Growing up is a very complex process which involves a lot of psychological battles and turmoils which the individual in question needs to overcome in order to reach their desire and purpose in life. Elsewhere in the developed countries of the world, this process becomes easier for both young men and women alike, since effective government interventions are in place, thereby making the task relatively easier than for those here in Africa.

Nonetheless, millions of young men in Africa today are defying the odds and making it big in life to prove to the world that yes, indeed young Africans have got what it takes too. The amount of determination among young people in Africa especially, the young men is amazing and worth commending. Spend just thirty minutes on Facebook or Instagram and you will be amazed at how young men post stuff by every passing minute, motivating themselves and keeping hope alive that they too can make it in this life. People like this only need encouragement and motivation to be able to make their breakthrough.

Unfortunately, we have people like George Lutterodt who have access to media platforms and instead of using this golden platform to motivate people into achieving results, he is busy cracking dumb jokes on TV and calling it ‘counselling’. It’s so unfortunate. Now let me school my audience a little. George lutterodt was born into an average home in Osu, Accra and he probably grew up on kenkey and fish which is food meant for average income earners. Therefore when a person like this manages to make it out of the slums of Osu where he was born and God has placed him somewhere that he can at least “feed three times and afford a snack”, he should either be motivating others or maybe keep his quiet. Distinguished motivational speakers like Pastor Otabil are using their rough grass to grace experiences encountered while growing up to push other people to dare to dream. Those are the kind of people who should be getting space on air to motivate others. This country is already a difficult place for young people to make it out of the ghettos. The last thing young people need therefore is bad mouth talk from George lutterodt, trying to make young men in this country feel like they are nothing but pieces of rags (even rags have use).

Furthermore, George lutterodt sat on national TV recently and spewed filth like “never allow a poor man to marry you”. George lutterodt is married with two beautiful kids Fredrick and Fredrica. But he got married poor and is still a poor man. Oh yes. He is a poor man. George Lutterodt cannot afford a house in Regimanuel estates, let alone places like Trasacco valley or east legon, where the rich and affluent people in Accra reside. But his wife still agreed to marry him even though he is a poor man. Having ten, twenty or even fifty thousand Ghana cedis does not make you a rich man. When we talk about being rich, then you are wealthy enough to probably retire the president and still pay him his current salary over the next fifty years or more. Rich people are people like Aliko Dangote, Ibrahim Mahama, Otumfuo Osei Tutu and so on. Yeah, those are rich men. Nonetheless, George Lutterodt still got a woman to agree on marrying him, though he is or was poor. The moral lesson here is that, you do not live in a glass house and throw stones. There are a lot of successful people today, whose success is a result of unflinching support from women who saw them beyond their predicaments at that time. Women have the power to motivate men to do great things beyond the men’s wildest imaginations. Therefore asking a woman not to marry a man because he is poor is a statement borne out of pure shallow patterns of thought and intellectual bankruptcy. I am by no means, trying to suggest that poverty is a good thing. NO. My point however, is that you can be with a man who is poor, but he is doing something about it, so his situation can change. Sometimes, you do not need an already made rich man. All you need to begin with, is a man with ambitions that have mapped out plans on how to achieve them. I salute women who are not afraid to be with a man who is a ‘work in progress’. That project would soon pay off. Just keep supporting your man, provided you are sure he is working on it.

Going on with this discussion, maybe I am the only one who thinks that there is nothing wrong with using your partner’s photo as your social media display picture, but there is absolutely nothing wrong about it. I find it amusing, that the Counsellor made it look like it is a grave sin to display your partner on social media. Personally, I would not place my girlfriend on my display picture , but only because I prefer my love life to be low key and do not want too many people getting into my business. But if there is someone out there reading this article who feels like flaunting their man or woman, do it with all boldness my sister or brother. There are boyfriends and girlfriends who you meet and they come with instant positive changes in your life. They actually come along to bless your life. Therefore, it is only proper for one to celebrate loved ones who inspire greatness out of you. There are partners who would turn the whole world upside down just to make their loved one happy. People are fighting battles in their lives which if not for the good partners they have who are supporting them, they probably would not know what would have happened to their lives. And therefore if such a person is celebrated by being placed on social media, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, ‘Counsellor” Lutterodt.

The problem
with Africa is that, there is so much poverty around this part of the world and therefore everything we do is motivated by a desire to reap monetary rewards. White folks do things because they love those things and have passion for it. But the average white American makes more money than the average African man even though we chase money more than they do. You know why? Because they understand that humanity is more important than money. Bishop Dag Heward-Mills in enjoying a marriage today, which begun its journey on the University of Ghana campus in Legon. He was only a medical student at that time and he was probably not rich at that point in time. But his wife (girlfriend at that time) did not see a medical student. What she saw was a Doctor in the making. Even when he decided not to practice medicine but go into ministry after completing school, she still stood by him and they fought their battles together. That is what we call IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL. At the time when Barack Obama and Michelle Obama started their relationship, Barack Obama was just a law student who I am sure had not even qualified yet to do “national service”. But she saw potential. She saw beyond his tattered clothes and wrinkly dry African skin. In fact, she saw a young boy destined for nothing but greatness. If only young women of our day would look their men through the lenses of Michelle Obama, they would realize that in spite of the many irresponsible young men out there in the streets, there is still quite a number of them you should really stick out your neck for.

Many young ladies of today are listening to all sorts of materials like that of counsellor Lutterodt and some have made mistakes they would live with for the rest of their lives. If you love a man, pick him up today, dust him up and help him get to work. Be his pillar and let him work hard to make him the man that he is supposed to become. You need to master the art of listening to your inner self. Your heart and brains are the two most powerful forces that can help make or break your life and you should really not take anything they whisper to you for granted. There are women who forced their way into the homes of rich men are they spend their whole days crying and wishing they could reverse the clock. There are also those who married rich people and they have been happy. But there are those of you too who are with men who are now building themselves up and I think you should not be discouraged by people like George Lutterodt. A true counsellor makes sure that both parties are happy in terms of their psychosocial wellbeing. George Lutterodt should probably take a course in counselling psychology in order to make the real impact that he is destined for. He is so judgmental with clients and his submissions are always skewed towards answers that would give him attention from the public. If we really want to transform lives in this country, people like George Lutterodt better start learning to be open minded. #iMaginedteam

By:
Nathan Qarboo Tetteh (Motivational Speaker/ Life Coach) +233244903748 gracyboonathan@gmail.com