Hon. Afenyo-Markin Writes: I Am Not A Fan Of Nigerians, But I Love Nigerians

I am not a fan of Nigerians, but I love Nigerians .They persevere, they are determined and they conquer. A Nigerian does not see a limitation. A Nigerian has an enduring patience and a fighting spirit. A Nigerian has a strong will power to negotiate. A Nigerian does not believe in blame game. A Nigerian believes every opportunity is a blessing and must be grabbed be it legal or illegal.

Inspite of all the negative perception people hold, these are arguably some positive traits we cannot discount. Many entities in Ghana have let down our government, laudable initiatives do not see the light of day, either because beneficiaries abuse such opportunities or those in authority push such opportunities to family members and cronies who do not have what it takes to manage such projects.

The end result is poverty to the larger community who should have been the ultimate beneficiaries in the value chain and a financial loss to mother Ghana. General Kutu Acheampong under, 'operation feed yourself', 'feed your industry' opened up our economy for Ghanaian entrepreneurs but what did we see? Rawlings and his (P)NDC out of frustration set up the divestiture Implementation Committee to divest the interest of the state in many of the public owned entities.

Surprisingly the same Ghanaian who embezzled state funds and abused opportunities at these state owned entities turned round and either fronted for foreigners or used the ill gotten wealth from the state to buy such supposed ailing, failing, and non-performing state owned commercial entities.

Rawlings implemented poverty reduction/ eradication programs aimed at putting monies in the pocket of Ghanaians but all to no avail. J.A Kuffuor ushered us into the golden age of business and what did we see? Many who benefitted from MASLOC loans did not pay back. Many who had opportunities in the private sector abused same. NYEP,NHIS are examples of social intervention programs that have suffered from the Ghanaian greed. The LEAP program is no exception.

The debt situation at Metro Mass, with many broken down vehicles are all examples of our attitude towards state intervention. I drove through the Ashongman Estate today, and the roads are in a terrible state.So much is expected of the MP and the government, but the question is where is the money? The Atta-Mills/ Mahama 8 year rule transformed N.Y.E.P to GYEEDA and later to YEA.

The government introduced SADA and Youth Enterprise Support (Y.E.S) among others and yet what did we see? SADA in particular was so abused to the extent that it was so embarrassing for government communicators at the time to even defend same. How could government borrow at a compound interest to support the economic activities of three regions(Upper East,Upper West,Northern), and yet the same money ends up in the pocket of a Ghanaian who instead of using it for the benefit of the people , abused same .

Haven’t we as Ghanaians embarrassed our politicians enough? Are politicians really corrupt? Do politicians really amass wealth for themselves? Perhaps the mistake of the Ghanaian politician is that he/she places so much confidence and trust in his fellow Ghanaian to the extent that where there is a disappointment, he takes up the cross instead of allowing the offending citizen to bear the wrath of the people. Fortunately there is a new day. A new day where the determination of the Akufo Addo government is to place the wealth of the nation into the hands of the Ghanaian entrepreneur.

Obviously it is a better way to grow the economy through the private sector and allow the state to play the regulator role, but if we don’t change our attitude and act the same way as we did yesterday, then we cannot provide a better future for mother Ghana. We must look at the long term collective gain with all the new opportunities christened under the 'one district, one factory'. We cannot afford to let down our nation.

As an entrepreneur, I feel so determined having been let down in the past to take advantage and create jobs, but without hesitation ,lazy and greedy Ghanaians ,who may attempt to let down my enterprise once again will be shown the exit. Our public Universities are so rich, yet they still depend on government to support them with major infrastructure.

Ironically under the guise of independence and autonomy, some public universities have become unaccountable, and with impunity resources that can sufficiently be used to promote academic excellence without depending on government are landing in private pockets. If you dare talk, it becomes a political interference. Oh Mother Ghana ‘did we go Or did we come?!