Opinions of Friday, 8 January 2010

Columnist: The Royal Enoch

Ghana: A Messed Up Country

I have had the privilege of traveling to numerous countries in my life and time. I have also bore witness to what humans could accomplish together, when they put aside their differences for a common course. Believe me, there is no telling what a single individual could accomplish, when his/her dreams are given a helping hand. Let's not forget to remember ourselves that the West was built by great men and women of vision. Great men and women, who were not afraid to ask questions. These innovators and visionaries of their time were driven by an innate need to know. Their passion for knowledge, and understanding made it possible for them to discover news ways of doing old stuff. Also, they were not afraid of either poverty or failure. They were determined to make a statement-a point.

See, Ghana could be likened to a team, in which each and everyone of us has a distinctive part to play. As you all do know, the strength of a team lies in the individuality of its players. Each distinctive player brings something unique to a team. Also, in order for a team to function properly as a team-the players must not compete for each others positions. Last, but not least, the players must also learn to play together for victory to ensue. What we need to bear in mind is that having a great team, which plays together is not necessarily a recipe for victory. A team of competent players, who play together must also have some kind of strategic plan in place if it desires to win. Playing a game without having a plan on how to win a game is just a waste of time.

There is no denying that Ghana is indeed a messed up country. Simply put, the country lacks organization. This goes to indicate that there is no team spirit whatsoever in the country. Ghana is simply a ghetto in comparison to the strategically planned cities, and towns in the West. If you go to cities like Las Vegas, Dubai, New York and Paris-you would be taken aback by the sheer beauty. These cities are so immaculately planned that once you arrive there-you don't feel like leaving. It seems to me that in comparison to the Whites-we Black people don't have taste at all. Apart from Accra, which is supposed to be the best that Ghana has to offer-the rest of our cities are just pure trash. It has to be said that Nkrumah's government was perhaps the only government in our nation's history, which took town/city planning seriously. The rest of the governments, which followed abandoned the concept of town/city planning altogether.

I don't need to remind anybody that tourism is a money making machine. People visit cities like Paris, Las Vegas and Rome to marvel at the sheer architectural beauty of these places. Jobs are created as a result, and money gets made. Ghana has architects, who could work side by side with the government to strategically plan, and build our cities beautifully. However, before this could happen-the government must find a way to limit the public's ownership of lands. In my opinion, the citizenry of Ghana shouldn't be trading lands amongst themselves. The government of Ghana should be the sole owner, and proprietor of the country's lands-not the people. Of course, the government's ownership of the lands would make it much easier for the government to strategically plan, and develop our cities. So what do you all think of this plan-any suggestions or objections?