WHO IS GOING TO MAKE GHANA BETTER: Individuals OR Politicians

So lets do some bit of calculations before we get on. The population of Ghana is around Twenty Five Million and How many active politicians do we have in Ghana? five hundred thousand, one million, two million or even five million? So why do we allow these few people to take us to a ransom while we stand aside and look? I don't think it should be that way.

My people, I am just so exhausted to hear and see people complaining about their country. Indeed, complains started long time ago when Dr. Kwame Nkrumah thought that Ghana and for that matter Africa could manage its own affairs. Even now, some people still entertain the thought that we could have been better under the colonialist. Well, that is their opinion but I will never agree to that. A better life under a colonialist can never be better than a worse life under freedom. Unless you are the kind who does not care about the means so far as you get the results.  

Anyway, my beef is that it is very common to wake up every morning to watch and listen to various Tv and radio stations discuss a myriad of complains from different quarters all around the country. For me as an upcoming entrepreneur, it reminds me of one thing that Pastor Otabil once said in one of his preaching programmes. He said a country with so many problems like Ghana, has so many opportunities. 

So I ask myself then, who is creating all these problems that Ghanaian people are whining about so much? 

Is it people from another country, continent or planet? I don’t think the answer can be yes. The typical Ghanaian will complain so much but do very little about what they are complaining about and sometimes will not even attempt to do anything about what they have the power to course positive effect on.

The talking alone will not bring food to your table or money into your pocket as some of us are continually using to blackmail politicians. Yes it is true that politicians have themselves to blame by availing themselves to be voted for or appointed to in their respective positions. But the million dollar question is and has always been, if nobody vies for those positions, what will happen to this country? Will our individual households still survive or collapse? I live the judgment to you. In any case, why didn't you offer yourself to be voted for or appointed so you can get us the result we all want?

There can be countless reasons and arguments in favour of one or the other but and I personally believe that politicians can never make Ghana better except Ghanaians in general. The evidence is clear for us to see. We have given so much power and focus to politicians that, when they sneeze, all of us get cold. What we have to realize is that, if power is given to a few people so called up there, they cannot solve our individual problems. Sometimes I feel so sorry for politicians because some of them wish they could genuinely do the right thing but the people behind the scenes make it impossible for them. After everything, the politician takes the fall.

Have you ever wondered why some people that you knew and you thought could do a better job in political position when given the opportunity, they come back with reasons instead of solutions? I have been thinking about it too. Did you get a solution? Hmmm maybe in the future.

Have you also wondered why every Ghanaian wants the president to do everything? Let’s face it, the president appoints over a thousand people in different positions and when any of them fails, we want the president to just sack the person straight forward. Ghanaians get appointed or voted for to work in a position. They get there and do not do well. After that we blame one person the president because he is the final authority. So why can’t Ghanaians just do their job so the president can also focus on doing his job instead of spending so much time and effort searching through CVs and names to appoint another possibly incompetent person to that position?

When I think about that, I just tell myself I can never be a president of Ghana because the people are just shear lazy and ungrateful. Don’t get me wrong, I am part of it too because there is so much I should have done that I have not done yet. There is division of labour in any organizational system. The logic is that each person is given a position and they perform so that the head will not need to come back looking over their shoulders all the time just to ensure that people are working. But that is the opposite in Ghana. Heads of institutions and organization are given additional jobs of making sure that people do their job in part and not even in full. It can be seen in every organization.

Don’t be so surprised if you keep hearing of committees upon committees because people have refused to work and the president cannot do it alone so he forms committees on top of other committees to help him look over the shoulders of Ghanaians who do not want to work. The sad part is that, we are the same people who will complain that the president is forming too many committees. If you had done your work well and some malpractices were not suspected, the committee would not have been necessary. Please tell every Ghanaian to do his/her work well so committees can be formed for extremely important things like how to raise funds for entrepreneurs and long-term projects like a solid solar energy, formidable national insurance system and the likes.

Anyway, these are just a few thoughts of mine in terms of why I think Ghana can only be made better by individual Ghanaians in general and not politicians.

THE YOUNG WANTS TO BE SPOON-FED ALL THE TIME

If you come across any Ghanaian young person, try giving the person information on an opportunity somewhere. The first question they will ask you is, can you help them get in or get that thing? They will not be asking how can I get in or get it. Even if they don't ask you, they will not take some time to organize themselves for the opportunity before trying to get in or get it. They will start immediately and after a while when they fail, they blame it on the system. 

A typical example is, if you give any young person a flier with information on it, the first question they ask, what it is? Now if the information on it could be summarized so easily without details, would the flier be necessary? There are countless other examples as you can identify with yourself. 

I will entreat the youth to take up the mantle and make personal effort to learn on their own instead of waiting to be directed or told what to do before they act. If we don't attempt to do that, the old people will continue to treat us as kids and we are not.

STUDENTS WANT TO PASS EVERYTHING WITHOUT LEARNING

I have been a student in tertiary institution and the examples there abound. In my school for instance, I met some students who had the opportunity of choosing their programmes that they would like to study. After they were admitted, they started complaining that the programme was too packed with too many subjects. Good, it’s understandable. But what choice do you have? 

You can either withdraw from the programme or you can keep quiet and continue with the programme and suffer for it. Why do you have to suffer for it you are asking yourself? Because the onus is on you the student, to find out more about a programme of your choice before applying for it. Why would you have to spend so much money and time to apply for a programme you know less about? I don't think it is something comprehensible. Such students come to school and expect that they will not attend lectures or learn but get good grades at the end. They are lucky most of the lecturers are treating them with kid’s gloves. And that is the reason such behaviour continues to breed less equipped students for the job market available in Ghana. Its not that there are no jobs in Ghana. The reality is that your skill and experience is not worth being given the opportunity at all. What do you have to show for it?

The ordinary Ghanaian student just go to school and walk out of the school with almost nothing but paper. Nothing in terms of using the knowledge they have acquired to come out with something. Instead, they expect the job market to rather give them something as if somebody owes them something for going to school even after assimilating so little and probably becoming less useful to society. Why should I employ you and pay you whiles you cannot give me the results that I need? 

In one situation, I was teaching a group of students who were supposed to be managing their own businesses. One of the positions they had given to one of the group members was ORDINARY MEMBER. After seeing that, I tried finding out what happened and the students were so happy defending themselves that the person works in the business without any position. So I asked them if they had heard of anything like that in any company or they have heard of any company advertising for ORDINARY MEMBER position and nobody could come up with an answer until one guy mentioned a church as an instance. At that point, I was so furious as a Teaching Assistant and I had to leave the class. Can you imagine an ORDINARY MEMBER position in your company? Thus the kind of position the so called future leaders of Ghana are planning to create. 

GOVERNMENT WORKERS

I have had the opportunity of visiting various offices especially government institutions and the attitude of those working in these offices clearly depicts this notion. I walked to one office at the ministries a few months ago to inquire about an international loan opportunity. I met a man at the front desk and I asked him about it. He then directed me to go to the director's office for the information. Only to be told that the office was just about 40 ft away. So then I asked myself, can somebody be blamed if some people continue to complain about fewer opportunities in Ghana? I mean, to me something like this should not be forgettable especially if it’s about generating income. 

I think that it is one of the reasons people accuse politicians of being thieves. My reason is that, if I am a politician and through my engagements with people I get to have some information that gives me an income generating activity, does that make me a thief? I am talking about genuine money and not kickback or commission deals. 

Let me give you another scenario that will baffle you. There is a government institution that got the opportunity to import a machine to produce toothpicks. The machine was packed in a storage for over 5 years until a business development officer was employed to help the departments generate income. He then got to know of the machine and therefore went on to ask why it was not working. The head of the department told him that there were some parts missing or something like that. The BDO therefore made sure that those parts were replaced. After that he requested that the machine be assembled. It was then that the head of department told him again that they could not assemble the machine because their staff needs to be trained before they can use the machine. 

I am not sure what is running through your mind at this time but seriously can we get anywhere with such an attitude and who do you blame for it, the politician or the individual? Mind you, the position is not s political appointment so you can start shifting the blame now. To make matters worse, there are other machines in the same institution that have been there for over 10 years that could have been earning them money. Please bear with me to end on this before I write something I might regret later.  

INDIVIDUALS OWE THEMSELVES, THE COUNTRY AND GOD A RESPONSIBILITY AND NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND

What we all have to appreciate from now on is the fact that although we live in a country ruled by politicians, they can’t do everything for us whiles we wait. One of the reasons being that, everybody loves opportunity and when it presents itself we all hang on to it. I believe that every politician just as individuals owes Ghana an unflinching responsibility of ensuring that everything goes well. But I can say that it will be very hard for anybody to want to do something good when some selfish people who have the power and are in the majority don’t want it. 

Let me give you an example here. Somebody who was working in one government sector and the person was employed in another government institution. As a result, the person received double salary. The person then went back to report that the salary was double and therefore they should make arrangement to pay back. 

The staff at the payment office told the person, you are lucky you received two salaries just enjoy it and let it go. The recipient of the money who was a Christian insisted that the money should be taken back. The recipient had to go up and down the same office over a countless period before the arrangement was made. What am I getting at? Some Ghanaian people want to do the right thing but people within the system make it impossible for them to do the right thing. So do you then blame the politician or the individual? Again, be reminded that it is not a political appointment but a regular job that was applied for.

Another instance: An educational supervisor went round to check some schools and their teachers. He was going round and then he met this teacher and he asked of his lesson notes. The teacher told the supervisor he had been teaching the subject for over fifteen years or so and as a result, he didn't to write lesson notes anymore. The supervisor had to argue with him for some time but that is not the problem.

Are you aware that education supervisors in Ghana just go to schools to check lesson notes and not observe how the teacher deliver the pedagogy? If the lesson notes is well written but the delivery is bad, bingo! the teachers has scored excellent point. So do we continue to blame the politician, supervisor or the teacher?

WHAT AM I SAYING?

My people, let’s work hard to shift the focus from politicians to individual power so we can make things happen for ourselves and not for politicians. More especially, let’s build entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial support that can protect the economy whiles the politicians do their own thing. I know somebody will still come back and tell me that the politicians need to come up with good policies. But I also say that if good policies alone can make Ghana better, we would have gone very far because there are very good policies in our statues that others are learning from. After all, it will take the individuals to implement the policies. If the individuals do not have the power and the mindset to implement these policies, the policies would be useless after being designed.

The only thing I personally believe we should expect from politicians is peace and the rest can be done by us. If we intentionally decide not to buy too many foreign goods, the dollar or pound will not affect us. If we decide to put our money into production instead of importation or buying and selling business, the currency exchange will not be a big issue for us. China is devaluing their currency because it has some benefits. So if we decide to support each other instead of bringing each other down, we would be stronger and therefore more formidable than politicians. If we do enough investment and you have a comfortable life, you would not have to go to politicians for school fees, jobs and pocket money.

I will rest my case for now but please pass on the message and lets draw the attention of other for Ghana needs us.

Leave a message if you can because I would love to hear from you. Thank you.