This is one of those write-ups where I have a million things to say about my beloved Ghana. Every day, this place gives me a lot of lessons. Some good, some great and some just leaves me underwhelmed and others give me sleepless nights. A typical example is being haunted by a video I saw of young unemployed Ghanaians, hoping to find work with the Immigration Service. I hate to see talent go waste, and in as much as I am doing my part to coach, train and mentor young Ghanaians and Africans to get ready for opportunities and be globally relevant, there is so much to do. I will however, not let this write-up be on youth unemployment. I need more that 500 words for that. But please, if you can show a young person “the way”, mentor them and be a great example to some young person- the future, our future.
Sometimes I just wish I had a magic wand to quickly change mindsets in Ghana and get my country men and women to see what we have and how we can do so much more.
Ghana just turned 61! A exactly a year ago, I had spent my morning and afternoon in Zimbabwe as a lone traveller, stopping every now and again to take the spectacular and mighty Victoria Falls in and record my thoughts. I later spent the evening in Zambia. Zambians and Zimbabweans treated me with so much respect, I felt like royalty. Beyond football, they told me, “You come from a great country”. They wanted to know more about Ghana. By the way, I get the “you come from a great country” a lot when I travel across Africa.
I missed home and was wondering the kind of celebration going on for the 60th anniversary. I was in countries whose leaders supported us towards independence from British rule; countries that have been on my travel bucket list for so long.
Today, instead of being in São Tomé to explore business opportunities, I am sitting on my porch and thinking about Ghana and figuring how I can do more to help this place I call home.
Ghana is a great place; the recent incidents of armed robbery and disorder will have you believe otherwise. It is really unfortunate and I wonder how we got here. Let’s pray for this nation whilst we think and find solutions too.
Flip the script and I always ask if I am living in the present day Garden of Eden, minus the animals. I have two coconut trees, a huge mango tree, multiple pawpaw/papaya plants, banana, guava and a host of other fruits and herbs, whose English names I do not know, all in my house. I do very little to nurture them to grow, nature does a fantastic job. There is so much organic food in Ghana; I am embarrassed when I see it go waste sometimes. We live in abundance and we do not see or maybe because of it, we are overly comfortable. Is ease really the enemy of progress?
If you are a Ghanaian reading this, open your eyes and maximize the opportunities around you, wake up, do your bit, let’s find a way to be patriotic. Leaders will come and go, but know Ghana is all we have, so let’s keep the peace. Let’s stay alert and look out for each other. Peace is great, but let’s keep Ghana clean, it is not looking good at all especially as Accra is swimming in plastic. Above all, let us not sit on gold and beg for brass. We live on a blessed land, go make Ghana great and strong.
