What A Nightmare!

Agya Kwaku Ogboro
'Advice is a stranger; if he is welcome he stays for the night. If not, he leaves the same day'—African proverb.

Dreams are a normal phenomenon for all human beings. Some believe that what one thinks of and stores in the subconscious mind is what one dreams about most of the time. Others too believe that dreams are one of the ways through which the Bearded Old Man above reveals prophecies to man.

There are two main types of dreams. The first is the pleasant type - the kind that one wishes he had not woken up from. The second is the unpleasant or frightening dream - the kind that makes one glad when one comes to the realisation that it was not real, after all. The former is still called a dream while the latter is called nightmare.

Yours truly is one whose dreams seldom come to pass. But nightmares about someone or something dear to me are as likely to come true as rain is likely to fall in the month of July in Asomdwekrom.

The likelihood of the nightmare coming to pass is heightened when I experience the nightmare for the second time. It is the reason the nightmare I'm about to narrate in this piece continues to send shivers down my spine.

It was quite an ordinary night. I was reading the 'Client' by John Grisham when I was overtaken by sleep. Soon I found our own Asomdwekrom in disarray as unruly military personnel tried to take over the reins of government. Military personnel could be seen everywhere as the whole country was plunged into a higgledy-piggledy state.

In the midst of all the perplexity, I ran to the house to regain some sanity. Immediately I entered the house I heard news from the radio that the constitutionally-elected government had been overthrown.

This time the leader of the military coup was not a Flight-Lieutenant, but a Lance Corporal. Many believers in multi-party democracy including Kwaku Baako, Gina Blay and Yours truly were ordered to report to a certain Brigadier at the 'Boom-Boom' Barracks.

I regained consciousness immediately I heard my name. I was very terrified and my whole body was drenched in sweat. I quickly said a prayer to seek protection from the Bearded Old Man above.

I experienced this dream some few years back. Surprisingly, I had a repeat experience last Thursday, the very day the TUC-led demonstration occurred. The outpouring of grief and disaffection for the government's performance is simply amazing. Perhaps, it was the demonstration that triggered a repeat of the nightmare.

The doubting Thomases may accuse me of attempting to create fear and panic. But as you already know, Ogboro is one person who does not dance unless he hears music; neither does he scratch his head unless it itches. Indeed, I've done justice to my conscience by making my premonition public.

As a Muslim, I also took advantage of the special blessings in the last 10 days of Ramadan and prayed to the Bearded Old Man to nullify the evil intentions of any errant military personnel. And I would continue to pray for divine intervention in the matter.

But prayers alone are not enough. Those in-charge of the nation's security should be up and doing. We shall all laugh at the wrong side of our mouths if they ignore this hunch and go to sleep. To be forewarned, they say, is to be forearmed.

The blood-soaked reign of Dr. Boom is still fresh in our minds. We've not forgotten how Dr. Boom ranted, shouted, yelled and spat fire from the top of armoured vehicles as a shaken populace looked on.

We still remember how our parents were compelled to deposit their hard-earned cowries into a so-called Account 48 only for it to vanish into thin air.

The torture of innocent citizens, including the spliting-open of people's langa-langas is still fresh in our minds. We remember how our fellow Asomdwekromanians unleashed pure terror on us, depriving us of our dignity and rights in the process.

Images of women stripped naked, laid on tables and whipped on their bare buttocks are still fresh in our medullas. Shaving the heads of vulnerable citizens with bottles in the name of 'identification haircuts' can also not be wiped from our memories. We vividly remember how they came with protruding cheekbones, but left with fat cheeks and protruded bellies.

All these make it difficult for me and my compatriots to look favourably to any military takeover. Unfortunately, however, the conditions in Asomdwekrom today are conducive enough to attract any errant military person to take up arms. Ask any Political Science student and he would corroborate my argument.

For sure, Asomdwekromanians are not happy at all at the way things are being run by President Baloney and his charges. The levels of hardship they are inflicting on me and my compatriots are simply unbearable. But trust me; President Baloney's corrupt and inefficient government is far better than any military government.

Much as I abhor the pure thievery and the 'create, loot and share' policy being practiced by Mr. Baloney and the 'greedy bastards', I prefer them to any military regime. And I know my compatriots do too, don't they?

See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!