Ghana needs HEROES’ PARK!

The death and the ranging debate whether Komla Dumor, an ace BBC journalist should be given a state burial or not has resuscitated an opinion I once espoused during the death of Alhaji Aliu Mahama. I have held and continue to hold that Ghana is losing a lot of historical asserts, and if care and innovative minds are not put together, we will continue to lose them till thy kingdom come.

A question, Alhasan Suhuyini once posed on his news paper review program affirms the above point, I have made. He queried “does Ghana celebrate her heroes?” People come unto the national and international stage and walk dawn with only one week of mourning and tributes, that's all. They are carried by their family and dumped in an obscure village cemetery and their memory and patriotism which is supposed to inspire many for generations evaporate into the thin air.

As Blessed Atta Mills once said, “a nation that does not honour her heroes is not worth dying for”. Today there is the talk of the dwindling spirit of nationalism and patriotism. There is the talk about corruption and also domestic tourism. How can we address these issues when we just throw away national figures that inspire such values of nationalism? Can't we as a nation still profit from our fallen heroes?

Reading the story of Santa Croce (Holy Cross), the many tourists who troop from near and far to visit the tombs of these legends in Florence (Italy), pricked me to question; can't Ghana learn anything from this? For clarification sake, Santa Croce is a Franciscan church, a basilica that have the tombs of many famous Italians, in fact some were not originally buried there but were later exhumed from their respective places and buried in this particular basilica. It is a sort cemetery but a museum because of the figures who are buried there. Figures like Michael Angelo and Dante are buried there hence lovers of art will not like to only admire “the Pietà” of Michael Angelo and read “the Divine Comedy” of Dante but have a physical contact with originators of masterpieces

Coming back to the Ghanaian situation, yes we cherish our dead but how far do we cherish them. Families will rise and protest that they want the mortal remains of the dear ones buried in their hometowns but after this had happened, what next? These figures, probably nation figures disappear not as figures but also the values they stood for. Is there a way out, where these figures could be preserved with the values they espoused for the good of the living?

No doubt, it is in this light that I think what I espoused at the death of Alhaji Aliu Mahama that Ghana must think of “Heroes' Park” becomes more relevant. By Heroes' Park, I mean a cemetery where renowned national figures are buried with an adjoining museum extolling their achievements. Besides the immense historical values Heroes' Park will have, its contribution to tourism (international and domestic) and the spirit of nationalism can not be discounted. I wonder how many people know where Tetteh Quarshie, Hilla Liman, Busia, etc were buried and have even attempted visiting their tombs. However, bringing them together, having them in the same cemetery will mean a lot. Ghana must wake up and stop scattering national figures in obscured cemeteries; Ghana must stop burying national treasures. It is time to start preserving our heritage. God Bless Ghana!

Yirpaale Sondah
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