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The Critical Mass

By Martin Dei-Tutu
Article The Critical Mass
NOV 6, 2019 LISTEN

In a discussion with a cousin on issues that bother on our cultural climate and the seeming shades of tribal bigotry in our country- Ghana, one phrase- ‘origin is sacred’ stood up to me the instant he said it as he made his inputs to the discussion. ‘Origin is sacred’, such a powerful statement, the dimensions of what it represents has befuddled my mind till date. It is estimated that the odds of being born as a person is 1 out of 400 trillion, a staggering figure that simply suggests the miracle of our existence.

‘Origin is sacred’, absolutely none of us choose to come into existence, much less to become a Ghanaian and to be born as an Ewe, an Akan or either of the tribes we could have been born into. Obviously, the odds to any of this happening by chance is too profound to overlook the gift it epitomizes to be born in the country that is almost at the very center of the earth.

What if being a Ghanaian means being an individual who is equipped with the requisite qualities required to solve any and every problem confronting us as a people and overcoming it to make our being here worth it. When you say I am a Ghanaian, what does it really mean? What are the sentiments that accompany that statement when one professes it? From the collective shared experience of people in my sphere of interaction and the interesting data we have before us, it doesn’t suggest it’s a gift to be born a Ghanaian at all. As such the research is reflecting this conclusion when the finding states that 75% of our youthful population wish to travel outside the country in search of greener pastures if given the opportunity since we are inadequate to grow our own greener pasture in Ghana.

The writings on the wall are clear enough, interaction with the Ghanaian system leaves little to be desired of this experience and we have basically thrown our hands in surrender to a state of hopelessness and despair. Almost ruined by an unbelievable attachment to partisan politics, fueled with a corrupt citizenry at all levels, a state of selfishness and our inability to speak truth to the brutal facts of where we are as a people, we constantly keep flirting around our problems without confronting it. Our best option so far has largely been the folding of our arms and hoping a miracle will happen via the next government we vote into power. Hoping and praying the government of the day will make all our troubles go away.

Notwithstanding the immenseness of our problems, we need to understand that our problems are not special. The manifestation of the despair we exhibit is really at the core unwarranted for. The escapist perspective we are fostering as a means to disregard our problems is laughable since history has proven over and over again that problems when ruthlessly tackled can give up and disappear. History therefore is on our side; history is awash with stories of civilizations, transitions of countries from underdeveloped status to developed status and much more templates of countries who turned their fortunes from direr problems than ours, to encourage and give us models to glean relevant lessons from.

‘Origin is sacred’. Those who understand this truth have owned their spaces, used their capabilities to confront and beat their devils. History is showing us, it only takes one generation to rise up and radically drive the course to a better future. Ghanaians have been bold and determined enough as a united front to fight for our independence in the past, maybe that’s all it will take for our generation to end our despair- to be bold, determined and to have a united front. What does it mean to be Ghanaian? Let it be said in our generation that, the Ghanaian is the gifted determined black person who used his capabilities to confront his devils, won his fight against despair and provided a better future for the next generation.

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