A TEACHER’S MANIFESTO AT 33- A PRAYER TO GOD (A NEW RESOLUTION TO THE PARADOX OF THRIFT)

´The beginning of all wisdom consists of giving words their true meaning´ Confucius

´The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars- but in ourselves´.

William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

´Not even love has made so many fools of men as the pondering over the nature of money´.

W.E. Gladstone (1844)
´The Industrial Revolution was not an episode with a beginning and an end…It is still going on´.

E.J. Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution (1962)

´I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies…The issuing powers should be taken from the (central) banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs´.

Thomas Jefferson
´The greatest problem for imperialism is Nkrumah learnt America, America-CIA does not have the patience to learn Nkrumahism. Socrates never died, He was buried alive´.

Senyo Prosper Kwami Anyomi- Prelude to A Treatise on Reincarnation.

I was awakened from my slumber by loud, blaring noise, closely resembling the inaudible noises often heard emanating from some of our churches in the night during the now commonplace, all night services. No wonder the numerous complaints from concerned residents we continue to read in our newspapers and hear on the airwaves. Now, Easter is here with us again so don't blame me for the hasty conclusion and misjudgment. Initially, my mind played its usual devil's advocate, trying to send a mental, albeit quite vehement disapproval of such human cruelty visited on man by man under the guise of worshipping God, who I believe has been driven away by our collective shouts and blaring electronic devices into a heaven so remote that NASA or a local equivalent should be tasked to launch a mission to bring Him back a bit closer to our individual earthly temples which had contributed in no small way to driving Him away in the first place, from His inner abode centuries ago. My bet is the Soviets were on a similar mission, about half a century ago when they triggered the space race. Could the BNI or MOSSAD try to confirm my suspicion? May be that has already been done, only that the information is yet to be declassified. May be the CIA has it, otherwise, how could they have won the Cold War unless God had descended willingly or otherwise to help the Americans. Please, forgive my anger and speculation after all, no one takes kindly to being rudely aroused from deep slumber, especially on a Friday night and a Good Friday of course. I surmise the disciples of Jesus may not have kindly taken it when He came back from prayers on a higher ground to crave their indulgence to support Him in prayer at that crucial hour. The question we should all be asking is how could they have slept if they were making the noises we hear these days from prayer grounds? I am yearning to attend one such all night services to satisfy my curiosity. However, they must have regretted their deficiency in spiritual warfare by resorting to physical warfare. It was too late and the Master appropriately rebuked them to put the offensive weapon away, so he could surrender to God's Will. So we must continue to forgive our brothers for disturbing our rest and pray that they come to the realization that no one can go to war without wise counsel, most likely coming from within when we become still. Jesus won the war because he persevered at the most critical time in seeking inner guidance from the Father in Heaven.

The other day, I was reading a book entitled 'The Trojan War' by Gail Stewart (1949, Green Haven Press Inc., San Diego, California, USA). I decided to read the book mainly because the quote- 'When men and women lose the sense of mystery, life will prove to be a gray dreary business, only with difficulty to be endured' by Harold T. Wilkins enchanted me. The hero a German called Heinrich Schleimann, by following closely his childhood fascination with Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, became the father of modern Archaeology. Initially, the established order, especially the Ivory Tower professors did not like his direct approach, and promptly rebuked him. Another Don Quixote is here! They might have thought, but when he succeeded, their jeers turned into cheers. The same can be said of Jesus. One other theme from this book which is of interest to me was how early theologians found it difficult to come to terms with how gods seemed to mingle freely with humans in ancient Greek society. So some altered history to satisfy their whims and caprices, so next time you give a Greek gift to God by disturbing the sleep of your neighbors, be more circumspect and put yourself in their shoes.

So responding to the human instinct to investigate the cause of the noise, which this time round exonerated my saintly church neighbours, who had probably closed earlier, after I had fallen asleep, ignoring their holy and joyful shouts unto the Lord Jesus, whose victory over death is now an annual ritual, my wandering mind naturally settled on a suggestion made by my examiner barely a fortnight earlier. I had gone in there to justify my speaking ability in the Queen's language. I hope my American friends will agree with me. Senyo, why don't you become a journalist? The question came, a follow up to my answer to a previous question. My response was almost inaudible and diffident; 'I never thought of that'. Thinking about it all, my response should have been; I never took serious action on that. While studying for a Certificate in Education almost a year ago, my History of Education lecturer made a similar comment after I pointed out to him some weaknesses inherent in the cosmetic nature of reforms to improve education in Ghana, especially the hullabaloo about the ICT component. I would have liked to reproduce that argument here, but I never wrote it down. I once caught myself telling someone, 'Right action favours even a fool'. So to avoid living in a Fools' Paradise forever, I began looking for my pen to see if I could string some words together and succeed in writing my way out of the teaching profession.

Many people believe teaching is the safest and most peaceful profession unlike others like journalism, law and medicine. This assertion, I believe is behind the noises being made by those professionals whom I learnt are walking the corridors of power trying to prevent the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure (S4). For them becoming a doctor is more difficult than climbing Mount Everest. And we all have to agree with them or die. Some years ago when other public sector workers made quite justifiable noises about distortions being created by singling out doctors for special treatment they were told to keep quiet and suffer until Jesus Christ comes back. It is my belief also that, those noises are being made by some gold diggers or other misfits who have found their way into such a noble profession. A few years ago the whole world was shocked by the news that one medical practitioner in the UK, who had succeeded in putting to death several people he was supposed to be doctoring, the name I believe was Shipman or something like that, had been convicted. There are several other instances where medical practitioners' negligence in line of duty had cost dear lives. So why should we continue to entrust our lives into their hands and always give them a larger share of the national cake at the expense of others, if they would eventually run away to chase dollars when they gather enough experience in the act of killing quickly with their demands. They should therefore not try to use the fear of death among politicians to make fools of all of us, just as the fear of the devil is being exploited by some of our spiritual shepherds. My fear is those making those noises are dancing to the tunes of their political masters and should be denounced by the more sober and humane ones in that profession before they drag the name of the profession in the mad. If money answers all things as some of my Christian and Medicinal brothers will make us to believe, Joseph Desire Mobutu would have been here with us. Immortality cannot be bought with money.

Historical precedence points to the fact that teaching is also a dangerous profession after all. Remember Socrates was killed for his teaching and he was convicted for atheism and corrupting the youth. He didn't shy away from the poisoned hemlock, like Jesus a few centuries after him. He continued teaching with a smile after he drank it. History vindicated him on most counts so let us not by our actions deprive the youth of sound education by killing teachers slowly. Jesus, John the Baptist and many others suffered a similar fate. Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikotaj Kopernik) was denounced for his beliefs. Einstein had to escape from the fatherland to avoid a similar fate. The list is endless. So at the crossroads between teaching and journalism, I found myself between Scylla and Charybdis.

By now the music had completely died down, probably in response to my prayers. So I took my Bible (not the Fool's Bible). Then I remembered the excuse upon which a simple request to endorse a study leave application form for me was refused earlier in the week. Talking of preventing the entry of quacks and misfits into any profession, the teachers seem to be already on top of the situation. The official who should have carried the forms to the Director, told me that non-professional teachers were not allowed study leave with pay except to study education. It is a Hobson's choice. My explanation that I had completed a Certificate in Education course almost a year earlier fell on deaf ears. I was referred to a superior officer who also refused to accept a letter of attestation in lieu of a certificate. The District and Regional Directors had already given approval based on the same information presented on my personal record form and resume. I only needed to attach the forms to the approved application to be sent to the Director General in Accra for approval. No quacks here! I understood the stony resistance of these daughters of Eve. I had another interesting encounter with another daughter of Eve at the Ghana Education Service Headquarters in connection with the same application. I rushed there with some documents to seek the approval directly from headquarters. She asked me the school I was coming from and when I mentioned it, she enquired how I came by the information, when I told her it was on the internet, she gave a long lecture about how I need to go back and start the whole process from below but ended up writing her phone numbers for me to contact her in case of difficulty. I have not yet faced a difficulty at all! I left with courage and thankfulness knowing I would one day meet that requirement.

May be I would have succeeded if I had carried the right papers. That probably explained why my file got lost on two occasions during the entire process thus delaying the process. So I kept writing this piece, someone may in future be guided accordingly by my writing even if I don't make it in time. Book no lie. Barbara Tuchman once said 'Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. They are the engines of change, windows on the world, lighthouses erected in a sea of time'. Remember Socrates, Jesus and even Che Guevara a doctor turned revolutionary and many others were still taking (right) action even unto death. They or their disciples have made it possible for us to know about them. They all knew death will not endure forever. If the Jews crucified Jesus for saying man must not live by bread alone, and then proceeded to lead His disciples into a grain field on the Sabbath, and Che said, 'Man is not just stomach. We believe that, above all, he hungers for his dignity'; then proceeded to abandon his stethoscope in his native Argentina for a gun to fight for the bread of Bolivian peasants in the Andes, got betrayed by one peasant named Rojas to the CIA and got killed right after explaining a point about Spanish grammar to a rural teacher, wherein lie the difference? One of Che's disciples who died with him fighting hand in gun to the end was called Jesus Suarez Gayol. He most probably hailed from Big Fidel's backyard, had his baptism of fire at the foothills of the Sierra Maestra, conquered death at Algra del Pio and matured at the Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs). A French female journalist, called Tania as well as a male one, called, Regis Debray were also with Che. Che had to contend with several Judases even at his base camp called Calamina Ranch but kept fighting on until he was cowardly shot by Mario Teran. Cuba si Yanqui, no was his battle cry. No one holds a copyright to the name Jesus. History repeats itself indeed. I believe Jose Marti when he said, 'The best word is action'. And I believe Karl Marx when he said, 'Many people have interpreted the world in several ways, the point though is to change it'. My hope is former the President Bushes didn't read these words by Dwight D. Eisenhower- 'Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed' before embarking on war mongering with careless abandon. By then God domiciled in CIA preventive detention at the end of the Cold War had escaped. No wonder it took a journalist to tell the most recent past occupant of the White House, enough is enough by abandoning his pen for something else. So we are waiting patiently for a review of study leave policies for teachers. May be I didn't hear them right.

Then the admonition and warning of the prophet Isaiah came into my mind. 'For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill. And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: blessed are they that wait for him. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it , Get thee hence (Isaiah 30:15-18,20-22 King James Version, People's Parallel Edition, Tyndale, 1997).

So I kept my peace and abandoned the earlier idea that I should write an article about the futility of all night noise making. They will simply not have any of it. No matter how erudite I tried to sound. The number of theological authorities I quoted. The number of witnesses I interviewed.

However, I have one silent prayer to God, a plea to President Attah Mills' NDC government, especially the Honourable Minister of Education. We would like to see them tackling the numerous problems that they trumpeted on the campaign trail. I am yet to have my copy of the NDC manifesto, so I cannot be specific here, but I have a vested interest in the S4, the earlier the better, enough of the promises. The other day I read in the Daily Graphic (Monday, April 6th 2009), that conditions of service of health professionals are to be improved to stem their exodus for greener pastures. My silent prayer is that His Excellency the Vice-President should not wait until all teachers also begin to seek golden pens and books to help them metamorphose into other more lucrative professions here and abroad before more decisive action is taken on such policies as the S4 and special allowances for Science teachers. I recently read an article about the lack of Science teachers at Kadjebi Asato Senior High School and my heart almost missed a beat. I believe the powers that be will begin taking action when some of the Category A schools recently displayed boldly in the Daily Graphic also follow suit, as occurred in the 1980s. And especially with the discovery of oil in Ghana, your guess is as good as mine. We only need to continue in right action and begin to set our priorities right. I sometimes wonder what would have happened to me if my father had heeded to the many calls to send me to a teacher training college instead of the university and used the rest of his money thus saved to buy a television or a fridge. You don't need a PhD in Economics (The study of man in the ordinary business of life) to learn to obey the theory of opportunity cost. The Paradox of Thrift is here again. Let each one of us resolve it personally and keep religiously to our answers. We have had enough of the laws and theories. It is time to obey them. No wonder some of the professional teachers are being denied study leave with pay to read Economics, lest they become aware of the nature of the walls of their imprisonment. They should sell their televisions and know-Following your destiny with question, introspection is your license to freedom. Resigning to your fate without question, introspection and action is (intellectual) laziness.

My students in Kulungugu should try to stop the fascination with the goodies such as mobile phones and study. 'Say not; whenever I find the time I shall study, lest ye never find the time' (Hillel the Elder; in Avot 2:5, 1st Century B.C.E). It beats my imagination how an Economics student in SSS3 can own a mobile phone but still owe school fees. Many SSS students believe that they cannot pass Mathematics without a calculator, yet they don't know how to use it effectively. If my memory serves me right, calculators were first allowed to be used for 'O' Levels in Ghana in 1994. My very good friend who has recently returned from Japan (his Certificate in Education from Japan is yet to be recognized by the National Accreditation Board at Home Municipal GES) tells me no calculators are allowed at pre-university level in that country. No wonder he came home without a laptop computer. We should therefore have to go back and study the effect of wholesale introduction of calculators on grades in Mathematics before implementing the ICT component of the New Educational Reforms hook, line and sinker. Some ICT experts have already raised their voices about the content of the ICT textbooks recently supplied Nicodemously after the recent Elephant-Umbrella War. The dead will always be with us until we begin to call a spade a spade. Beware of the Trojan Horses. My smart ass politicians should not think that the Trojans were that stupid by carrying eminent death and destruction into their bosom. A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength (Proverbs 24: 5, King James Version).

I have by now graduated from using pen and paper to inputting my thoughts directly into my borrowed laptop. Then I remembered a comment made by my uncle who holds M Phil in Computer Science to the effect that long hours of working on the computer is having its toll on his sight. So I hurried on to end it all, just then I recalled my music teacher at the Experimental J.S.S. told me Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his most famous pieces after he became blind as a result of studying manuscripts under moonlight. Scholars, of an earlier generation, from my village also studied under moonlight. Now that we have the Bui Dam in the pipeline and an Elephantine oil find, we the younger ones have no excuse. The heights great men reached and kept were not by sudden flight indeed. I then put on Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, to calm my nerves. It was supplied free with the laptop as sample music. The Institute of Consumer Enlightenment must now advice us on the numerous buy one get one free offers for many products at our lorry stations. Some economists will tell you there is no free lunch. Next time you are given such an offer my warning is caveat emptor. For me I will only buy a laptop if it comes with free Bach, Beethoven, Bob Marley, Handel, and the rest. And no war films.

My category C mathematics students here, who would have fallen hook line and sinker for the ploy by two imposters whose faces are staring at me, from the front page of the Daily Graphic of April 7, 2009 to sell fake WASSCE examination papers, are waiting lest the fate that befell Honourable Bawumia when he returned to his post after an abortive attempt to ride an Elephant into the Jubilee Flag Staff House befall me too. I would like to commend the West African Examinations Council for publishing the names of exam cheats and their schools for us. I believe this is already yielding dividends. If the allegations of looting of state property leveled against Honourable Speaker Sekyi are true, he should Nicodemously return the missing items or do otherwise if they are false in order to give my Elepantine friends a new lease of life before the battle lines are drawn for 2012. Why is it that all the Elephant bigwigs are rushing to open new offices in Accra instead of founding cattle ranches in the Afram Plains as was rumoured of the Umbrella guru just before 2000? Will politicians ever learn? For me the greatest lesson of the eight year tenure of the Elephant should have been learnt at the Silver Star Auto Tower Junction. And that of the (19-11) year reign of the Umbrella guru on the Accra-Tema Motorway. I learnt mine at the Castle Crossroads in 2004-2005. No matter how tall and thick the walls of (in)security they try to build around themselves, time will always catch them up. Think you are in heaven but you are living in hell…, time will tell. My Umbrella disciple friend should learn from this.

Now my appeal to the University Dons especially those domiciled on the Sunyani Road in the Garden City who have been helping us the 'guest teachers' (Non-Professional No Paper Teachers) to metamorphose into 'host teachers' (Professional More Paper Teachers) is that they should speed up the process a bit to release our papers so we can rub shoulders more confidently with our hosts the PMPTs and thereby enjoy some of the benefits reserved for them. Many people believe that the actions of some of our University Dons have contributed in no small way to the slow decadence in the educational system. For instance, if the young Attah Mills had had to wait for five years to have the grading of his theses to be completed, we wouldn't have been saying that he completed his PhD at age 27, and most probably he wouldn't have been where he is now. The other day one of them tried to play the Ananse on me by pestering me- This your beard, is it a philosophical beard? When I played the Ntikumah on him by responding in Latin-Barba philosophum non facit (The beard does not make the philosopher make), my hope is I got it right, he recoiled, and the rumour mill has it that he has now enrolled for a PhD. My only prayer is it is not in Ghana this time! I got a free Beard plus (B+) in Philosophy of Education the previous semester, so excuse me to show it off a bit before I forget it all. Many things happened there which I must keep for now lest the laws on plagiarism, and the No Journalism By Students Act catch up with me. For instance if George Sydney Abugri decides to enroll for a PhD in any of our universities, it is most likely that he will have to stop writing those brilliant pieces for up to five years lest he puts on a philosophical beard before he is licensed to think. That is why I had no answer for my philosophical University Don who asked me to write. Silence is golden.

To all teachers, especially the guest ones, they should continue to seek the face of God, especially from within and He will surely smile on them. They cannot travel within, and stand still without. Seek ye first the kingdom of the golden pen and books and all other things shall be added. They should believe James Allen when he said, 'When Spirit rises and commands, the gods are ready to obey' and should not be fooled into believing the now popular axiom that Accra is Ghana. The children of peasants such as Benedictus Yaokuma Dzewu of blessed memory also need quality education. The other day I visited the new site of the primary school I attended-Anfoega Wademaxe R.C. Primary School. A building less than one year old has had its roofs and parts of the walls ripped off for well over six months apparently due to poor workmanship. I couldn't do anything about it. That continues to give me nightmares. My humble appeal is we need to do something about all the dilapidated buildings in which our rural future leaders now go to school. Posterity will not forgive us if we continue to sit in Accra, shuffle papers, play computer war games and give audience to doctors to complain about other workers' salaries in the next hundred days now that the first one hundred days the new Umbrella guru has given us are getting over. Were the teachers given an audience before their salaries were seized? The law is an ass indeed.

The Controller and Accountant General must also learn to pay arrears due us the rural teachers into our bank accounts instead of onto newspaper front pages. We are tired of travelling to Accra to complain, we have no other option now that their toll free telephone complaint system has also vanished into thin air.

Finally, I thank the health professionals- doctors, pharmacists, nurses, ward assistants and cleaners for helping us to keep body and soul together until we awaken to our true nature as spirit. They should forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. By the way what has happened to the controversy surrounding the ex-gratia. For the sake of justice, let us compare the figures being bandied around with what we are paying as gratuity and pensions to village teachers who served us for more than three decades (some with no study leaves). It is only by such analysis can we come to the realization that, we need to sit and think seriously about education instead of using noise to deceive our neighbours. A nation in which a larger proportion of school graduates drop out and make babies with careless abandon is a recipe for disaster. We need to do something and quickly too. The Papa is probably making a valid point. Let us not crucify him only to regret later.

To the reader and all Ghanaians, I have bothered you long enough. “Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires' (The Way Lao-tsu-600 BCE) and everything would be alright. May the risen Christ in you help you awaken to the realization of your true nature as spirit. 'Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven[ People who superficially dramatize pious behavior cannot easily awaken to God-Consciousness. Spiritual growth naturally occurs when one lives in accord with the principles which nurture it]-(The Gospel According to Saint Matthew 7:21 with interpretation, cited in Truth Journal November- December 1996, CSA Press, Lakemont Georgia, USA). Better than rulership over all the world, better than going to heaven, is the reward of the first step in holiness (The Dhammapada-dharma path).Listen within, hear, and be your own judge. PEACE -SHALOM -PAIX -FRIEDEN -FRID -FRED -PAZ -PACE -VREDE -SHANTI, AMEN.

A NEW RESOLUTION TO THE PARADOX OF THRIFT

Thrift does not always pay
Spending and investment pays more
Capital lying idle in a bank with no investment motive is no capital

Risk takers always win, calculated risk backed by wisdom is the best risk

Investment into education, books, knowledge building resulting in wisdom pays more

Than any investment account in a bank
Books, knowledge and wisdom can change every situation but money may fail without sound knowledge

Reading a little at a time
Meditating more on every single line
Until wisdom is discerned and meaning becomes clearest

Empowers us to take actions that always pay best
No matter the risks involved and removing all our limitations

Empowering us to take more risks
That will pay more than any of our less knowledgeable competition

And protecting us from making uninformed decision
That leads to unavoidable losses for the uninformed

Making us richer day in day out
A man´s true riches does not lie in money or a fat bank account

Books can teach about money investment but wisdom is discerned

You sometimes have to be a bit lazy
To make money big time the easy way
But once you got some money on your pocket
Or had a taste of what wisdom can do
You need to work harder than the busy bee
To keep it forever into eternity
The good book1 says
A little extra sleep
A little more slumber
And poverty will pound on you
Like a robber
And want like an armed man
That is why slow investors lose
And fast money wins in the game of money
And in the game of life the sharpest and calmest minds always win

Those who try to prove the reality of ignorance are not fit for the ideal life2

Ignorance can be cured by study and meditation resulting into wisdom

The best cure for ignorance for is meditation3
01:49 GMT
12th NOVEMBER 2010
VAE/1OO VANE-AVATIME
1. Proverbs
2. Gautama Siddarta the Buddha
3. Samuel Sasu