Akufo-Addo Has Done Better Fighting Terrorism Than Mahama Did

I am not on the proverbial Ground Zero, so I cannot argue point-for-point with Dr. Adam Bonaa, the locally renowned national security expert, when he asserts that the present government of Ghana may be repeating the past mistakes of the Nigerian government. I suppose the unmistakable reference here is to the previous Goodluck Jonathan-led government of Nigeria, which the security analyst claims was thoroughly riddled with rank and insufferable corruption of a kind that does not quite exist under the watch of the present Akufo-Addo government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), although the critic also adds that the operatives of Ghana’s national security establishment may be taking a little too long to keep abreast of the pace of security threats in the West-African Subregion (See “Terrorism: Ghana Making Nigeria’s Mistakes – Adam Bonaa” Starrfm.com.gh / Ghanaweb.com 6/11/22).

Part of what I clearly hear Dr. Bonaa to be suggesting is the need for the government to keep a closely guarded lid on certain sensitive aspects of our national security dynamics. Now, this may have quite a significant lot to do with our politicians, especially parliamentarians who envisage our democratic culture to be one of the proverbial zero-sum game, with especially members of the political opposition invariably and jejunely envisaging the ruling party and government to be their mortal enemies and a strategic target to be relentlessly assailed or assaulted, in a bid to getting these opposition politicians and their political party replace the present ruling party in the next election.

In other words, according to Dr. Bonaa, irrespective of political party affiliation or ideological suasion, Ghanaian leaders need to act and behave with a cohesive sense of salutary nationalism and civic responsibility. Which means that the peace and security of the country need to be jealously guarded above all partisan interests because, ultimately, we have only one place and country to confidently, credibly and authentically, as well as authoritatively, call our own. We thus need to be able to keep sensitive national security matters very close to the vest or chest, as it were, if we are not to be catastrophically and apocalyptically overwhelmed by security threats such as have occurred in countries like Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, among several others.

In particular, Dr. Bonaa – some news items have his name variedly spelled as “Bonna,” so it is not clear to me which is the standard or accurate spelling of his name – highlights the need to keep a remarkable portion of our national security architecture a closely guarded secret, especially where matters of ordnance or logistical supplies are concerned. Which is why it is necessary for our politicians and parliamentarians, in particular, to be studiously and constantly engaged with their counterparts in some of the more advanced democracies, such as Britain, India, Australia, France, Germany and the United States of America, South Africa and wherever room or the opportunity is offered for such professional development or refresher courses.

Securing doctoral degrees on the cheap or while brazenly flaunting their political influence and power in the hallways and lecture halls of our tertiary academies, both at home and abroad, as at least a half-dozen of the Mahama cabinet appointees reportedly did not very long ago, ought not to become the professional development priority of serious, competent, patriotic and socially responsible leaders in our time. The good news here is that with the democratically auspicious accession of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to the Presidency, our National Security Establishment has achieved a significant level of improvement and professionalism that did not exist before, especially under the Judgment-Debt addicted Mills-Mahama regimes of the National Democratic Congress.

The curricular study and pedagogy of Civics, as an academic enterprise, also needs to be emphasized in much the same way that STEM Education – that is, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – is being vigorously promoted all over the country by Nana Akufo-Addo and the Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei-Adutwum, a man who has been widely rumored to be under serious consideration for running-mate to a presumptive Candidate Mahamudu Bawumia in the heated runup to the 2024 Presidential Election. Dr. Osei-Adutwum, far more conspicuously than any of the other commonly mentioned possible presidential candidates and running-mates, offers the kind of complementary leadership specialty that the country needs at this time and age, especially with the quality of the country’s public education system having literally gone to the dogs.

The other equally significant national development ingredient is the economy, an area of endeavor in which Vice-President Bawumia has few rivals or professional peers or superiors in both the current government and the entire nation at large. Of course, even more significant is the professional ability of the Vice-President to pick just the right or perfect team of economic mavens and technocrats with whom to competently and effectively steer the affairs of the country.

*Visit my blog at: KwameOkoampaAhoofeJr

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., PhD

English Department, SUNY-Nassau

Garden City, New York

June 11, 2022

E-mail: [email protected]