Can Ghana Become A Nation Under Akufo Addo?

Listening to, and probing deeper into the sentiments of Ghanaians, tells me something ominous and it is the fact that there are yet very deep cracks within the notion of Ghana’s nationhood. The ethnic sentiments often couched in speeches or responses to national issues, captured in the body language and emotional sensibilities of well-placed and common Ghanaians, provides a gauge to check where we are in the march to building a united nation.

59 years after independence struggle, here lies at the centre of Ghana’s psyche, an insidious, choreographed prototype of nationalism that is at best a false one. It would be pedantic to dwell again on the historical misadventure of Ghana’s amalgamation, which artificially brought together intrinsically disparate peoples who are almost, always divided on issues of religion, politics and ethnicity and always battling over parcels of land.

To overlook these overarching differences, concealed under the false notion of nationalism, poses a mortal danger to the nation itself.

For Akufo Addo to inherit a nation that has not made much progress in resolving underlining historical and tribal issues. For Instance, why is it a requirement for a Ghanaian to identify his tribe of origin before he has eligibility to work and be admitted in schools of lower and higher learning?

The idea of putting ones tribe or origin ahead of one’s nationality imposes on people the obsessive awareness of their tribe rather than their sovereign sense of Ghanaian-nationalism; the resurrection of ethnic consciousness and strife within our body politics, livid expressions of irritations, pent-up rage and frustrations within a nation that is falsely constituted.

For instance, there are some identifiable elements of obstructive national vision in the conduct and betrayed sentiments of well-placed Ghanaians, which negate the idea of national leadership coming from fellow Ghanaians outside their own tribes.

Good examples are the pronouncements coming from some Akan leaders in the past and much recently which seems to suggest that holding power at the centre has always and should be the prerogative of the Akan people.

Some of them threw courtesy and gravitas to the wind when they made untidy comments and concluded that “a Northener will never rule Ghana again”. Ahh!, have you forgotten about Ursula Owusu, Osafo Mafo and Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo and their entrenched positions about Northeners?

To what extent have they allowed ethnic and religious sentiments flow into the social and political streams of the country and poisoned the well-being of Ghana’s unity? That’s just one of the many I can recall.

Let’s plough deeper into the formal theatre of Ghana’s rein.

What constitute Ghana’s demographics in true terms? Do we have an ethically correct and well-corroborated census records? What do Ghana’s political and economic demographics depict?, a thriving, well-run regions, districts or constituencies?

An impassioned look at Ghana’s working constitution would reveal, how outdated and lopsided it has become in administering the evolving and dynamic realties of a postmodern Ghana era. For example, the constitution we inherited was drafted by the military under different regime, done on military fiat and dispatch.

Successive civilian administrations have often not being able to tinker and make amends to the constitution in key, contentious areas, simply for the reason of obvious collusion by some politicians who are aware of the fraudulently concocted national structure that has given them massive political advantage.

Shouldn’t we have had a constitution that reflects fiscal and demographic realities, as ought a coalition?

Akufo Addo’s challenge and the biggest one for that matter would well be the opportunity to bring Ghanaians into an honest dialogue, where Ghana’s seemingly intractable problems, cleverly camouflaged as “no-go-areas”, simply because they are feared to be capable of upsetting the irrational but dubious tendencies of Ghana’s ruling elites, are finely thrashed out and creative, pragmatic solutions proffered.

Nana Addo may wish to listen to the tone and pulse of the nation and the voice of his nephew, and be moved to stage a “revolutionary people’s mandate” that aspires to meet both the material and psychic needs of his nephew.

At such points when a Akyem, would speak less of his supremacy over the Northener, and the Ewe man, not feel an irritation with the prospect of a Fante man becoming Ghana’s president and the Ga man not taking up arms to fall his countrymen because of his mythic obsession “that power belongs to them”. Then we can begin to hope that a nation is taking shape.

Being a nation transcends the geographic parameters that defines, or accord legitimacy to the over 26 million people living in the carved up space, called Ghana. It cuts deeper into the social, cultural and spiritual consciousness that binds the people inextricably as one people, who are aspiring to a solid, common, yet intangible vision of national greatness and glory.

At the moment, Ghana is devoid of any such genuine collective aspirations; only occasionally do we espouse such unity, and for it to soon splinter in collision with the impregnable wall of ethnicity. Akufo- Addo may build Ghana’s economy to become the best and biggest and make corruption a thing of the past as he boasted, but then it’s only when we are a nation, and lives as one; think as one, would these vision, mission and dream legacies endure.

How wrong am I to ask how Ghana can become a nation under Akufo Addo? I think it is only fair that as we navigate to 7^th November, 2016, we start to thinker the way forward.

With the advent and proliferations of Television debates, media ads and social media, the voter obviously has more than enough information to guide him or her in selecting who leads the nation as president. Included several of the reasons should be among such as; 1. Organizational Leadership 2. The person must have flexible mind, 3. Knowledgeable about issues 4. Respect Constitution 5.Personal Character of the person 6. One who would unite us as a nation first.

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