We Must Swim The Pool Of Change For A Better Life

I have not written or particularly updated my blog for some time now due to some reasons. One of the reasons being that I am now in the final semester of the final year of my two-year program which requires a lot of attention and concentration. From classroom activities to research works and a whole lot that I need to do.

As part of the activities of the final year, I need to register for national service. Now, to do this registration requires that I have one of some four selected national identification cards. I don’t have any one of the cards so I have to register for one. Because of this, I have been to one of the branches of SSNIT offices in the Greater Accra Region to engage in the exercise.

Now, when I first went to the SSNIT office, I was asked to write my name, purpose for going there, telephone number, arrival time and then finally sign at the security checkpoint.

As I was doing all that, I heard some people complaining about this process which minded me to know that it was a new process that had been introduced starting that very day. So, no matter your reason for going to that SSNIT office, you will have to engage in the process before you would be allowed to enter the building to attend to whatever reasons for which you were there.

What really baffled me was the incessant complains I kept hearing from people about the new process that had been introduced.

Now, just think about it. Write your name, telephone number and then sign so that by the end of the day, we can tell how many people came to the office so that even if there is an issue, we can verify from the log book, you are complaining about it? What is so tedious about this that warrants any complaints?

It is so unfortunate that as a people we are never willing to change from our old ways and to embrace new ways.

This kind of mentality appears to pervade almost all facets of our lifes. It is one of the major contributing factors to the stagnated development of our country and by extension the African continent.

Just examine our voting pattern, and you will find the same unyielding trend to change. We are always stuck to one political party or the other.

The decisions our leaders take never seem to elevate this country to any new level to compete with countries around the world. If we were prone to change and are always accepting change, our country would be more advanced than it is right now.

The world is moving at a pace that without the willingness to change and embrace modernity in both thinking and deed, we will always be lagging behind.

The country continues to borrow and depend on foreign aid while there is little done about the much-touted “Ghana Beyond Aid.” Residents of Accra continue to litter the environment while the president continues to preach about making the “City the cleanest in Africa by 2020”.

We continue to export our raw materials while we do lip service and little action to achieve planting for food and jobs.

It is very sad to see that we are just stuck in our old ways of doing things while the world moves on at a tripling pace.

Talk of technological advancement and our dear country is nowhere near the world stage.

Many schools continue to languish in very low standards in terms of infrastructure and the likes whiles government thinks of introducing new school uniforms for whatever reasons they give. This is so unacceptable.

Ultimately, parents, children, and the entire ordinary citizenry bear the brunt of the incompetence and the glaring lack of prioritization on the part of our leaders.

Floods have been claiming lives and properties for so many decades now and yet we have not yet found any permanent solution to the menace. The most recent rain which lasted not more than thirty minutes flooded some parts of Accra and other parts of the country.

The most heartbreaking aspect is to hear politicians playing blame games while precious human lives are being claimed by a disaster that can clearly be curtailed. What at all is wrong with this country?

Yes, the solution lies not with the political leaders alone but with the ordinary man as well. Provision of waste bins will partly solve the problem but the most compelling aspect is attitudinal change. Even without the bins, if we resolve to not throw waste around anyhow, the city will be cleaner than it is right now and we will somehow be free of flooding and some disease outbreaks.

We are experiencing a lot of floods relatively because of choked gutters. Most of the gutters in the city are filled with dirt. We need to take responsibility for our own actions and inactions. The politician will always take us for a ride if we allow it.

As citizens, we must realize that politicians capitalize on our hardships to lure us into voting for them. After winning political power, they do little or even nothing to solve our problems because without those they have no leverage whatsoever over us.

I could not believe it when I heard citizens clap thunderously for Mr. Isaac Adongo, Honourable Member of Parliament for Bolga Central while he delivered his lecture on how bad Ghana’s economy is doing to counter that of His Excellency Dr. Mahmud Bawumiah during the recent town hall meeting. I wonder if they were clapping because of his speaking prowess or because he had said the economy was bad.

By the way, some of the applauses His Excellency Dr Mahmud Bawumiah got during the town hall meeting mind-bloggling. I just don’t understand why we treat our leaders as though they are some sort of angels while we continue to lavish in poverty and misery.

Even if you want to concentrate on Accra without considering the numerous villages in this country whose residents have been neglected over the years, how developed or advanced is Accra?

As it is right now, there are lots of villages across the country without electricity and yet we continue to suffer power outages. So, what happens if those places also get access to electricity which will need further power supply? Are we planning towards that or are we just talking?

My fellow citizens, my message is simple, until we brace ourselves for change both locally and nationally, we may never escape our current predicament which is very precarious.

We need to rise up as a people, take the bull by the horn, take responsibility head-on, and also demand more from our leaders and not just follow them without holding them to rigorous accountability.

The future is today!!!
YUSSIF AHMED
[email protected]
GHANA INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISM