69 years to nowhere; The Ghanaian unchanged attitude!

During the famous Independence speech delivered by the great Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of the Republic of Ghana, on the night of March 6, 1957, at the Old Polo Grounds in Accra, he said, inter alia, “FROM NOW ON, WE MUST CHANGE OUR ATTITUDE”.

Incontestably, that is the most important message of the entire speech he delivered on that historic night. However, we have, for 69 years since that advice was given, the only thing we remember in the entire speech is “GHANA, YOUR BELOVED COUNTRY, IS FREE FOREVER”.

As a result, that character we had in 1957 has been with us till today; the only aspect of the speech we have since abided by is the FREEDOM. As a result, the Ghanaian appreciation of nation-building is the freedom to engage in irresponsibility in the name of democracy.

70 years to nowhere 

At 69 years, Ghana has gone past the mandatory retirement age by 9 years, yet, the most important achievement we exhibit on Independence Day is our Armed Forces parading amarments, and Presidents delivering speeches.

I will always say this: those of you interested in nation-building should not bother going to Europe or America; just visit Rwanda, a nation that was literally wiped off the map, only 30 years ago, and you would appreciate how Ghana has been in total disarray for nearly 7 decades.

God bless us with a new day, and the only thing we do best is talking from dawn to dusk, often on matters that have no bearing on development, but, purely nonsensical partisan political foolhardiness. Meanwhile, our gutters are chocked with filth and we import ordinary toothpicks.

Wearing jerseys 

Environmental cleanliness is completely alien to Ghanaians; truth and sincerity are extremely rare commodities; honesty and consistency have been thrown out of the window; lies and dishonesty are carried shoulder high; and thievery and laziness have become openly acceptable.

Since yesterday, I have seen Ghanaians going gay with the wearing of Ghanaian-branded jerseys as their means of celebrating our Independence Day. Wearing Ghanaian jersey while totally incapable of doing a rudimentary stuff of keeping your gutters clean, is nothing but stupidity.

Plastic bags 

In Rwanda, the use of plastic bags is banned. And that alone, is key to making the environment clean. As a matter of fact, even how to operationalise the usage of motorcycles for commercial transport, we had to send government appointees to Rwanda for studies.

Road manners

You just drive around Kigali, and it is a joy to be a motorist. No hunking of cars; no shouting bouts on the roads; traffic rules are observed with utmost religiosity; the streets are spotlessly clean; and the environment is ubiquitously green with beautiful pedestrian walkways.

In Kigali, a pedestrian puts his foot on a zebra crossing, and all the incoming vehicles will come to a halt. This is a spectacle I often see in developed countries. But try this as a pedestrian in Ghana, and that foot you placed on the zebra crossing will no longer be part of your anatomy.

What is even a very delightful spectacle on the roads of Kigali is their sense of consideration at road intersections where there are no traffic lights: the sheer orderliness as to who must go for the rest to follow, again, is something often seen in advanced jurisdictions. It is well-inculcated.

Societal sincerity 

I have told a story of how, during a recent visit to Kigali, I left my phone at a shop, on two occasions, and on each occasion, the shop attendants chased me at the car part to give me the phone. If this had happened to me in Ghana, my phone would have never been brought back.

Similarly, I inadvertently left a suitcase and phone charger in my hotel room at Kigali because I didn’t need them. But upon arrival in Nairobi Kenya, I had a call from Kigali drawing my attention and how the items could be brought to me. But I told them I didn’t need them anymore.

We were in a top-class hospitality facility in Ghana, for a 3-day training program sometime in 2018, and I left my new shirt behind in my hotel room, but countless calls I made to draw attention of management so the item could be brought to me at my own cost, actually yielded no results. 

Religion 

On religious fanaticism, Rwanda leaves absolutely no room for misbehaving self-styled Prophets. Indeed, without being a holder of a PhD, one cannot, by law, establish a church to churn out dubious prophecies. Rwandans don’t go to church to hero-worship, but to commune with the Almighty.

Media

Our media space has been captured by shameless partisan political activists masquerading as journalists; national matters are deliberated upon in the arena of nonsensical politics. Discussions are led by pseudo-neutrals and academics without personal integrity.

Nation-building 

Building a nation is not about ceaseless talking and mindless politicking. Selfishness and greed are detrimental to national development; irresponsible behaviour in public office is retrogressive to our forward march; corruption is a cancer that eats up the very foundations of our very existence.

The over 400 industrial estates he established to make Ghana self-independent, economically, have all the rundown. Others that were viable and could have been managed profitably were given out for free, to apparatchiks of successive governments. 

Today, you listen to the words of our national anthem, the national pledge, and other patriotic songs by the likes of eminent Ghanaians, such as Dr Ephraim Amoh, and it is abundantly clear that, indeed, we have completely deviated from the core values, pillars, and foundations our society was built.

Justice A. Newton-Offei 
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