African time: NUGS day of shame

Saturday, May 30, 2009 marked another milestone in NUGS' bid in favour of innovation. The maiden Alumni Summit and Awards Nite instituted by the NUGS is indeed a feather in the cup of the current executives.

But, you see, it wasn't without blemish. I feel so much uneasy with the coined `African Time´. To my dismay, it was entrenched further by our so-called future leaders. Look, I have not attended any NUGS program. But what I experienced that day left so much to be desired. If really NUGS is truly the mother association that all subsidiary students groups look up to for inspiration, then they must put their acts together and erase such fantasies in perpetuity from the minds of the pessimists that our generation is only in waiting to cede to the lackadaisical ways public events of such nature are planned and executed in Ghana.

The program was slated for 4:00pm at the Zenith College. I know it will not surprise you if I should say it started proper around 6:30pm. Intermittently, elegant ushers stood sheepishly and redundantly whilst other organizers walk about aimlessly. As for so-called `Guest of (Dis) honours', as usual they walked majestically into the auditorium and somehow stealing the attention of the program. Yours truly, those who respect time and abhor the `African Time´ mentality, only had to be told the usual disgraceful apology: "We are sorry for the lateness. It was due to inconveniences beyond our control". What inconvenience, they will never shamefully and boldly spit out. Suggestion: Program must kick start provided few people have show up. Time is no respecter of any dignitary. Anyway, these are the few shortcomings with regards to our sluggish attitude to time.

Another thing of great worry had to do with the awards. The work of the awardee for the entrepreneurial category left me greatly disappointed. His `impressive work´ which won him the award was that as a fresh graduate from KNUST he has succeeded in owning a travel and tour organization that has seen over 25 students being thrown into compulsory migration (a.k.a. to seek greener pastures) overseas to work from dawn to dusk to ensure other economy grow.

I sincerely think this `innocent´ gentleman did not deserve this award. I say `innocent´ because I will conditionally pardon him if he might have been unaware about the implications of such ventures. Surely, my bone of contention is with why we should celebrate a man who ferries able human resources of the country trained by the hard-won taxes of the taxpayer into `International Any Working´. These are moves the nation loses enormously from and always we have to fill it with expatriates who have to be outrageously paid huge sums of salaries. On the surface one will say that the gentleman did quite well by solely opening the business, but the benefit inure to other countries.

Quite apart from the observed, it was really pathetic that no soul from my University (Legon) won an award. I am not surprised though. Because we spend our time thinking more of Miss Intellect, Miss Legon, and Miss whatever. It is good to have one or two. But they are overdone. Other programs lie idle, such as essay competitions, debates, etc. I am quite sure it is not only in my University. Even though I can perfectly understand that our educational system makes us lazy in so many ways, it is unpardonable to harbour the perception that we have lost sense of thinking critically.

Entirely, it was colourful and the performances were simply interesting. More of such programs must be organized by the NUGS, the SRCs, JCRs, and other youth focused groups to celebrate our youth who struggle to make meaning out of this crisis-saddled Africa and for that matter Ghana.

Long live the NUGS.

Credit: Eric Kweku Otchere
Concerned Student of Ghana
University of Ghana, Legon.
[Email: [email protected]]