Much Ado about Presidential shoe gift

Femi, Femi, how are you doing, my friend. How now. How body?

Tough. Things are tough. The cost of living is killing moi.

What do you mean that things are tough, my good friend. Try and look at the bright side of things. You have the dark side of the moon, but we also have the other side with enough light to brighten our darkest nights.

The moon has no light, it merely reflects the sunlight.

Whatever, my good pedantic friend, whatever. I am not into Astro-Physics, I am just trying to tell you to stop mouthing all those gloomy nonsense and cheer yourself up. Take a look at the Grecians and count your blessing.

Grecians?

Yes, the people of Greece. At least that is what President George Bush Jr. called them. They are all over Europe protesting. We are better off in our beautiful republic. Let's be cheerful.

What is there to be cheerful about in this Republic of our Death?

Ha, there you are wrong again. Dead wrong. It is the Republic of our Birth, at least to those of us that are not too consumed with pessimism. What is eating you up, my good friend? Why are you in such a nasty funk this blessed and sunny morning?

I honestly wished that I can relate to your cheerful mood. Here I sit, awaiting the announcement from GPRTU on new tariff increment for Trotros.

What! Why can't you find better employment for your time, Femi? Why do you have to stay indoor and waste time in calculating Trotro fare? Femi, you of all people. What happened to your car?

Car? I disposed car off longest time ago. Who but politicians and priests can afford to keep cars in these austere times?

Things are not that gloomy, my friend…

Maybe for you politicians and your sidekicks. But for those of us with no access to IMF funds, things are rather dire. Have you heard something from the GPRTU?

Me? What business of mine is Trotro fare and GPRTU?

Oh, I forgot. You are a government pikin and none of our worries concern you. The GPRTU said they were going to announce an increment. I am waiting for the announcement to make my own budget here.

But that is criminal. They cannot just be increasing fare like that.

Like what?

I thought they just announced an increment last month.

Maybe they are borrowing a leaf form the government. Your government is increasing fuel prices every other week.

That is not the same thing. The PURC is autonomous and they are just reflecting global trends.

Please you are not on a campaign train here. What do you expect the drivers to do when you in government keep on raising fuel prices. They have to adjust or else they will go out of business. Anyway, let me get the new rates…

You cannot be serious, Femi. You don't mean to tell me that you are serious about sitting down waiting for some stupid announcement from the Driver's Union?

I am, indeed. I am. Things are hard and the family budget has been stretched to the limit. We have to calculate every pesewa now.

It is really not fair how you continue to portray the situation in the country. I actually called to ask why I have not heard you congratulate Mr. President for his generous intervention on behalf of our children.

What?

Didn't you hear me?

I heard the part where you said I should congratulate president for his generous intervention…

Yes. You are always quick to condemn, but when the President announced some rather generous measures to help our children, you lost your tongue. That is grossly not fair.

What measures do you talk about, Comrade?

I talk about the half a million shoes Mr. President is giving to Ghanaian school children. That was some monumental social intervention by anyone's definition. You can criticize all that you want, but please try and be a bit charitable and give kudos when they are deserved.

Hmmmm.

Is hmmmm all you got to say?

It is the least I can say without giving offense.

What do you mean? So, you don't believe that move was praise-worthy?

No, I don't.

You! You are a true contrarian. Even the opposition parties praised the president's efforts. Our journalists, including the senior ones are rather effusive in their praises. And here you are, saying only hmmmmmm, and telling me that you do not find it praise-worthy.

You know my own opinion about the so-called opposition parties. I do not make it my business to speak for them. Having collected their envelopes, I know why our senior journalists will gush like programmed automatons. You asked me a question and I tried to answer it as truthfully as possible.

A direct question then: what do you have against the president's move to donate half a million shoes to school children?

It is simple, I think it is stupid and imbecilic.

What?

Yes, what? Have you asked yourself what the objective of the enterprise was?

You! Do you mean that Mr. President should not do something when he saw the children going barefooted to school?

That is not what I meant…

What do you mean then?

If only you will stop butting in. I was going to tell you that presidents should be more concerned about the reasons that made children go barefooted to schools rather than play Father Christmas and start to donate shoes which is so senseless…

Senseless?

Yes, like it makes no sense.

You! Why is giving shoes to school children senseless?

It is senseless when we make national policies out of presidents donating shoes to children. It is not presidents' job to donate shoes to school children. It is parents' duties to provide their children with raiment. What presidents should do is to foster the environment that make it possible for parents to be gainfully employed so that they can earn enough income to cater for their family.

I thought you are a socialist.

Depends of what you mean by that. I am a socialist who believe that the state should provide the space for citizens to thrive through their own efforts and enterprise. I don't believe in presidents turning themselves into celluloid philanthropists.

I honestly cannot believe that I am hearing this from you.

I don't know what you expected.

I expect you to give praise where it is due.

The trouble with people like you is that you are so easily impressed with little, fanciful gimmicks. The Chinese told us long time ago that it is far better to teach people how to fish rather than to give them fish. The trouble is that our president surrounds himself with mental Lilliputian like yourself, people who cannot help him with grand ideas. It saddens greatly to see the president surrounds himself with intellectual dwarfs who are too easily impressed with little things and petty gestures. I concerned myself with thinking of presidents that have very grand vision to make us aim for the stars.

Femi, you are getting personal.

As I rightly should be. We have a country that has gone to the dogs, literally and figuratively. We live today at the mercies of the IMF and other donors. We have lost sovereign control of our national affairs. We now need approvals from foreigners before we can even breathe. We now have a country that increase tariffs for utilities on almost weekly basis. We have now a country whose currency is almost inutile. We have now a country that drift aimlessly with no purpose, navigation or destination. And we have people like you praising a president who is more concerned with mundane stuffs like shoes, than one with ambitions to set the great strategic course that will help the country out of the current morass. May I ask you a question?

Yes, you may.

What is the purpose of the shoe-donation exercise?

That should be obvious.

It is not to me?

It is to help parents who cannot afford to buy shoes for their kids.

But is it sustainable.

What do you mean?

I mean can the government afford to keep on buying shoes for needy children.

You cannot be serious. Why should government be buying shoes all the time?

Exactly. So, why get involve in the first place then? Now you see what I meant. Government should be concerned with laying the foundation for sustainable economic policies that will enable our people use their brains and their brawn to turn our mineral resources into useful products that will earn us enough money to live decent lives. That is what serious government elsewhere do. And that is what we ought to be doing. Presidents have no business playing Father Christmas.

Plug for Femi Akomolafe books

Femi Akomolafe is a Freelance writer, Author, Film & Video Documentary Producer, IT Consultant and Web-Designer.

His highly-acclaimed books (Africa: Destroyed by the gods,” and “Africa: It shall be well,” are now available for sales at the following bookshops/offices:

1. Freedom Bookshop, near Apollo Theatre, Accra.
2. The Daily Dispatch Office, Labone - Accra
3. WEB Dubois Pan-African Centre, Accra
4. Ghana Writers Association office, PAWA House, Roman Ridge, Accra.
5. Nana Kwaku Nketsia, +233-27-8599250

They are also available on the internet. Here are useful links:

1. Africa: it shall be well: http://alaye.biz/africa-it-shall-be-well-introduction-in-pdf/

Africa: it shall be well is available for sale on Kindle books at this link: https://www.createspace.com/4820404

A FREE Chapter of 'Africa: It shall be well' could be downloaded here: http://alaye.biz/africa-it-shall-be-well-a-free-chapter/

2. Africa: Destroyed by the gods (How religiosity destroyed Africa) http://alaye.biz/africa-destroyed-by-the-gods-introduction/

Africa: Destroyed by the gods is available for sale on Kindle books at this link: https://www.createspace.com/4811974

A FREE Chapter of 'Africa: Destroyed by the gods' could be downloaded here: http://alaye.biz/africa-destroyed-by-the-gods-free-chapter/

Read a review here

Femi maintains a blog @: www.alaye.biz/category/blog

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