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12.02.2016 Opinion

Stop This Poison Ivy Small Girl, Now!!! (1)

By Daily Guide
POINT OF OREDERPOINT OF OREDER
12.02.2016 LISTEN

 
“I am inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa because all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really…My hope is that everyone is equal, but people who have to deal with black employees find this not true…However, you should not discriminate on the basis of colour, because there are many people of colour who are very talented, but don’t promote them when they haven’t succeeded at the lower level”.

Prof. James Watson, Nobel Prize Laureate

 
 
I started life as a disciple of Prof. James Watson long before I even heard of him. This was also long before I had read Lee Kuan Yew's book entitled: “FROM THIRD WORLD TO FIRST: THE SINGAPORE STORY – 1965-2000”. When at school, I was made to sing: “snow has fallen on snow” and observed our educated elites wearing full western suits in this hot humid tropical climate of ours as a mode of formal and informal dressing, I knew Prof Watson had a point.

Then I started a closer observation of the behavior of the educated blackman operating in an environment created by the blackman. Then I started taking the Auditor-General's report on the nation's account seriously. In my observations, I noticed the blatant and callous manner the educated elites were creating fraudulent milking schemes to loot and share the nation's resources among them and under developing their nation and states. Then I noticed the sorry state of our water bodies destroyed by galamsey operators and thus denying the poor communities access to drinking water and for their household chores. Then I noticed the depletion of the forest reserves carefully cultivated and left behind by our colonial masters for the generations yet unborn in equal measure by callous timber contractors and illegal chain saw operators operating with impunity, dedication and unbridled vengeance under the cool uncaring penetrating observing eyes of our chiefs, suit wearing educated elites in charge of the nation's environment and water bodies. Then I noticed the imposition of idiotic taxations on the citizens by the fraudulent, corrupt and incompetent government of the day with no clue to nation building.

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Then I read about Prof. James Watson. Then I read Lee Kuan Yew's book. Then I had the opportunity to visit Thailand and Malaysia and saw how some poor impoverished underdeveloped countries could frog leap into  first world country status within two generations with dedicated visionary leadership while Ghana within the same two generations has moved from a relatively prosperous country to  the Stone Ages. Thereafter, It did not take me long to graduate to become an apostle of Prof. James Watson.

Then something happened which consolidated my thinking about the doomsday future of this country Ghana. Nigeria, one of the most corrupt and inefficiently managed countries in the world conducted an impeccable free and fair elections orchestrated by an erudite university professor, Prof. Attahiru Jega.  The elections brought to power an avowed anti-corruption crusader as the president of Nigeria. Suddenly, all the criminals who have looted the resources of Nigeria and made that country ungovernable were running helter skater.  Suddenly the giant of Africa had awakened from its deep slumber of ineffectiveness and inefficiency. A blueprint has been invented for the rest of Africa. There was no need to reinvent the wheel.

Since Ghana gained independence ahead of Nigeria, Nigeria has always played second fiddle to Ghana in many areas of national life. Ghana scored many firsts in Africa. Ghana was the first black African country, south of the Sahara to gain independence. Ghana produced first black African head of government in the person of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Ghana produced the first African president of the United Nation in the person of Dr. Alex Quaison-Sackey. Ghana produced the first black Secretary-General of the United Nations in the person of Busumuru Kofi Annan. Ghana produced the first black heart surgeon in the person of Prof. K. Frimpong-Boateng. Ghana produced the first black United Nations peace-keeping force Commander in the person of Lt-Gen Erskine. Ghana produced the first Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat in the form of A.L. Adu.

The list is endless. This country has produced so many intellectual stalwarts, so many professional gurus, so many accomplished civil servants that when the Ides of March arrived and the nation had a glorious opportunity to appoint another Prof. Jega to replace a chain smoking beer drinking failure of the Chair of the nation's Electoral Commission,  the fraudulent, corrupt incompetent John Dramani Mahama NDC administration could only decide on somebody whose stature in comparison to the wide field of competent potential candidates available, could be a candidate.

It is in keeping with the thoughts of Prof. Watson that despite the quantum of educated people this country has produced, virtually everybody in this country sits down apparently unconcerned while a Poison Ivy of a Small Girl with indeterminate age and indeterminate nationality has been put in charge of the most important strategic sensitive combustible institution of our Republican Constitution. This Small Girl sees her position as unquestionable, a position for which she is not accountable and answerable to anybody except John Dramani Mahama, her mentor. Within the short time of being at post, she has grown horns just like her mentor to such an extent that she speaks and acts with great indolence, contempt and intolerance of suggestions from better brains.

All her actions and language, all acts of omission and commission since her appointment suggest that she has a grand design agenda to pervert the electoral process to guarantee an outcome favorable to John Dramani Mahama and his NDC in the coming elections. If this Small Girl is not stopped in her tracks, at the end of the day, this year's  elections shall be rigged in favour of John Dramani Mahama and his NDC while the people's popular vote would be stolen leading to ranging massive inferno, a tsunami never ever witnessed in this part of the world. Indeed, watching the trends, there is no way the NDC can ever perform better with its chairman and general secretary in charge of the Electoral Commission. Already, John Dramani Mahama with a wiseman and all knowingly smile on his face has predicted 57% of the vote in his favour. Check his poster pasted all over Kasoa and one should tell where all that confidence is coming from.

Then I realised the disinterested way and the lukewarm attitude the educated elites of the nation were displaying towards the imbecile and combustible behavior of the Electoral Commission. This is a body which has been handed to a Small Girl which judged by the quality and quantity of competent  respectable, intelligent,  matured persons in this country, should on all accounts be nowhere near the Electoral Commission. This is an institution whose fraudulent mishandling and manipulation in the hands of an uncouth, arrogant, disrespectful waif has the inflammatory potency of setting the whole nation ablaze and yet the educated people and the committed leadership of this country are not even treating the matter with kid gloves.

Instead of Nigeria's experience urging us on to reach superlative standards, we have decided to make a fool of ourselves. A popularly accepted credible voters' register and an election supervised by an independent, Electoral Commission managed by matured, intelligent, honest, dedicated patriots with high degree of integrity and objectivity are uncompromising pre-requisites for a free and fair election. Nigeria conclusively proved this point. Now, we in this country have decided to press the button of self-destruction. By our on voluntary wish, we have decided to tie a suicide belt around our waist walking down the aisle of public place behaving in a Don Quixotic manner oblivious of the danger we have placed ourselves in with the smile of a man with demented brain on our lips, daring the Almighty Allah to do his worst. A fool indeed, has said in his heart, there is no God.

BY
KWAME GYASI

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