Navigating Nana Kwame Bediako’s Sea

The Idea that Dropped Like the Golden Stool from the Sky and Made Waves

Nana Kwame Bediako, a prominent figure in Ghanaian politics, has recently caused quite the stir with his ambitious proposal to extend the Atlantic to the landlocked Ashanti Region, specifically to Kumasi. Bediako's declaration has sparked a conversation that ranges from dismissive chuckles to earnest pondering over Ghana's infrastructural ambitions. In fact, the debate surrounding Bediako's proposal is a continuation of an older, broader discussion about the balance between visionary projects and practical, immediate needs. While some argue against the project's feasibility, others believe that dismissing Bediako's youthful exuberance and out-of-the-box thinking may be a mistake.

Skepticism and the Voice of Reason

At first, Bediako's idea sounded like a numbingly dumb notion destined to join the annals of failed political promises. However, a glimmer of hope appeared to me at the crack of dawn the other day: What if this young politician is on to something doable? Extending the sea to Kumasi doesn't have to be direct; it could be a matter of building a canal connecting one of the rivers that flow into the Atlantic.

An Eye-Opening Conversation about Bediako's Bombastic Proposal

To investigate the possibility of the project (note I did not say “feasibility”), I consulted a trusty old computational intelligence, Wolfram Alpha and one of my two new artificial friends, Claude Opus and ChatGPT Plus. However, the latter’s tendency to talk too much in terms of differential equations, great circle distance, and Pythagoras with Python code persuaded me to ask her, with all due respect, to stay out of this conversation. Wolfram Alpha said that the shortest distance between Kumasi and Lake Volta is approximately 118.6 miles. Claude Opus’s estimate fell within that ballpark, and she voluntarily offered a page-full of remarkably interesting details relevant to Bediako’s project, summarized below:

• The nearest town in the vicinity of the Volta Lake to Kumasi is Akosombo, located about 150 kilometers (93 miles) away.
• A canal connecting Kumasi to the lake near Akosombo would need to be around 112 miles long, accounting for terrain.
• The Main-Danube Canal in Germany, which spans a similar distance and navigates an elevation difference of about 175 meters (574 feet), took approximately 32 years to construct (Note: this was in response to my asking her whether she knew of a comparable project elsewhere in the world).
• Using modern construction methods, a hypothetical Kumasi-Akosombo canal could take around 4-5 years to complete, depending on numerous factors such as resources, political support, and environmental impact assessments.

Incidentally, let me tell those boys and girls on Reddit who complain that Claude Opus tends to add useless detail in response to prompts, please stop. Claude Opus’s responses in this case were extremely useful. Finally, they strongly suggest that while Kwame’s project may be overly ambitious, it is not entirely impossible given the right resources and political will. The political will, shall we say, of at least two other patriotic modern day Abirempon – two Wise Men -- who, let’s hope, have stopped laughing at ‘that Kid,’ and would support prefeasibility studies of the Sea-To-Kumasi (STK) project to start within 4 years. Sorry, make those 19 years -- if we account for our irritating national habit of being late for everything from marriage ceremonies, outdooring newborns, arriving at church services and unnecessarily expensive funerals. Even to meet at Agbamami’s Chop Bar for lunch kraaa, we are late. But I digress! Anyway, assuming we start early work on the young man’s gargantuan endeavor, it could bring thousands of construction-related jobs almost immediately. Imagine even more thousands of new industrial activities of the fourth kind unleashed at multiple nodes along supply chains, empowering novel SME component manufacturers and assemblers up and down value-adding chains all over the country. Assign prefeasibility study tasks as fieldwork to young KNUST engineering and planning students, National Service boys and girls, for years to come. Mobilize them like the young Colonel Kutu Acheampong (Yentua!) did during those glorious Operation Feed Yourself and Walatu Walasa days! Do you remember Rawlings’ Task Force times? Alolga Akatapore, Peter Kpordugbe (‘Leopard would eat grass to survive’), where are you, patriotic Young Chiefs of old?!

In Defense of Youthful Dreamers

History reminds us that some of the world's groundbreaking achievements have come from the restive minds of the young and daring. From Albert Einstein reshaping our understanding of the universe to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Wole Soyinka enriching the cultural landscape with their powerful voices, young pioneers have consistently challenged the status quo and pushed societies forward.

Sailing Forward on Tides and Ripple Effects of a Dream

While the majority may continue to oppose Bediako's proposal, the real power of this STK idea resides in its ability to drive debate and reflection. Constructive debate and reflection. It challenges the latent neocolonial mentality and persistent inferiority complexes that have held Ghana back for way too long. Too long!

Bediako's STK is not such a crazy thing, even when the sea seems impossibly far from, say, the warehouses popping up around the Ahodwo industrial and other such zones of Kumasi. Try and pin down an optimal location. Prof. Trevallion's multi-objective optimal location analysis (MOOLA) trick might help. Do they still teach that at the KNUST planning department? Progress, someone once said, is a history of crazy ideas, often arising from audacious dreams. While some healthy skepticism is important, we should not dismiss the potential for youthful vitality to ignite innovative fervor and confront the challenges facing our nation.

As we move forward, let us grant Nana Kwame Bediako and all youthful dreamers the stage they deserve. Of course, they, also, must take care to curb any corrosive arrogance when communicating their visions a bit less haughtily in accordance with our ancient traditions of respect for Wise Elders. Hopefully soon to be Three Wise Men. Not the corrupt foolish ones. May God let the heat of political debate crystallize abundant doses of salt into the soup of a new intergenerational alliance. This will make the ‘taste’ of the growing Movement for Change much better. Yes?