If I Had Said No

It began with a dilemma of our beloved country, Ghana; whether she should have said NO to civilization or democracy. Hmmmm it seems to me as though democracy craved the indulgence for a political position to be handed over to inefficient leaders who refused to say NO when they knew very well they cannot perform.

Could the problem of this country be traceable to the inability and refusal of our leaders to say NO or the woman who craved indulgence for civilization? Anyway let’s assume we are already here, so what should be done? The word NO is one detestable word that no one especially guys hate to hear from the other side when they post their toast. But is it not wonderful how a common NO can help save a young man/woman from contracting an STD or a chronic issue.

Take a saunter through memory lane, you will realize that most of the rebarbative and acerbic situation we find ourselves in is as a result of the NO we didn’t say to a particular incidence. No has been tagged as a virulent word but unbeknown to us, it is a savior under disguise. An adolescent girl who says NO to an irresponsibly married but devil-may-care man will grow to maintain her integrity, probity and chastity. A student who says NO to malpractice wouldn’t have his name obliterated from the record and rusticated from the school.

A church elder who says NO to the temptation of squandering church offering wouldn’t have his name registered in the pit of hell. A man of God who says NO to sin and worldly pleasure wouldn’t have difficulty in preaching on holiness, healing the sick and raising the dead. A country who says NO to a foreign bail-out wouldn’t be tied to strings of extreme demands from the donor country.

A television icon who says NO to a 5 minutes pleasure wouldn’t have a 50 years built career utterly destroyed in the face of the media. If leaders had said NO to Xenophobia there wouldn’t have been a massacre history in South Africa. If our artists had said NO to drug they wouldn’t end up in prison. If Judas Iscariot had said NO e wouldn’t have been hang on a tree because of guilt of betrayal. And if You and I had said NO there would have be no need for a second chance on a borrowed rope. But if saying NO could give us permanent freedom, why do we say Yes to handcuffed ourselves with guilt and remorse. Hmmmmm mysteries!!

The issue is that we have said so may YESSES to ourselves and that has cost us a lot including individual and national lives. No could be painful and might come with temporally pain, perils and prices to pay but will pay at the end. If I had said NO 10 years ago I would have lost 10 irrelevant friends but I would also be 10 years ahead. Anyway lets go on, this is personal.

Young Lady you know you don’t love this man but because of the glittering wrist watch, glowing car wheel and gold plated iPhone 6+, you are tempted to say YES before he even proposed and later we share your condolence. Why didn’t you just say NO and save the day. Yes to any temporal pleasure has a long term catastrophic ramification on the person in question and the generation yet unborn.

Now, imagine this young man in Prison who is seeking his way out by the hook or by the crook confronted with the King’s wife for a simple assignment “ sleep with me and have your freedom” saith the King’s wife. In Ghana today the youth will call it scholarship because it came on a silver platter, but the young prisoner didn’t see it as a scholarship but a destiny terminator. Therefore he said “NO” I won’t do this and sin against my God and betray my master’s trust in me(hmmmm like a politician saying I won’t be part of this corruption just to trade my integrity).

He might have forgotten that he is just coming from the pit to the prison. What happened afterwards? Saying NO cost him his freedom. He was stigmatized, despised by the boss because the woman framed him as a raiding rapist, if not a sadist and finally was incarcerated.

But now my question: why can’t we just say NO? is it deception, fear, dissatisfaction of the emotional needs, peer pressure, economic meltdown, is it lack of spiritual/ intellectual maturity, or just a mere human stupidity. Let’s assume it’s all the above for time sake

Yes to Xenophobia, premature sex, alcoholism, albinism discrimination, economic inefficiency, human trafficking, child labor, drug abuse, unemployment, selfishness, greed, lawlessness and IMF bail-out only produces Chaos and instability.

The young prisoner after he has said NO to the temporal pleasure and emotional deception didn’t only move from the prison to the palace he moved from the palace to the Presidency aside what he has been through after saying NO. He became the Prime minister of a strange land. What happened? I don’t know . Or maybe it’s a miracle? I can’t tell but the best I can say is that NO is not obnoxious like other people think NO only means NEXT OPPORTUNITY.