We Talk And Joke Too Much!

Ever heard of the boxer called Peter McIntosh? He was a Nigerian boxer who preferred fighting with the mouth to fighting with the fist. In other words, he was a braggart who blabbed a lot but never delivered in the ring.

McIntosh is on record to have fought about five Ghanaian boxers and won none. Even years after Ike 'Bazooka' Quartey demolished him in an African title bout; he still maintained the loss was due to hard luck than Bazooka's boxing prowess. What a braggart!

The average Ghanaian can be likened to this unique boxer from Nigeria. Once upon a time, Okyehene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, had cause to complain about the talkative nature of the Ghanaian. He advised that we should try as much as possible to be people who solve problems (doers) rather than people who talk about them (talkers). All hailed him because he hit the nail right on the head. Unfortunately, we did not heed his good counsel.

Subsequently, other prominent Ghanaians have had cause to raise the same concern because the airwaves have become the avenue for people to make noise and spew out garbage under the guise of social commentary. Ironically, most of these self-acclaimed experts who call themselves 'social commentators' are nothing but empty barrels. In short, we have allowed talkers and not doers to hijack our airwaves; and the result is mediocrity galore.

I vividly remember hearing Dr. Charles Wereko Brobby, aka Tarzan, express similar sentiments during his appearance at the Ghana@50 Commission sittings in 2009. He did not mince words when he told the world that this country was still marking time because it was full of talkers and not doers. He said we joked too much and wondered how Ghana could claim to be developing when a large section of the populace was still living a primordial life.

Abusuapanin, how the so-called social commentators subjected him to all manner of tongue-lashing! Some even tagged him a nation-wrecker without any shred of evidence to support their pitiable claim. To them, what he had said was a taboo.

The sad fact, however, is that almost ten years after Tarzan made the observation; the situation has seen little improvement. People continue to engage in open defecation in this country. Just visit the big gutter at Kwame Okro Circle and the beaches all around the country, and you would be greeted by only one spectacle: Men defecating in broad day light with their long 'langa-langas' on full display.

I just returned from the Northern Region where I saw humans sharing water sources with cattle and pigs in many villages. The water was so contaminated that I wouldn't even consider using it to bath or wash my clothes. Yet that was the only source of drinking water for residents of these villages.  Sad, isn't it?

Is it, therefore, not baffling that Members of Parliament whose constituents are wallowing in such deprivation only take delight in jumping from one radio station to another to engage in political buffoonery and show their proficiency in African proverbs?

Frankly speaking, I seldom listen to newspaper discussions on radio nowadays because most of the views expressed by panelists are skewed to suit their own parochial interests. It is one thing listening to a very educative discussion, and another thing altogether listening to pure hogwash from a bunch of political bigots parading as panelists.

Please do not get me wrong at all! Talking about happenings in our country and beyond is good. I'm a great talker myself so I cannot just condemn the art of talking. But it is destructive and harmful when people talk for talking sake; talk to tarnish the image of others; talk to inflict their ignorance on others; or talk to throw dust in other people's eyes.

My point was exactly what Pastor Mensa Otabil espoused a few weeks back. Even though President Ogwanfunu and his kind wanted to roast the pastor alive, I still believe the revered pastor's observation was very apt. Watching and listening to political bigots is so nauseating that watching cartoons or documentary on animals would be a better option.

I belong to the school of thought which believes that people should try to understand the limits of their knowledge. People who do not know should be modest enough to admit it, and not pontificate on what they do not know because freedom of speech goes with the responsibility of saying what one knows.

Indeed, it is the few doers, and not the many talkers, who develop nations. But they, the doers, are bound to make mistakes because the child who fetches water from the riverside is the one that breaks the pot. So let's not be reckless in our criticisms hence we throw away the baby with the dirty water.

See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!