THE PHENOMENON OF OUR MALE HALLS.
The university is undoubtedly every Ghanaian student’s dream destination. Over the years, a lot of private universities have sprung up to augment the effort of the few public ones across the country. One phenomenal characteristic of the public universities is the presence of all-male and all-female residential halls on their campuses. There are quite a number of mixed-sex halls but their significance or prominence compared to the single sex halls is quite negligible. Whilst famous female halls like VOLTA HALL and AFRICA HALL seek to support the fight for women empowerment, their male counterparts who prefer to be referred to as SUPERPOWERS seek to defend and protect the rights and interests of students. These male halls seem to have created territories for themselves where they rule supreme. UNIVERSITY HALL, popularly known as KATANGA has KNUST as their territory and they reign supreme. COMMONWEALTH HALL holds the reins in whole University of Ghana, whilst CASELY HAYFORD HALL (CASFORD) dictates the rules on UCC campus.
These three halls especially (VANDALS, KATANGA, and CASFORD) are always in the news. Unfortunately, they are hardly in the news for the good reasons. They have gone through almost all punitive measures that can be found under the strict laws of any tertiary institution but they seem to die hard. The question is why would the university authorities maintain these male halls if all they do is cause mayhem, vandalise properties, harass people and tarnish the hard won reputations of our public institutions as we are been forced to believe?
A careful and objective look into the activities of these male halls will let one know that they play very vital roles in the lives of students and the universities as a whole. It has become very evident over the years that our Students Representative Councils, the National Union of Ghana Students and its local peripherals and others of that caste have become avenues for grooming entrepreneurs, corrupt leaders and political sycophants of the highest order. The interests of students have been traded cheaply than a sachet of salt on a cheap tray. The only beam of hope for students nationwide over the years has been these SUPERPOWERS, as they choose to call themselves. Honestly, they have been able to hold the forts despite all the intimidations, victimization and all other kinds of power plays from the authorities that be.
Typical examples are the fight against the infamous residential policy in Legon, spearheaded by Commonwealth; the activities of Katanga leading to the establishment of a students clinic (the first of its kind) and the increase in the number of taxis on campus from 27 to almost 100 and a whole lot of other changes that the presence and long standing traditions of these halls have brought to bear on the university communities. To sum it up, they have upheld students’ activism. They have equally produced a lot of human resources for this country. If for nothing at all, we should appreciate KATANGA for giving us an IGP and VANDAL CITY for giving us a VICE PRESIDENT.
Despite the un-captured and unappreciated good deeds of the superpowers, their existence seems to face an all time risk in the wake of the COMMONWEALTH vrs LEGON saga. Should the authorities succeed, it will mean the collapse of a strong students’ front in our premier university. Prophetically speaking, should it be successful, the other universities will follow suit with supersonic speed and thread-sized excuses and reasons. Should such unfortunate action take place, it would not surprise me that exploitation and gross abuse of student rights and interest would become the order of the day. I pray that such a day never comes.
This is the more reason why students nationwide must come together to lend a hand of support to our brothers in their quest to make sure the truth stands. Despite all their excesses which I admit are unnecessary at times, their demise means the demise of a formidable students’ front. In these times when our SRCs have become political puppets and money-making ventures, we can not afford to see our only saviours crucified for very flimsy reasons. In as much as one would not condone indiscipline on our university campuses, we must not tolerate the incessant exploitation and frequent abuse of students’ rights.
However my advice to the superpowers is that they should be dynamic and change with time. It is very important that though we have long standing traditions, we polish them to suit accepted standards. It would be very prudent if we use more intellectual approaches when fighting for our rights. The most powerful people in this world are those who are able to operate within the confines of the law without breaking it. When wit and vision are used in the management of these halls which are very volatile, authorities will come to fear and respect students and will not have excuses to use against these halls and students in general. There are very obsolete practices of these halls that are not relevant in today’s world. Until we are ready to do away with some of these not so pleasant practices, we risk being extinguished from the surface of our tertiary institutions.
The case of COMMONWEALTH HALL should also be a well of lessons for all other student bodies that no one is above the law. Indiscipline should not be tolerated in any form. The perpetrators of that alleged disgraceful act should be smoked out and punished. To add to that, it is time we say goodbye to violent rivalries between student bodies. The grey hairs always say a house divided against itself can never stand. It is time we propagate intellectual rivalry and put a stop to nonsensical issues that will draw us to the stone-throwing battlefields. It does not augur well for education in tranquility.
All these happenings should be a wake up call to NUGS and our various SRCs to be up and doing. Students are tired of the boot lickers, the political puppets, the tribal parasites and the intellectual thieves who have invaded our leadership offices and never dream of the interests and grievances of those who put them there. VANDALS, as your motto says, arise and let TRUTH stand on your campus. CASFORDIANS, with truth and courage, defend the cause of students without getting weary or detracted. FELLOW KATANGEES, REST NOT in your quest to see the utopia you always dream of, where students’ right will be respected and not exploited. However, in the process of doing this, do not lose sight of the timeless Biblical counsel; be as gentle as the dove but as wise as the serpent.
NB: This article was originally published in the 22nd July edition of the Daily Graphic.
COURAGE AHIATI.
Courage354@yahoo.co.uk
Couragesdiary.blogspot.com
The writer is a former GENERAL SECRETARY of the JUNIOR COMMON ROOM of UNIVERSITY HALL (KATANGA) and a Political Science student of KNUST.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
WAS METHUSELAH EVER WISER THAN SOLOMON?
WAS METHUSELAH EVER WISER THAN SOLOMON?
.... The “wait for your turn hymn”
Ghana is a country with very wonderful stories and captivating events. There is this unsubstantiated general perception that we are the second nation loved and blessed by God aside the state of Israel. As funny as it sounds, a lot of people have strong belief in that. It gets deeper in football seasons especially, when we manage a win through a last minute penalty. That is Ghana for you.
One recurring question I keep asking myself is, do we even pick some few lessons from the great Biblical stories of the nation that we compare ourselves to? Two people in the Bible who normally draw attention on the streets of Ghana are Methuselah and King Solomon. Methuselah is the oldest man to walk the surface of this earth. He lived on earth for almost one millennium (969 years). Surprisingly enough, a glance through the Holy book paints only a faint picture of him. His name was only mentioned in the genealogy from Adam to Noah. Not even a single story was written on any aspect of his life. The only honours he had was the mention of his name and his record-breaking age.
The other personality in perspective, King Solomon did not live up to even a quarter of the years of grandpapa Methuselah. However, Solomon had a number of Biblical chapters talking about him. His unprecedented wisdom, wealth, service to God, good governance and on a low key, love for women were written boldly in the Bible. The 969 years of Methuselah attracted only three sentences to his credit. The rather short stint of Solomon however was credited with several chapters of the Bible. Does this short analysis paint any picture in our minds?
There is this very worrying trend in this country and others where it is strongly believed that until someone spots grey hairs, he cannot and will not be capable of handling certain positions and making certain decisions. This anti-youth syndrome seems never to go away despite the popular saying that ‘the age of Methuselah has got nothing to do with the wisdom of Solomon’. One infamous saying today especially in our political circles is ‘wait for your turn’. As a young adult who believes in youth power, this entrenched stand of our older generation is quiet worrying and the earlier they come to the realisation that the world is changing with supersonic speed, the better it would be for us all.
A very evident generational gap which results from the struggle for power must be addressed as soon as applicable. I would however want to make a point for the younger generation. As biased as my views might be in favour of my generation, any one with objectivity would to a larger extent agree with my inclination.
Despite the conviction that the youth are predominantly reckless and exuberant, and are very naive to handle very vital roles in our society, the youth have proved otherwise. We still give the older generation the benefit to still occupy those positions. The multi-billion cedi question I ask is, have the older generation proved their worth?
Was the African leader of the millennium, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah not a youth when he took the whole world by storm? Are his dreams for a better Africa which was thought to be ambitious and full of youthfulness not the guiding principles of the European Union today? A jump outside the continent will land us perhaps on the famous Bernabue stadium of Real Madrid. Have you wandered where the new excitement in that football club is stemming from? It is just because a young gentleman decided to pitch his youthful exuberance against the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. Surprisingly enough he has succeeded and has therefore overshadowed the likes of them.
Another youth worth mentioning, is one man whose magic the whole world cannot resist. The mention of his name or just a slight presence of his face puts the world into a kind of excitement. Was Madiba, as he is popularly called in his hometown, not a young man when he spearheaded the fight against apartheid? Did his youthfulness or tender age prevent him from achieving that ambitious objective? The football legend, George Oppong Weah despite his lack of grey hairs then, was able to unite in his own way a country that has been through one of the worst human atrocities ever. He never won the presidency but he did more than many older people to bring back the people of Liberia together. He was a young man then. Have young people not proven themselves in the past with all these examples?
Currently the world is running at a supersonic speed and it seems our older folks cannot keep up with the race. That is why it is prudent to hand over the baton to the more energetic ones who can keep up with the speed of the world. Most developed nations have received this message already and are putting it into effect.
United States, the most powerful nation on earth with very complex governance system and an integral part of this world have placed their destinies into the hands of a young man who is not even up to fifty years yet. As if that is not enough, perhaps the most conservative country on earth, Britain, just elected an extremely young man to be their Prime Minister. Russia, another force to reckon with in world politics also has a young man for a president, totally deviating from the eras of Boris Yelstin and his contemporaries. Do these trends not ring a bell?
Barclays Bank Ghana has as its Managing Director, a young man who is determined to succeed. If a British originated bank can give a young Ghanaian that opportunity to prove the worth of the Ghanaian youth, which I think he has done, what in God’s kingdom are our own indigenous companies and agencies waiting for? During the 2008 elections, one would realise that the old guards of the political parties had little to do when the rather energetic and ambitious youths took over. Is it not evident even in our present government that the young ministers are performing marvellously well, whilst little is seen of the so-called old political gurus? Does the bell ring louder now?
It is time we give the Ghanaian youth the chance to prove his worth. There is a general attitude in our society, especially our workplaces which is very abhorring. This attitude normally puts its head up when university students are on internship or newly employed. They tend to face all kinds of hostile behaviours from older folks just because of the fear that, these guys might take over their positions. Another trend is how most of our public and civil servant alter their dates of births just to stay longer in their various workplaces, thereby blocking the chances of various graduates coming with fresh and updated ideas. How is it therefore not surprising that in this age of technological advancement, typewriters are still used in our big offices and our law courts?
It is not to say that our older folks have out-spent their usefulness. They form an integral part of the developmental agenda of Ghana. However if we are able to blend the experience of our fathers with the energy and updated knowledge of our sons, we will get a formidable force to propel this wonderful nation forward. In as much as I have touted a number of youthful leaders who made positive impacts, I am not oblivious of the likes of Adolf Hitler, Charles Taylor and the like who plunged the world into untold stories with unguided youthful exuberance. That is why we will need the older generation around to guide the younger ones to steer the ship to dock safely.
This is a clarion call to the youth of Ghana. Let us arise and take up our rightful positions in society. The rather apathetic stand we have taken is a dangerous weapon that will only ruin us. In our churches, educational institutions, companies, chieftaincy and other endeavours of life, let us take up the mantle. With wise counsel from the older generation and with a sense of purpose and determination, we shall live up to expectation. We must not wait for our turn any longer. The water might not be flowing by then. Let us not forget Apostle Paul’s advice to Timothy in the Bible, ‘let no one despise your youth’. IT IS OUR TIME!
By: COURAGE AHIATI
courageislove@gmail.com.
Courage354@yahoo.co.uk
Couragesdiary.blogspot.com
The writer is a Political Science student of KNUST
.... The “wait for your turn hymn”
Ghana is a country with very wonderful stories and captivating events. There is this unsubstantiated general perception that we are the second nation loved and blessed by God aside the state of Israel. As funny as it sounds, a lot of people have strong belief in that. It gets deeper in football seasons especially, when we manage a win through a last minute penalty. That is Ghana for you.
One recurring question I keep asking myself is, do we even pick some few lessons from the great Biblical stories of the nation that we compare ourselves to? Two people in the Bible who normally draw attention on the streets of Ghana are Methuselah and King Solomon. Methuselah is the oldest man to walk the surface of this earth. He lived on earth for almost one millennium (969 years). Surprisingly enough, a glance through the Holy book paints only a faint picture of him. His name was only mentioned in the genealogy from Adam to Noah. Not even a single story was written on any aspect of his life. The only honours he had was the mention of his name and his record-breaking age.
The other personality in perspective, King Solomon did not live up to even a quarter of the years of grandpapa Methuselah. However, Solomon had a number of Biblical chapters talking about him. His unprecedented wisdom, wealth, service to God, good governance and on a low key, love for women were written boldly in the Bible. The 969 years of Methuselah attracted only three sentences to his credit. The rather short stint of Solomon however was credited with several chapters of the Bible. Does this short analysis paint any picture in our minds?
There is this very worrying trend in this country and others where it is strongly believed that until someone spots grey hairs, he cannot and will not be capable of handling certain positions and making certain decisions. This anti-youth syndrome seems never to go away despite the popular saying that ‘the age of Methuselah has got nothing to do with the wisdom of Solomon’. One infamous saying today especially in our political circles is ‘wait for your turn’. As a young adult who believes in youth power, this entrenched stand of our older generation is quiet worrying and the earlier they come to the realisation that the world is changing with supersonic speed, the better it would be for us all.
A very evident generational gap which results from the struggle for power must be addressed as soon as applicable. I would however want to make a point for the younger generation. As biased as my views might be in favour of my generation, any one with objectivity would to a larger extent agree with my inclination.
Despite the conviction that the youth are predominantly reckless and exuberant, and are very naive to handle very vital roles in our society, the youth have proved otherwise. We still give the older generation the benefit to still occupy those positions. The multi-billion cedi question I ask is, have the older generation proved their worth?
Was the African leader of the millennium, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah not a youth when he took the whole world by storm? Are his dreams for a better Africa which was thought to be ambitious and full of youthfulness not the guiding principles of the European Union today? A jump outside the continent will land us perhaps on the famous Bernabue stadium of Real Madrid. Have you wandered where the new excitement in that football club is stemming from? It is just because a young gentleman decided to pitch his youthful exuberance against the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. Surprisingly enough he has succeeded and has therefore overshadowed the likes of them.
Another youth worth mentioning, is one man whose magic the whole world cannot resist. The mention of his name or just a slight presence of his face puts the world into a kind of excitement. Was Madiba, as he is popularly called in his hometown, not a young man when he spearheaded the fight against apartheid? Did his youthfulness or tender age prevent him from achieving that ambitious objective? The football legend, George Oppong Weah despite his lack of grey hairs then, was able to unite in his own way a country that has been through one of the worst human atrocities ever. He never won the presidency but he did more than many older people to bring back the people of Liberia together. He was a young man then. Have young people not proven themselves in the past with all these examples?
Currently the world is running at a supersonic speed and it seems our older folks cannot keep up with the race. That is why it is prudent to hand over the baton to the more energetic ones who can keep up with the speed of the world. Most developed nations have received this message already and are putting it into effect.
United States, the most powerful nation on earth with very complex governance system and an integral part of this world have placed their destinies into the hands of a young man who is not even up to fifty years yet. As if that is not enough, perhaps the most conservative country on earth, Britain, just elected an extremely young man to be their Prime Minister. Russia, another force to reckon with in world politics also has a young man for a president, totally deviating from the eras of Boris Yelstin and his contemporaries. Do these trends not ring a bell?
Barclays Bank Ghana has as its Managing Director, a young man who is determined to succeed. If a British originated bank can give a young Ghanaian that opportunity to prove the worth of the Ghanaian youth, which I think he has done, what in God’s kingdom are our own indigenous companies and agencies waiting for? During the 2008 elections, one would realise that the old guards of the political parties had little to do when the rather energetic and ambitious youths took over. Is it not evident even in our present government that the young ministers are performing marvellously well, whilst little is seen of the so-called old political gurus? Does the bell ring louder now?
It is time we give the Ghanaian youth the chance to prove his worth. There is a general attitude in our society, especially our workplaces which is very abhorring. This attitude normally puts its head up when university students are on internship or newly employed. They tend to face all kinds of hostile behaviours from older folks just because of the fear that, these guys might take over their positions. Another trend is how most of our public and civil servant alter their dates of births just to stay longer in their various workplaces, thereby blocking the chances of various graduates coming with fresh and updated ideas. How is it therefore not surprising that in this age of technological advancement, typewriters are still used in our big offices and our law courts?
It is not to say that our older folks have out-spent their usefulness. They form an integral part of the developmental agenda of Ghana. However if we are able to blend the experience of our fathers with the energy and updated knowledge of our sons, we will get a formidable force to propel this wonderful nation forward. In as much as I have touted a number of youthful leaders who made positive impacts, I am not oblivious of the likes of Adolf Hitler, Charles Taylor and the like who plunged the world into untold stories with unguided youthful exuberance. That is why we will need the older generation around to guide the younger ones to steer the ship to dock safely.
This is a clarion call to the youth of Ghana. Let us arise and take up our rightful positions in society. The rather apathetic stand we have taken is a dangerous weapon that will only ruin us. In our churches, educational institutions, companies, chieftaincy and other endeavours of life, let us take up the mantle. With wise counsel from the older generation and with a sense of purpose and determination, we shall live up to expectation. We must not wait for our turn any longer. The water might not be flowing by then. Let us not forget Apostle Paul’s advice to Timothy in the Bible, ‘let no one despise your youth’. IT IS OUR TIME!
By: COURAGE AHIATI
courageislove@gmail.com.
Courage354@yahoo.co.uk
Couragesdiary.blogspot.com
The writer is a Political Science student of KNUST
INDISCIPLINE AND ARROGANCE
INDISCIPLINE AND ARROGANCE;
.......The bane of our development.
“Then what happiness will you enjoy, with what delight will you exult, in what pleasure will you revel, when in so numerous a body of friends you neither hear nor see one good man!” – Cicero.
It was a calm but very hot afternoon in an over populated Political Science class stashed in a small room. Mr Mohammed Abass, a very dedicated and inspiring young lecturer takes the class through what development is all about. Majority of this class gets a deeper understanding of what development is and are spurred on and enthused to go out there and make it happen. As we all trooped out of our last Development studies class, we had high hopes that our dear motherland which used to be the coast of gold also has a bright opportunity of becoming like all the other developed nations.
However, like the working of a mirage, one gets out and finds that the realities on the ground are so different and very much bleak. Ghana has gone through a lot of metamorphosis till this point. The torch bearer for a better Africa have been outpaced and outrun. We have tried a lot of method to ascertain which can help us accelerate our development. Try as much as we have over half a century, becoming a developed nation still seems to be just a wishful thinking. We still live the life of that village boy who always dreams of getting all the goodies during Christmas, but who only wakes up on Christmas day and is sent to the stone quarry or the farm for hours of hard labour.
There is this story of a man who fell off a cliff. He is lucky enough to get hold of a tree branch just on the edge of the cliff. Unfortunately, just like the GLICO advert, the branch starts to break. This unlucky man starts screaming for help. Luckily for him, a very strong man appears on the scene and offers to help him if only he will let go of the tree branch and grasp his hand. The falling man ignores the benevolence of this man and starts screaming for another helper. This story might sound quite confusing or absurd, but objectively, that is the very character we are putting up as a nation. We have a burning desire to reach the same pedestals that the so-called first world countries have been placed, but we are very much reluctant to let go of some behaviours which to a larger extent impede development.
Gross level of indiscipline and a rather equally high level of arrogance have plagued our nation and have made our vision and desire of a developed nation just a sort of a fairy tale that we will always repeat to generations unborn. My understanding of development tells me that it can be partitioned into economic development, political development, social development and the like. This makes it a very broad and herculean business not just achieved by spending numerous working hours in the cathedral. Until the whole country is exorcised of these demons of indiscipline and arrogance, then we must as well forget about that utopia that we all dream of.
Indiscipline has clothed itself in a lot of styles and colours in Ghana and has become a canker that has eaten deep into the developmental fabric of our nation. All and sundry are guilty of acts of indiscipline and arrogance that impedes the nation’s development.
In our religious quarters, discipline has vanished from the house of God just like camphor. My Bible makes me understand that the God we serve is a God of discipline, but little can be said of so-called religious leaders and followers of today. Almost all acts of indiscipline in our country now, have its root from our churches. Majority of fraudsters in our country now are people who call themselves men of God. Paedophiles and rapists are all mounting our holy pulpits now. Churches decide to make excessive noise at night when they know very well that there are regulations against noise pollution. An attempt at enforcing this law against a culprit church will see the law enforcement officer described as the first nephew of Satan.
Taking a cursory look at our political arena, one would notice an unprecedented level of indiscipline and a resulting level of arrogance in these agencies. From our security agencies to our utility companies, none can come out clean on these charges. Soldiers who are paid with the taxpayers’ money decide to take advantage of the popular saying that “soldiers are no-nonsense people” and brutalise these same taxpayers and commit all kinds of acts without any reference to the laws of the land. The high command also feels they must protect this kind of ‘respect’ by not exposing these anarchistic soldiers. This is sheer indiscipline. Our law-maintaining officers are worse-off. The word ‘police’ have become synonymous with bribery. An early morning drive along the lake road of Kumasi, one will see a bunch of police officers pretending to be inspecting vehicles. In actual sense, they stand there to take GH¢1 bribe or whatever they choose to call it, from every trotro driver who plies that road. If officers will take this meagre amount and overlook the road worthiness of our vehicles, how will we prevent the carnages on our roads?
Mores so, our ‘honourable’ political figures and traditional authorities have also descended into the gutters of indiscipline. There is this evident case of a suburb in Kumasi, where the traditional authority in that neighbourhood has decided to place sand meant for the renovation of their palace right on one part of a single road. This is absolutely incorrect but no one dares raise a voice against this lawless and irresponsible act. They will go all length to flaunt their royal powers been oblivious of the fact that, that act alone, impedes the development of the nation to an extent.
Sadly enough, our educational institutions, which are supposed to be places of good orientation, have become places where indiscipline has become the head of state. Today, the whole nation is lamenting about how long our students should be in school. Others are also of the view that, the number of years is quiet irrelevant compared to the provision of adequate resources. In as much as I would not debunk these view points, the main problem plaguing our schools is the lack of discipline. If senior high schools in the country are upgraded to the status of Oxford University or even MIT, with a ten year duration, nothing will change with the kind of abhorring behaviours we put up. Teacher absenteeism is so alarming. Throughout my last academic year in a so-called first class senior high school, which is deemed one of the best in Ghana, if not the best, I saw my Integrated Science tutor only three times. Our universities are now seriously inventing various prototypes of indiscipline.
Furthermore, our radio stations are now full of partisan political argy-bargies which do not necessarily contribute even a hair to the development of the nation. Our elders can no longer be disciplined and circumspect in their choice of words. You can hardly get a thing line between a statesman and a hoodlum. The rather rising nuisance being created by the activities of these so-called political party foot soldiers is worth mentioning. These hooligans have become the ambassadors and crusaders of indiscipline. It is so sad to note that they go away easily with these lawless acts.
Our elders say, it is only the child who learns to wash his hands, who is fit to eat with elders. Until all Ghanaians eat our humble ‘abolo’, and drink our humble ‘pito’, with deep introspection and make a strong resolve to change our attitudes for the better, the predicaments of those foolish virgins in that famous Biblical parable will keep visiting us. It will be foolhardy on our parts to engage in the blame game. We are all responsible for the state of our nation. No politician with sugar-coated and honey-garnished words will ever take us to the land that flows with milk and honey. Our destiny lies in our own hands. He who this smelly snail shell fits should either wear it and suffer the consequence or clean it up and make it an ornament. A bright future lies ahead. Let us not lose it to that gifted thief, INDISCIPLINE.
NB: This article was originally published in the September 6 edition of the Daily Graphic.
By: COURAGE AHIATI.
courageislove@gmail.com
Couragesdiary.blogspot.com
.......The bane of our development.
“Then what happiness will you enjoy, with what delight will you exult, in what pleasure will you revel, when in so numerous a body of friends you neither hear nor see one good man!” – Cicero.
It was a calm but very hot afternoon in an over populated Political Science class stashed in a small room. Mr Mohammed Abass, a very dedicated and inspiring young lecturer takes the class through what development is all about. Majority of this class gets a deeper understanding of what development is and are spurred on and enthused to go out there and make it happen. As we all trooped out of our last Development studies class, we had high hopes that our dear motherland which used to be the coast of gold also has a bright opportunity of becoming like all the other developed nations.
However, like the working of a mirage, one gets out and finds that the realities on the ground are so different and very much bleak. Ghana has gone through a lot of metamorphosis till this point. The torch bearer for a better Africa have been outpaced and outrun. We have tried a lot of method to ascertain which can help us accelerate our development. Try as much as we have over half a century, becoming a developed nation still seems to be just a wishful thinking. We still live the life of that village boy who always dreams of getting all the goodies during Christmas, but who only wakes up on Christmas day and is sent to the stone quarry or the farm for hours of hard labour.
There is this story of a man who fell off a cliff. He is lucky enough to get hold of a tree branch just on the edge of the cliff. Unfortunately, just like the GLICO advert, the branch starts to break. This unlucky man starts screaming for help. Luckily for him, a very strong man appears on the scene and offers to help him if only he will let go of the tree branch and grasp his hand. The falling man ignores the benevolence of this man and starts screaming for another helper. This story might sound quite confusing or absurd, but objectively, that is the very character we are putting up as a nation. We have a burning desire to reach the same pedestals that the so-called first world countries have been placed, but we are very much reluctant to let go of some behaviours which to a larger extent impede development.
Gross level of indiscipline and a rather equally high level of arrogance have plagued our nation and have made our vision and desire of a developed nation just a sort of a fairy tale that we will always repeat to generations unborn. My understanding of development tells me that it can be partitioned into economic development, political development, social development and the like. This makes it a very broad and herculean business not just achieved by spending numerous working hours in the cathedral. Until the whole country is exorcised of these demons of indiscipline and arrogance, then we must as well forget about that utopia that we all dream of.
Indiscipline has clothed itself in a lot of styles and colours in Ghana and has become a canker that has eaten deep into the developmental fabric of our nation. All and sundry are guilty of acts of indiscipline and arrogance that impedes the nation’s development.
In our religious quarters, discipline has vanished from the house of God just like camphor. My Bible makes me understand that the God we serve is a God of discipline, but little can be said of so-called religious leaders and followers of today. Almost all acts of indiscipline in our country now, have its root from our churches. Majority of fraudsters in our country now are people who call themselves men of God. Paedophiles and rapists are all mounting our holy pulpits now. Churches decide to make excessive noise at night when they know very well that there are regulations against noise pollution. An attempt at enforcing this law against a culprit church will see the law enforcement officer described as the first nephew of Satan.
Taking a cursory look at our political arena, one would notice an unprecedented level of indiscipline and a resulting level of arrogance in these agencies. From our security agencies to our utility companies, none can come out clean on these charges. Soldiers who are paid with the taxpayers’ money decide to take advantage of the popular saying that “soldiers are no-nonsense people” and brutalise these same taxpayers and commit all kinds of acts without any reference to the laws of the land. The high command also feels they must protect this kind of ‘respect’ by not exposing these anarchistic soldiers. This is sheer indiscipline. Our law-maintaining officers are worse-off. The word ‘police’ have become synonymous with bribery. An early morning drive along the lake road of Kumasi, one will see a bunch of police officers pretending to be inspecting vehicles. In actual sense, they stand there to take GH¢1 bribe or whatever they choose to call it, from every trotro driver who plies that road. If officers will take this meagre amount and overlook the road worthiness of our vehicles, how will we prevent the carnages on our roads?
Mores so, our ‘honourable’ political figures and traditional authorities have also descended into the gutters of indiscipline. There is this evident case of a suburb in Kumasi, where the traditional authority in that neighbourhood has decided to place sand meant for the renovation of their palace right on one part of a single road. This is absolutely incorrect but no one dares raise a voice against this lawless and irresponsible act. They will go all length to flaunt their royal powers been oblivious of the fact that, that act alone, impedes the development of the nation to an extent.
Sadly enough, our educational institutions, which are supposed to be places of good orientation, have become places where indiscipline has become the head of state. Today, the whole nation is lamenting about how long our students should be in school. Others are also of the view that, the number of years is quiet irrelevant compared to the provision of adequate resources. In as much as I would not debunk these view points, the main problem plaguing our schools is the lack of discipline. If senior high schools in the country are upgraded to the status of Oxford University or even MIT, with a ten year duration, nothing will change with the kind of abhorring behaviours we put up. Teacher absenteeism is so alarming. Throughout my last academic year in a so-called first class senior high school, which is deemed one of the best in Ghana, if not the best, I saw my Integrated Science tutor only three times. Our universities are now seriously inventing various prototypes of indiscipline.
Furthermore, our radio stations are now full of partisan political argy-bargies which do not necessarily contribute even a hair to the development of the nation. Our elders can no longer be disciplined and circumspect in their choice of words. You can hardly get a thing line between a statesman and a hoodlum. The rather rising nuisance being created by the activities of these so-called political party foot soldiers is worth mentioning. These hooligans have become the ambassadors and crusaders of indiscipline. It is so sad to note that they go away easily with these lawless acts.
Our elders say, it is only the child who learns to wash his hands, who is fit to eat with elders. Until all Ghanaians eat our humble ‘abolo’, and drink our humble ‘pito’, with deep introspection and make a strong resolve to change our attitudes for the better, the predicaments of those foolish virgins in that famous Biblical parable will keep visiting us. It will be foolhardy on our parts to engage in the blame game. We are all responsible for the state of our nation. No politician with sugar-coated and honey-garnished words will ever take us to the land that flows with milk and honey. Our destiny lies in our own hands. He who this smelly snail shell fits should either wear it and suffer the consequence or clean it up and make it an ornament. A bright future lies ahead. Let us not lose it to that gifted thief, INDISCIPLINE.
NB: This article was originally published in the September 6 edition of the Daily Graphic.
By: COURAGE AHIATI.
courageislove@gmail.com
Couragesdiary.blogspot.com
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