MUSING OF AN ORDINARY GHANAIAN YOUTH!!!!!

Every nation has a destiny, a part in history that it must play in bringing the divine plan of God for humanity to pass.

Ghana is a great country and God made us so. The country has a diverse and rich resource base with gold, timber, bauxite, cocoa, diamond and manganese being the most important source of foreign trade.

In 2007, an oil field which may contain up to 3 billion barrels of light oil was discovered and still counting.

Additionally, Ghana has a handsome human resource reserves; a population of over 24 million people most of them very intelligent, creative, and productive and above all very hardworking yet in spite of all these enormous natural resources, health, transport and educational infrastructure etc which are all catalyst for development are in very deplorable conditions.

In spite of all these resources, over a half of the country's population lives below the poverty line and majority of people living in Ghana are also uneducated.

In spite of all these, a huge chunk of Ghanaians live in slums, Kiosks, mud houses, uncompleted buildings etc.

In short, civil strife is inevitable in Ghana in spite of the enormous natural resources the country has been endowed with.

But regardless of all that, Ghana is still a great country. And I can say that now because the truth is not always defined by what has come out for everyone to see now but sometimes by what is hidden and is yet to be manifest.

We are great not just because of our resources. We are great because of us- we the people. And we are a people. Despite all our fights, our differences have always been significant only at first glance. On deeper examination, we see how we really are after all.

Without vision, we would be blind. We would be blind to the opportunities that lie in front of us and at the same time, we would be blinded to the dangers that surround us as a country. Vision is a foresight of a destination in the future.

I am not a politician. Neither am I a political activist or a “rented press” journalist (or any category of journalist), and for that matter, I will probably not be invited to appear on a morning breakfast show program or asked for my thoughts on a national issue and so when the Executive Director of NEWFOG, Mr. Bernard Vormawor asked my thoughts about my country Ghana, I was excited for the opportunity to point out to him and the many others who will chance upon this article, some of the problems and challenges that confronts our beloved country and some remedies I can think of from the perspective of a young Ghanaian to make that future a brighter and more prosperous one where more Ghanaians will feel the social and economic benefits of Ghana's natural resources and economic growth. I am just an ordinary young Ghanaian who reads the papers and watches the news a lot, and loves his country sincerely. I have just finished senior high school barely a year ago and have just started out in life, working hard to make a decent living, and having big dreams and vision for Ghana. I am one of those Ghanaians who sometimes lose hope and confidence in the prospects of my country. The reason is terrible leadership. But there are times my love for my country soars beyond unimaginable heights.

My country Ghana is fifty-five years yet the problems of Ghana keep on compounding as a result of our leaders being clueless and refusing to see beyond their noses. I must reiterate quite unequivocally that the problems of Ghana are not beyond us.

Each new day, a new scam exposes a shameful state of affairs in almost every sphere of governance in our beloved country Ghana. Problems exist in all countries, however the approach to deal with those problems is what distinguishes a good and progressing nation from a stagnating and sick country. Sadly, our leaders seem to be vying to lead us in the latter category. Every nation under the sun faces daunting challenges but genuine leadership strives in the face of these problems to find a better life for the citizens.

For us to succeed as a country, we must educate ourselves. And by 'educate', I do not mean sitting under trees at the mercy of the harsh weather conditions. I don't mean sitting in a classroom with an absentee teacher who may be poorly trained and barely literate himself who comes to the classrooms once or twice a week because he is poorly motivated and poorly supervised. I don't mean the distribution of old irrelevant textbooks. I mean actual functional education like being able to write your name for starters, do simple arithmetic, knowing what laws are and how they work in this country, developing the sense of patriotism etc. I mean an education that actually prepares the educated to not just survive but thrive in this world. Education standard in my beloved country Ghana has fallen. I had the opportunity to travel through some towns and villages in the Volta region and the things I saw were very disheartening. I saw students learning under trees, students in uncompleted buildings etc when I hear spokes persons of government on media platforms boast of significant improvement in educational infrastructure. Again mediocrity is at work. We must educate ourselves in other to succeed as a country. And to educate ourselves, we must make more schools available, accessible and of good quality, well trained and well motivated teachers with better supervision, quality teaching and learning materials etc. then we can boast of quality education.

No country in history has ever become rich on raw materials, however vast the supply is. Neither will Ghana. We cannot break the cycle of poverty if we do not add significant value to what we dig out of the ground and so I want to see an Industrialized Ghana. I read an article entitled “THOUGHTS ON MY NATION” and the writer shared a very interesting story. He said “a preacher man once asked his congregation, if you go to the market and you always carry a basket of oranges, and your neighbor brings home a box of ipads and computers, who will be richer?” We must take our oranges (3 for 50p) and turn them into packaged fruit juice (one for 4 Ghana cedis) and see the numerous jobs we'll be creating for our unemployed youths and the millions of cedis we'll be making out of that venture. We must take our gold and turn them into beautiful ornaments. We must take our rich Cocoa and turn them into rich beverages. We must take our oil and turn them into motor oil for our car engines. So that when Burkina Faso, Togo, Ivory Coast, Mali, Guinea etc are ready to buy their ornaments, beverages etc, we can sell it to them and smile all the way to the bank. Can we say our so called leaders are clueless about this? Need I ask what our Yale, Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard Legon, Gimpa etc trained leaders learn at these reputable institutions? Or they are simply overwhelmed by the problems? One major problem I being the cause of our predicaments is Mediocrity. We have allowed mediocrity to become the yardstick of measuring productivity. If our leaders will deal with mediocrity and show commitment to their obligations, we'll surely make headway.

Again, if governments will intensify the fight against corruption, we'll make headway. Corruption has become the order of today's government. The seat of government has become the haven of corruption in recent times. It is an undeniable fact that Malaysia, Singapore, China, Korea and India etc engage in corruption but they equally put their money to good use. Here, what do we see? Misplaced policies and priorities hold sway over prudent policies in the interest of Ghana. We pay dubious judgment debts to cronies and party faithful instead of channeling our resources into viable ventures. Hence the political leadership ends up defrauding the state in the process. Is this the Ghana that the dreamers dreamt? It's a pity. But if our governments will be committed to the fight against corruption, we will surely make headway.

Our health infrastructure is also nothing to write home about. Our hospitals and clinics are in very deplorable conditions. As a result of poor health infrastructure and poor health care delivery, the ruling elites and the wealthy always end up in the USA, South Africa, and Singapore etc when they need serious medical intervention, a sad indictment on those who run the country. Our leaders must show some commitment to building Ghana. Civil society groups who are to keep our leaders on their toes are now clothed in party colors and are ready to support any party as long as it benefits the leaders of those civil society groups. They no longer come to the aid of the vulnerable in society. What a pity?

Let's all change our attitudes and mindsets and come together to commemorate all the positives and eliminate all the negatives. Let's come together as one people with one common destiny and fight our common enemy (poverty) and we will see an Industrialized Ghana.

A Ghana where graduate unemployment becomes minimal. A Ghana where Ghanaians live in houses and not Kiosks, slums, uncompleted buildings mud houses etc.

A Ghana where health care will be quality. A Ghana where there is respect for rule of law. A Ghana where all Ghanaians understand that, belonging to different political movement doesn't make us enemies but rather makes us partners in nation building.

A Ghana where Ghanaians will feel the social and economic benefits of Ghana's natural resources and economic growth

Let's come together and we'll see our Ghana be the pioneer on the plain, seeking a Home where he himself and the entire African continent is free. Let's make it be that great and strong nation of love, peace and unity.

LONG LIVE GHANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BY: Siegfried Edzordzi Sorkpor
Member, WELL MEANING GHANAIAN
Email: [email protected]