Insults and character assassination can’t build a Ghanaian civilization

By any measure Nana Akuffo Addo and His Excellency President Attah Mills are men who do not deserve the insults and character assassination that a section of the media and a section of the public have subjected them to. Their contribution to legal, political and economic development in Ghana cannot be written off so easily. As a Professor of Law, former Vice President and now President the NDC flagbearer has made positive contributions to Ghana than the average Ghanaian has been made to know. Likewise Nana Addo Akuffo as a distinguished lawyer, former Foreign Minister, Attorney General, political activist and businessman has equally made indelible contribution to Ghana's development than the average Ghanaian has been made to know. It is therefore baffling to find the media devoting precious time and energy to insult these men and cause their supporters to insult one another instead of focusing on the bigger problems confronting the nation.

Economic and social condition in the rural parts of Ghana and even some parts of our urban centres indicate Ghana has only transited from wild food economy (hunting and gathering) to agriculture and animal husbandry economy (subsistence agriculture). Our communities are without the most basic of human needs: food, shelter, energy, clothing, water and sanitation. Many homes still use charcoal and firewood for cooking and kerosene for lighting despite its health implications. This needs not be so. The media can help to change this situation by helping to harness the knowledge of Ghanaians of all classes for total development of the country.

Instead of insults and character assassinations, we must use the opportunity offered by radio and television to discuss scientific and technological issues that will help our farmers increase productivity. Instead of insults we should hold conferences to bring Ghanaian scholars and intellectuals together to discuss and debate the way forward to address our non-performing and crippling energy, industrial, health, water, housing and education sectors.

Our Ghanaian culture will endure if we are able to develop and build the technologies that will give us the ability to control the environment, increase food production, fight diseases, tame the impact of climate change, and solve many of the problems that afflict us as a people. Without building and expanding our technological and scientific competence we may not be able to compete with the ever more technologically advanced countries in Europe and Asia and we may end up being second class citizens on this planet. The media can lead the way and set the agenda in this regard.

If we can harness our human and intellectual energy as Ghanaians, and put our mind together as a people we can throw away our old system that continues to produce poverty, hatred, enmity and build a new Ghanaian civilization capable of taking care of its current and future populations. If we can selflessly do a SWOT analysis of our country (that is analyse its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), we can create a civilization that surpasses somber imaginations. Our Ghanaian civilization will not begin unless we cast away the bickering, pettiness, greed, insults and character assassinations. The media's responsibility is to help us kill the old tribal and ethnic political system and build a new one that will accommodate all of us as Ghanaians. This is our greatest challenge and responsibility as a people in this 21st Century.

We believe Ghana can make great progress with machines and engines rather than insults. Therefore how to build the machines and engines so we can manufacture our own automobiles, trains, computers, aeroplanes, wind turbines, add value to our cocoa, gold, timber before export must be our greatest concern.

We think the media in Ghana can be more useful to nation's political, economic, social and cultural development than just causing politicians to fight among themselves and derail the nation's development agenda. The media can help Ghana transit from its current tribal and ethnic orientation to a more civilized society where one is not recognised by the tribe, ethnicity or political party he/she belongs to, but by the contribution he/she can make towards Ghana's progress.

We understand that the role of the media is to subject public officials and would-be public officials to scrutiny but we also believe that any such scrutiny must not to ridicule and insult them. We believe that the scrutiny must come with greater sense of responsibility. Information published on people irrespective social standing must be substantiated and the people must be given the opportunity to respond when the media make any allegations. By this we are not trying to dictate to the media what kind of stories they should run however, we strongly believe that media have been unfair to Ghanaians by heavily dwelling on alleged past negative activities of the candidates while ignoring their positive contributions and what they are capable of.

Do we get anything by dwelling hugely on insults and character assassinations? Maybe the answer is yes for the media and those who own them, but certainly not for the larger Ghanaian public, the economy and the society. Ghana has become increasingly polarized not based on ideas but on frivolous issues that in the long run may destroy the country rather than build it. Why must we insult one another in the name of party politics? And why must, in the name of freedom of speech and democracy, the nation's media create the platform for such condition to fester? Sincerely speaking is this the country and society that we want our future children to inherit?

When are we going to stop the insults and focus on issues that will prevent our intelligent and graduates from leaving the country because of lack of employment opportunities?

If we stop beating war drums and singing war songs and ponder for a second about Ghana's position within the global economic and political system we will be surprised how important it is to stop the insults and focus on things that can make Ghana great. The face of Ghana will undoubtedly change and the class distinction between the haves and have-nots in the country will become things of the past if we place Ghana above individual, party and group interest.

If we want to be counted among the culturally advanced peoples in the world then we must cast away the insults and embrace discussions that will increase productivity, allow our students and graduates to become scientists, inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs. The media, political parties, universities, the academia, businesses and the larger public all have a role to play to end the politics of insults and character assassinations that so glaringly going to destroy our country.

By Lord Aikins Adusei
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