our various tribes as if there is anything to be gained from doing so?

It is about time we told those discordant elements within and without Ghana the truth about the deleterious effects of their ill-defined actions. It is high time we forged ahead in unity as a country so that voting along tribal lines, discriminating and stereotyping of other people can be a thing of the past. The time is right for our MSc, PhD, MA, LLM and DPhil holders whom we believe have attained a state of apotheosis to show us that education, being the key to success and inner liberation, has transformed them into gods. And if people who are meant to help us see the light (enlightened people) decide to conduct us into the very abyss of blinding darkness through a disobliging and disgusting mischief, then we should snub them! If anyone writes anything with a negative ethnocentric tone, we should all come out and condemn that person; we should not seek to do a pointless retaliatory exercise which will only exacerbate the situation in the long run.

To sum up, I should like all of us to ponder on the lyrics of Lucky Dube’s “Trinity” song. Deducing from that immortal song with its reconciliatory and gospel-like message, I will also say that our forefathers may have fought one another for domination, supremacy and wealth acquisition. In so doing, many may have been enslaved with minion tribes relegated to the background. The wounds of the past atrocities were not allowed to heal when the obnoxious slavery and inhuman colonial rule took over with its indelible effect of divide-and-rule. Fifty-three years after Independence, divide-and-rule which should have been thrown into the sea is still alive to our detriment as a country! Our generation should prove to the old one that we were wrong about each other just as Lucky Dube highlights the mistaken prejudices of both blacks and whites in his song. We have allowed the intellectuals in our society to attain the level of apotheosis by paying them the highest homage in the land. These few learned people with their litany of college certificates and degrees should desist from taking us back to the pre-colonial days. What is the worth of our edification if it only trains us to master a foreign language to the damage of ours and forces us to perpetuate ethnocentrism and ethnic cleansing?