The Black Man Is Capable Of Managing His Own Affairs???

Abraham Lincoln once said, "The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a course we believe to be just." It is on this basis that we concerned and patriotic citizens cannot sit aloof and watch officialdom seek to play roulette with our precious lives under the guise of so-called NPP-NDC!

Ghana, a country once named The Gold Coast for its resources, by the White rulers, has now turned into a political coast through the corrupt action of our own black leaders.

When Dr Kwame Nkrumah opined, "The black man is capable of managing his own affairs", was he referring to these present day authority figures who are as hungry as a hawk, seeking to live unprecedented epicurean lifestyles with their stooges at the expense of the ordinary tax payer? Hell no!

Before independence, Ghana was once the envy of the developed countries who trooped from their home countries like Portugal, Dutchland, England, to make their permanent abode here. These foreigners found so much solace and greener pastures here that they found it very difficult to leave Ghana. Even non-human forces like mosquitoes and snake venoms, who believed in the future of a country like Ghana, sought to drive away these foreigners from our homeland, yet to no avail. The then British Governors like Sir Garnet Wolseley, Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, Commander Hill, Sir Allan Burns, Lord Listowell, undaunted by these obstacles, resisted repatriation, which led to serious wars like the Sagrenti War of 1874, the Battle of Dodowa in 1826 at Akatamanso, the Yaa Asantewaa War of 1901. Ghanaians were comfortable in their own land and refused to go abroad. For more than 400 years (1450-1850), Ghanaians had to be bound hands and feet with chains before they could be taken abroad, all because of self-reliance and better leadership.

You will jump in your skin for terror should you realise how Ghanaians in the 21st century are struggling through various means to leave their homeland for those countries like Britain, England, Portugal- places they once loathed in 1450-1850.

The question which has remained unaswered for years is: "What has got Ghana into such a rut?" One can see, yet without spectacles, that the silent answer of course is CORRUPTION!

Corruption, according to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, refers to dishonest or illegal behavior, especially of people in authority. The academic curriculum is replete with information on qualities of a leader. Our leaders in the 21st century, who profess to have climbed every wrung on the ladder of education to obtain big titles like the Professors, Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, yet exhibit the antithesis of what they have learnt. One key quality of a leader is selflessness. However, instead of leaders in Ghana to serve the citizens, they rather fight for their selfish interests. In a country where school children sit on the bare floor and others on concrete blocks under trees to learn, what our leaders could think of as priority is implementing car loans policy for parliamentarians who have their own private cars. In a country where people drown as bridges collapse and streams overflow their banks during rain because of poor drainage systems, what our leaders can think of is rebranding 116 Metro Mass Transit Busses at at cost of GH¢ 3.6 million. In at country where university graduates-some of whom went to school with loans- are unemployed after many years of graduation, what our leaders can think of is supporting the Ghana Football Association with millions of dollars and soliciting for more. In a country where teachers work for years and are only paid for a few months, what our leaders can only think of is receiving double salaries and paying whopping amount of money to one Mr Alfred A. Woyome. In a country where government projects like affordable housing, hospitals like the Mother and Baby Unit at KATH, new classroom blocks are left in a decrepit state, what our leaders think of is budgetting and cutting sod for the construction of new ones of the same kind, which unfortunately may not be completed before their tenure. Another government takes over and abandons that project for a new one.

Oh Ghana our beloved country suffering in the hands of selfish and corrupt leaders!

Ghana, in the hands of a military man, could not find its cure!

Ghana, in the hands of a Professor, could not find its cure!

Ghana, in the hands of a business man, could not find its cure!

Ghana, in the hands of a lawyer and an economist, still searching for a cure!

Fellow true blue blooded citizens, what possibly could be the cure?

The irrefutable answer is "A CHANGR OF ATTITUDE."

Leaders, let us embrace the change because your people have given you the power to effect the change!

Citizens, let us rise for the change because your fellow citizen is also ready for the change!

GOD bless our homeland Ghana, and make her great and strong!

Above all, remember: "THE WICKED SHALL BE TURNED INTO HELL, AND ALL THE NATIONS THAT FORGET GOD," — Psalm 9 verse17.