Rationality Or Fame? The Wobbling Future Of The Ghanaian Child

Yesterday Mr. Godsbrain Smart (Captain Smart of Adom FM) was appointed ambassador of Ghana Ambulance Services. He has no knowledge nor expertise in ambulance, but he can't be flawed because he has the platform for public education, he's also shown great crowd puller in his recently led "Y3gye y3sika" demonstration and hence has the acumen to redirect public thinking pattern. In his inaugural speech, he said and I quote 'ambulance is not meant for conveying dead bodies, it's for emergency service, the use of ambulances for the former purpose must stop' unquote. That's a sign of someone who has a reasonable knowledge on his job.

Azuma Nelson is a boxer, has nothing to do with Petrochemical engineering nor Oil and Gas. He's chosen as Goil Ambassador with a justification that Goil is a marketing company whose products are to be publicized, in that vein, Azuma Nelson who is a world-known boxer and his appearance on TV or picture on a billboard alone would attract the attention of people to which purpose he's there. This can't be flawed, it is very usual with products branding.

Here's a case where a Government wants to implement Free Education for second cycle institutions, he goes to pick an ambassador for that.

1. It's very unnecessary in its entirety.
2 . What's the requirement for benefiting from such facility?

3. If pupils are to study hard, who /what should be their motivation, someone whose performance at basic school is not even known?

4. Someone who probably failed such exams and do not qualify for the facility?

5. What was the Education Minister thinking when he said who is selected to be an ambassador doesn't matter? I think that's the most thoughtless utterance I've heard from a minister in this year.

6. Are they aware that this action they've taking has more negative effect than good, are they aware the primary message his appearance sends is "education doesn't matter, life is about luck"?

7. Serious pupils who are interested in passing their exams do not know the so called ambassador. Children in deprived communities like my village, who do not even have access to computers and TVs do not know this ambassador and when they do, they will only know this through movies which even isn't educational.

8. When this boy gets to such audience, what's going to be his message, he failed his BECE but because of acting he's been made an ambassador and that he's better than all those children who without any motivation and money, pursued their education and have gotten scholarships for further education due to their excellent performances?

9. Is he going to tell them they should stop studying and follow expatriates so that they'll be featured in "Beast Of No Nation"?

10. Is the said ambassador going to tell them if there were Free SHS at his time, he wouldn't have been a school dropout? What can he show of as his benefit from the capitation grant and the free basic school program?

11. Why would the minister choose an ambassador for free SHS program? Which child in Ghana doesn't know that after JHS they're to go to SHS? Is it for the benefit of pupils or for the scoring of cheap political points?

12. I'm sick and tired of the lazy and absurd approach to everything. I'm tired of the disappointing attitudes of our so called "leaders".

13. The selection of the boy for such purpose is wrong, if nobody sees nothing wrong, I see something wrong with it.

14. We should stop celebrating mediocrity and rather award by merit. That's the only way we would stop believing stupid prophecies and realize life isn't on autopilot.

15. Enough is enough
RNA Owusu Mensah