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11.12.2012 Feature Article

Leadership In Perspective; Madam Speaker Must Sit Up!

Leadership In Perspective; Madam Speaker Must Sit Up!
11.12.2012 LISTEN

By Amos B Amorse
According to B.R. Hayden; “the first proof of a man's incapacity to achieve is his endeavoring to fix the stigma of failure on others”. It is thus disheartening and ear splitting to hear the Speaker of Parliament of Regent Ghana Student Union, Nadia Darkoh-Lartey at an open forum shamefully and incompetently spend so much time in finding others to blame, and so much energy in finding excuses for misappropriating funds meant for this year's parliamentary week, which has brought much shame and disaffection for the entire student body.

As if my advice in my last article to the speaker was ill-timed, the Nadia/Mark led administration has apportioned blame on students who offer concrete alternative views through write-ups for any misfortune that has befallen the Union. They have done so and continue to do that with the view to diverting people's attention from their gross incompetence.

With this in mind, I am blinded by tears and my heart is heavy with sadness. I am writing at a time where the student leadership of Regent University College of Science and Technology is in serious paralysis and some courageous students are engaged in latent battle to avert intra-group greed and deny some 'greedy political midgets' from milking or looting the Regent Ghana Student Union purse

It doesn't take a genius to recognize a problem, especially not one as painful as bad leadership. Who is not affected by it? Where exactly is the acclaimed “new breed” of progressive student politicians? Leadership is a core problem in tackling the problems facing RGSU. RGSU's situation calls for an urgent need to demand a more effective management and leadership through a sense of purpose with absolute discipline, sacrifices from all, and accountability to sustain the survival of the union.

The current RGSU crop of leaders are sleeping on the job, ideas are lacking and I see very little hope for the Union in the next two years and it is just costly and unacceptable. Madam Speaker and her 'yet to know how to change their political diapers' executives may be in power alright but power without any ability or desire to effect lasting change to me is meaningless. Theft at the highest levels of leadership remained unrestrained and is undermining the confidence reposed in Nadia Darkoh-Lartey and her cohort of political buccaneers.

Madam Speaker came to power with big promises; prominent among them was her wanton promise to give the Union a different face-lift through a transparent and corruption free administrative style. To date, the idea has remained a mirage. Putting the above in context, RGSU lacks true leaders. What we have instead are; a class of young political twats and scandalous characters with acquisitive mastery in script and mood-altering political speeches only intended to loot the little resources for their parochial interest.

The current leaders are untested political amateurs schooled in rudimentary political thoughts. My moral question is: can the general student body be absolved from the kinds of leaders that RGSU produces? Are our leaders not products of Regent University's religious environment?

As a Union, we have pawned our conscience and voice for a buck. We have allowed our leaders' policies to go un-scrutinized, and instead, cultivated an obsession with meaningless ideological motifs. Like the Plebeians of Caesar's years, we lack criticality and intuition. We accept unwholesome policies as a problems-eradication package.

In my opinion, the Union's political values have changed from genuine sacrifice (in) to greediness and politics of entitlement. Hasn't hypocrisy, given our leaders' abdication of moral responsibility to tell the truth, stand by the truth, and lead as leaders? Brave men, and women, who once stood tall, have become midgets, and self-made victims of a humongous economic superstructure. These are extraordinary times. We have more opportunities, more possibilities and more freedom today to progress as a Union than at any time in the history of Regent University.

The emergence of Information Communication Technology and other scientific advancement have sped up the process of globalization. Regrettably, our leaders' vision and perception have been blocked, impaired or blurred, to see all the opportunities. How far can we see from here? And whose job is it?

We need a leader who embraces piety and frugality, and chides needless material acquisitions like five inches high-heel, pricey cosmetics, posh apparels, luxurious hand bags and the likes. We need a leader who would stand tall, and takes the moral highroad, and in his/her wake creates a feeling of nostalgia in the conscience of the Union. Among many of the world's leaders, Fidel Castro Ruz, Nwalimu Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, the Dalai Lama, Jerry Rawlings, Prof John Mills and Madiba Rolihlahla Mandela are the unique individuals who fall under true leadership.

We need a leader who can give hope to the hopeless and help preserve the rights of the voiceless. Our Union's problems cannot be addressed with empty catchphrases of blame game, such as “because a student wrote an article about our administration, we could not get any organization to sponsor the parliamentary week” What an insult; uttered by possibly an individual who could probably be engaged in serious intellectual 'masturbation'. I wonder the psychological disposition of the speaker at the time she made that statement.

Personally, I see the whole strategy by the speaker as a waste of time because no matter how much fault she finds, and regardless of how she makes Amos Blessing Amorse feel guilty of her own mess, nothing will change people's perception about this mediocre and highly incompetent administration.

Should I be blame for what transpired at the Lizy Sports Complex, where the Deputy Clerk in charge of General Service, Johnson Abossey in his unsuccessful attempt to justify mediocrity stated that “we were not sacked from the Lizy Sports Complex, but we were ask to live” Isn't that tautological preposition ridiculous and incongruous? In an era of tested ideas, and the articulation of pragmatic policies, why should a right thinking person make such a statement? Mediocrity at it best!

Clearly, Student activism on Regent campus has been reduced to Ghanaian local movie with lead characters like Johnson Abossey playing the role of Agyakoo, Nadia as Kyeiwaa, Kwame Sarfo Asiedu as Kwaku Manu, Christabel Tetteh as Adwoa Smart , Mark Tackie as Koo Fori, Agnes Asare-Konadu as Julijuu and Sammy as Katawire. You can guess a title for it?

Most people wouldn't run a race or drive if they don't know the definite stopping point. So why would our leaders take students to and the Union through a fog without a clue about where they are going? The clarity of their vision makes a big difference, in our part of the world. For RGSU to make any meaningful headway, we need forward-looking and innovative-thinking people. The adage says, if you can see the invisible you can see the impossible”, because you can't achieve what you can't conceive.

Something has gone awry with the operable mechanics of our leaders, and our future as a Union is scary. The battle line has been drawn; let's see who will survive this gorilla war.

As I sit in my father's dilapidated single room, I am waiting fervently with the missionary zeal for a day that I will get the opportunity to explain to students who this political shenanigans are. I may not be a saint, but I believe we all have a story to tell.

I will be back!
Amos Blessing Amorse
[email protected]

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