There is hope for Ghana: But not in what you think

Presidency? Parliament? Palaces? None of these places seem to contain Ghana’s hope. Because it appears that most of the occupants of these places of power, mostly, become so comfortable with the comfort in there that they forget to come out with innovative, sophisticated and phenomenal ideas that will serve as templates for the evolution and modernization of this country. Our only hope, therefore, is our ‘frustrated’ youth. Can I continue disagreeing with the assertion of Ronald Regan that ‘‘government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem’’?

It is clear, without a modicum of doubt, that the status quo of Ghana is not the absence of talents, nor the absence of resources. It is the absence of national commitment to take simple but difficult decisions, and steps that will lead us to the realization of our dreams. It is the difficulty to take a collective step backward to be able to take calculated and progressive steps forward. Many of us, for decades now, have maintained that the youth are the ones with the keys to our national development; the youth are the people who can liberate Ghana from the caprices and whims of China and the Western powers. This believe gets clear and clearer as time rolls by. And since we still have young people in this country, there is hope. Yes, there is hope for Ghana!

America, the greatest nation on earth, once upon a time, was worse than Ghana, in its current state: America depended on horses for transport; many lost their lives due to poor health system. Americans used oil lamps in their homes and at banquet halls. Cities were disconnected from cities due to lack of roads and bridges. But, you will be wrong if you think it took politicians to build the modern day America. Of course, politicians might have played their part, maybe, by formulating reasonable laws, providing serene environment for businesses to thrive on, and fair distribution of the national cake. Forget about the accusations of monopoly — for we have no interest in that — it took John D Rockefeller, JP Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and Cornelius Vanderbilt to build America. These were inventors and businessmen with meagre beginnings who redefined technology, built empires and reshaped America. Hence, there is hope for Ghana!

Who in Ghana doesn’t agree that most Ghanaians have lost hope in Ghana? But anytime I remember that it took very few visionaries, who at their youthful ages, hatched the revolutionary ideas, that led to the industrialization and building of the New world, my hope for Ghana— in the Recycle Bin— gets restored. This means that it will only take few persistent youthful men and women, through the hustle of trial and error, to give a definition and direction to the Ghanaian dream. It was through this same painful hustle of trial and error — that we are reluctant to entertain — that led Thomas Edison to develop a commercially viable light bulb, after going through 10,000 prototypes. This is enough a reason for the Ghanaian politician, who is the purser of the state, to create suitable grounds for the youth to enable them to unleash their suppressed expertise that will revolutionized this nation. Putting up more research centers; resourcing adequately our vocational and technical institutions, supporting the youth with realistic grants, among others, are some of the easiest things the politician can do — with the tax payers’ money — to enable Ghana to reach a greater height.

Stories that I have heard and read, about young people, from diversity of backgrounds, who have changed the world and continue to do so, could be cited as the source of my belief ‘‘there is hope for Ghana.’’ But another remarkable source of my inspiration is the two-day training on peace and violent extremism forum organized by the West Africa Center For Counter Extremism WACCE), at the Gnat hall, Accra (16-17 October, 2018). The forum went beyond its aim of promoting peace to inspiring the youth to being the ones to develop this country. At the Gnat hall, I saw the garbage can fabricated from empty bottled water cans by the young man who lives along the famous Nima gutter. He is now turning waste into wealth, and promoting sanitation, which (sanitation) according to Mahatma Gandhi is more important than independence.

I also heard young men and women tell stories of how they are contributing to the development of this nation by teaching IT freely to school children; going from school to school giving motivational speeches, and rendering free healthcare services to communities. These gestures might appear to be smaller, and its manifestation might take time. But soon, the effects shall be felt. What amplified my hope for Ghana was not just the fact that there still exist some few youth from smaller corners defying all odds to make bigger things happen, but the glaring fact that it took few young men and women out of millions of people to build nations and empires. Success or development is the outcome when young men have the ability to see possibilities and the courage to take risk to pursue those possibilities. It’s the ability to understand that almost all the biggest inventions and businesses started out of garages and not on top of skyscrapers.

The youth can beat their brains out to change the destiny of this country, but without the politician playing his or her part appropriately, we would be running on a treadmill — that I must confess. Enforcing God’s first creation (law and order), investing enormously in the youth and giving them the chance to partake in national discourse, are the simplest things the politician can do to complement the effort of the youth in building this nation. Until the last Ghanaian youth is buried, there is hope for Ghana!

Rahim Newton
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