Opinions of Saturday, 25 June 2016

Columnist: Badu, K

“Get off my Unborn Horse”. “You will kill it”

To be quite honest, it is rather befuddling to hear the damning views of those who diametrically oppose the one district one factory policy. For argument sake, it is only an idea at this stage so why go berserk over it?

As a matter of fact, the critics puzzling behaviour is similitude to that of a schizophrenic who could not help but to beat his son mercilessly for proposing to sit on his father’s yet to be born horse.

The paranoia told his son he will buy a horse if he got lucky and win a lottery. Consequently, his innocent son joyously told his father: “ I will then sit on the foal (the baby horse)”.

Apparently, his schizophrenic father became incensed and ordered him: “Get off my baby horse now”. “don’t you know you will kill it?”

Unsurprisingly, the poor boy was baffled on his schizophrenic father’s inexplicable behaviour, for his father was yet to raise money and buy the horse.

How sad was that? Anyway, weep not boy, for your father did not know what he was doing. Just forgive your paranoid father, for he will come to his senses one day.

I had an opportunity to listen to the veteran lawyer and chivalrous industrialist, Nana Appiah Menkah’s views on Nana Addo’s one district one factory policy on Peace FM’s evening news on Wednesday 22/06/2016.

Nana Appiah Menkah stressed that capital is not all about how much money you have, it is rather how you use your head.

He revealed how he started his soap industry from the scratch and managed to expand it over time. Nana Menkah stated emphatically that all that one needs to set up a business is a thinking head.

He continued by stating that Nana Addo’s one district one factory policy is feasible and in his view it is even too small and opined that he will rather suggest three factories in one district.

I couldn’t agree more with Nana Appiah Menkah and his pertinent boldness. What a realistic, what a diligent, and what a forward thinking this elder citizen of ours is. He has indeed hit the nail on the head.

It appears that our dubieties have beclouded our thought processes , for if that is not the case, how can we not anticipate the numerous benefits that can spawn out of such an expedient policy?

Unfortunately, you hear all sorts of economists trying to shoot down such a fantastic idea with their clumsy excuses. How bizarre?

Tell me, why must anyone in his right frame of mind think we cannot develop through industrialization?

Of course we can do it. For if Dr Osagyefo was able to build hundreds of industries despite all the exigencies, so could anyone who has the foresight and the commitment.

In fact, my view on Nana Addo’s one District one factory policy is that it will enhance our socio-economic standards of living and reduce all forms of robberies.

Although it has not been well established that unemployment is the main cause of robberies, extant literature cites unemployment as one of the causes of armed robbery.

In fact, armed robbery menace is real and must be combated on all fronts. This is why I will urge all and sundry to extol Nana Addo on his one district one factory policy, which may mollify the armed robbery menace.

For if we go through our daily tabloids, turn on our Televisions and Radio sets, they are always reporting the heinous crimes of armed robbers.

Obviously, I am not referring to petty thieves-pocket pickers, yam, plantain or cassava thieves. I am referring to thieves who are often equipped with machine guns, semi-automatic weapons, bazookas, and rifles.

These scumbags are well marshalled, and often carry out their despicable activities with military precisions, can strike as lighting, and as deadly and destructive as molten magma.

Don’t you think we could disarm a large number of these scumbags if we managed to set up factories all over the place? I think we could.

Go on, Nana Addo and implement your one district one factory policy if Ghanaians voted you to power on 7th November 2016, for if nothing at all, the unemployed will at least find something meaningful to do.

K. Badu, UK.