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Jack, Where Are You?

By Michael Crusoe Korsah
Article Jack, Where Are You?
OCT 19, 2018 LISTEN

We have all heard this joke said somewhere about how stupid Adam's answer was when in the proverbial Garden of all good things. God asked him-"where are you?" and he responded by saying, " I am naked". Adam had failed the first ever comprehension exam. In any case, who cares if you are naked anyway and what does that answer have to do with the question of where you are?...Easy to say.

I dare say however that Adam was actually probably not wrong. For he, more than anyone else, not even Eve-his beloved-, must have known the many layers of meaning that single question His Master had asked was concealing. He more than anyone probably knew that the question was not merely about his geographical location. it could have been something else the Master was demanding. His seemingly half-witted answer must have come out of that confusion.

Ask any graduate in Ghana and he will tell you something about that kind of confusion, how it can cripple even the most brilliant and educated of minds. All theories and scientific or scholarly knowledge fly out the window when someone-anyone- asks the question: "Where are you?". The graduate, he knows. He is often aware that that the curious Inquirer is asking about SOMETHING OTHER THAN a geographical location. Or maybe he isn't.

For the graduate who has gained some form of employment, the reply comes after some facile decoding. He settles quickly on what to say." I work now at so-so-and-so". Easy.

For the unlucky and unemployed, the question of where are you is never harmless. It is packed full with concealed traps, hidden knives, clubs and machetes. It is a swift "swag-poacher" and "confidence sap". The inquiree is often unsure what the appropriate answer is and dares not answer. Silence or muttering under your breath becomes the easy way out

Now, there is the NABCO RECRUIT, who lies there on the thin darkened line between employed and unemployed. Where are you? The NABCO RECRUIT is the most confused person alive on the earth now.

The uncertainty is everywhere. No one knows when work is supposed to actually start. the apppointment letetr states the 1st of October for most as the date of the commencement of the contract. Does this mean recruits will be paid for all the "work" they have done so far in the month of October. We are more than halfway through October but nobody seems to know where they will be posted.

It is a hard time to be a Nabco recruit. You can neither engage in the grandeur and satisfaction of the employed, nor are you allowed to resign to the atleast the certain disgrace of unemployment. it seems even the initiators are not sure what is happenng and thus can not offer the frustrated recruits any hope or assurance of the future that lies ahead of them. So we must ask Government and all initiators of Nabco, where are you?

It is true we must applaud the Government for the initiative. A report by the World Bank recently revealed that about 48 percent of the youth in Ghana – most of whom are university graduates – do not have jobs. In light of this, NaBCo does not look half as bad as some are claiming it to be. The maths sholud be able to tell us how much will the 100,000 people reported to have been recruited will take off the 48 percent.

"The hand that does not work will not eat". At least now, hands will work and many more hands will join in the glorious feasting.

Sadly, it is easy to sense a general apathy from Ghanaians who I expect to be talking more abiout the NabCO initiative. On one hand, the knives are already out and the Opposition seemingly out of the dictates of their position are fighting the initiative. The opposition must oppose, so let's oppose away. However, the ACTUAL voice of the people on this effort by government IS MISSING.

For once, in our nation, lets not interpret everything Government does through th lens of our political affiliation. Right is not always where my party or your party stands, and the other side is not always wrong. The question that must be asked is where do the public stand. Let's hear from you, Ghana-WHERE ARE YOU?

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