Chronicles Of A Youth No Less An Adult: Come Not To Bury Us, Oh Mubarak

Dear Brother

I know you did not find my last letter to you pleasing. Well, the intention was not to please you in anyway. However, if you will be kind enough, you will remember in my last letter, I assured you of coming to you again. But then, I hoped it will be on a good note and more of an ostentatious praise. Unfortunately my curiosity and eagerness has found me writing to you again in an even pungent mood.

I know you are also wondering why I am still addressing you as a brother despite your uneasiness. Get me no wrong. I share in your anxiety. And that is the truth. After all why will a brother hit so hard on another? Do not forget, I am only a brother because you claim to share in my passion. It's our only lineage.

In any case, even if there was to be something stronger, then I should be in a capacity to let you know of my frustrations since you assumed your new role as the Coordinator of the National Youth Authority.

Already, you seem to have made quite a number of admirers for yourself. As in Ghana politics, these admirers will go to any extent to make even your failures sound successful and attack anyone who may coming cross your path. This is something our brother Sekou Nkrumah should know by now and so learn to stay off you.

In the introduction to the eleventh edition of the book, 'Taking Sides', John T. Rourke wondered if Dr Faust, the protagonist in Johann Goethe's classic drama, Faust, ''is merely misguided in his effort to make the world a better place as he saw it and imagined it might be?''

Going further he reiterate the point the Rolling Stones and Marshall Berman make in ''Sympathy With the Devil'' and ''Have Sympathy for the Devil'' respectively, saying ''it is important to avoid falling prey to the trap of many zealot who are so convinced of the truth of their own views that they feel righteously at liberty to condemn those who disagree with them as stupid or even diabolical''.

Not long ago, one young man, perhaps one of the privileged few who are close to you and with the code to your unseen heroism, in his rejoinder to our brothers call on the scrapping of the NYA as in his word, is 'useless', thwarted two of your achievement, I suppose. To him and as he puts it, you having ''in less than two (2) months showed clear vision and also come out with an implementation framework to serve as a guide for the implementation of the national youth policy'' is any progress. 'Tweaaaaaaaaaaaaaa'!!!

Don't ask. I know I am not your co-equal.
Brother, if you have ever heard me say this before, it is only when admirers outnumber lovers that we have to heed to only one word-'caution'. And so these letters are only to caution you not to make me your enemy. Perhaps if there is anyone to declare war on, then it should be our Senior Brother Sekou, not me. After all he called for the scrapping of NYA. Truly, I find him strange myself. What was his intent, to render you jobless?

Anyway, Brother, you know I am not a Malawian. Not even by naturalisation. Again unlike you I have not had the privilege to travel outside Ghana. The last time I checked the cedi was still falling and so my little savings couldn't afford my visa fees much to talk of buying an air ticket. Do not blame me much, I come from far, and so all my knowledge of the world is by learning.

One of such learning has made me a son of Malawi. By this I am obligated to follow Mama Joyce's presidency with keen interest. It is in this that I referred her governance approach in my last letter to you; and cautioned you 'to stay off put'. Do not forget, she is the second female president to her sister Sirleaf, our very own Auntie. I guess she has every reason to hate Mama Joyce. After all, until her ascendency, Auntie Sirleaf was the only female African president.

Going back, Brother, I cited an example. In this letter I will give you another instance. Few hours to writing you this letter; I visited my facebook page only to find Mama celebrating one of her marginal progress. This time and as her mark of ''sharing the experiences of motherhood and promoting water supply''; she has a photo of her being assisted by some of her close associates and beneficiary women to carry water in a green plastic pan.

For me these 'trivial endorsements' and 'retrogressive progress' attest to Dr Manda's claim that Malawi is dead. To gist you, Dr. Levi Zeleza Manda is a Malawian media and communication strategist, researcher and media trainer. As a writer he gave a literal meaning to Malawi's present state in his article ''Malawi is Dead, but we are not buried''.

To offer you his perspective I have culled as it is, an excerpt from the piece I find relevant to my discourse:

''Malawi is dead. Its youths are dead. Its politicians are dead. Chiefs are dead. Wizards and witches are dead. Herbalists are dead. Physicians are dead. Academics are dead. The Malawian Diaspora is dead. Musicians are dead. Dramatists are dead. Ichthyologists are dead. Ecumenists are dead. Promoters of Islamic Ummah are dead. Keepers of the Nyahbinghi Order are dead. Journalists are dead. Priests are dead. The imams are dead. Gender activists are dead. Human rights activists are dead. We are all dead. We are just bodies, mitembo, locked up in a giant freezer called Malawi. As a nation, we have stopped thinking''.

To make for his case, he argues as below: ''If we were not dead, we, like the Filipino, would have taken to the streets to relentlessly protest the pillage of national resources and the protection of key suspects. If we were not dead, we would have already challenged the establishment to call for a referendum to change the constitution and bar those politicians, who cross from party to party, every electoral season, refuse to accept losing primaries and insist on standing as independents. If we were not dead, we would not even be entertaining some of these rotten politicians''.

Truly, Brother, the assertion of my admirer Dr Manda is not far from the situation of Ghanaian youth. I guess the nation itself will even qualify for his contention. And so with you as the National Coordinator whether acting or substantive, you owe us but two; to either resurrect or to bury us, not to spur our growth. After all we are not alive.

However, unlike Dr Manda's Malawi, the increasingly rate of unemployment which you attest to has killed our potential, initiative, ingenuity, and the desire to contribute to existence as young people born free as Ghanaians. Today even robbers are reported to have taken to civil strife. Unemployment has rendered many youth and their skills obsolete. GYEEDA, the initiative which should have alleviated many youth from poverty even before it death, became an albatross hanging around our necks and worsening our plights. Each election year, we hear of the promise of jobs yet see nothing once power has been won. The only jobs left are the ones for the 'boys' which I guess you are a beneficiary. Even intern opportunities have eluded the many. Graduates are now applying for jobs as drivers and security officers. Young people cannot even get support for their initiative. If you care then hear this, barely 5months ago, I met a university mate who out of frustration has opted to enrol at the Teacher Training College where there is guaranteed job as means to end his long search and live in 'decency'. Worse of all, employers have taken advantage to pay woefully for the labour of young people and graduates in particular with the latter constantly under threat of dismissal.

Even more ghostly,' our education has failed to guarantee the young Ghanaian of a future. It has only become a playing field for politicians to show their mightiness. Today, if it is three years, tomorrow it will be four years. The university halls are choked with no place for innovation and creative thinking. Now even the president thinks some programmes are irrelevant and should be scrapped; perhaps for us all to study engineering or medicine. No wonder your wards are in dollar-paying institutions. Our colleges are choked whiles many are taking advantage of the gullibility of many youth. Don't tell me you do not know about the awful performance of our junior brothers in the Basic Education Certificate Examination. The clashed batches of the Senior High School graduates who cannot have their dream of continuous tertiary education realised simply because they are born Ghanaians.

The Youth and Sports Ministry is no doubt polarised with skewed attention. They only thing they exhibit at national and regional policy fairs are trophies. Today they managed to submit and defend $20million world cup budget to the president when they can lobby for even GH ₵ 5000 to accommodate a district youth coordinator.

Tell me, Brother Mubarak, if this not death, then I will show you a politician. Tell me, if I have not shown you our corpse, then I will begrudge your sense of purpose and show you our graves. Then I will tell you to bury us in a hurry.

Perhaps this anonymous text may end my long plea: ''10 years ago we had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash - Now we have no Jobs, no Hope and no Cash'' and so we are dead even as global citizens.

Oh brother……
Regards
Ben
The Author Bernard Kwofie is a compassionate youth, a citizen journalist, and a natural observer. In addition to his profession in creative communication, community affairs, stakeholder engagement and youth development; he aims to write the most inspiring story. He can be contacted via his email [email protected].