Opinions of Friday, 5 November 2010

Columnist: Avornyo, Bright Selasie Yao

In defense of Kwame Pianim and co

Really, life is a teacher. The more one lives the more one learns. But to die young, too, is a blessing. This is because one will not be interrupted by some sort of unwanted behaviors which come uninvited into ones’ affair like a shadow that always follows a person even if what a person is to do is to be kept secret.

However, every misfortune is a blessing. This does not contradict the fact that the untimely dying of little children is nothing to bother about especially when such death is perceived to be from either a witch in the family or outside the family (probably the Aunt and the grandmother, who always fall victim).

There are some babies whom I believe have no interest in experiencing the sinful world so, when they are born and greeted by their personal gods with the bad news of murder, corruption, name them, they simply decide to leave in peace without bothering to add to the problems of this world (This is a nice decision or you disagree?).

Consequently, some babies refuse to listen to the advice from their personal gods and later regret ever being accepted to be a citizen of this world, after discovering the pros and cons of this world. They foolishly commit suicide when they are grown which enables them to return to where they are from ‘abaa!’ what a waste of life?

But there are those too that do enjoy life to the extent that they do not want to leave this world at all. They do everything possible to get healthy and kicking all the time- they buy blood, water, and oxygen at the hospitals.

Meanwhile, there is someone apart from God, not Satan, the stupid ever creature, who is cruelly looking for people to suffer the consequences of hell with him. The so called man is "that man", who has the power to sentence his own blood to death by hanging or firing squad or which other ways suits him best.

But there are some judges who also put themselves into the shoes of the fellow human and therefore, cancel cases claiming no case. (Do you mean they take bribe or whatsoever?) Well, I do not know if you ask me but I care to know if possible.

The people I often pity most in this country Ghana are the politicians and if you ask me again I will say because of the various criticisms they encounter every second, minute, hour, morning, afternoon, evening, day and so on and so forth for no fault of theirs.

And there are those to whom I do not pity at all even if there should be a chance for me to seize their breath for just thirty minute, ho! Ha! Ha! Ha! Only God knows what I may do. They are mentally and physically corrupt to the extent that it will only take an intervention from a bunch of criticism to correct their mischief in the society- I do not mean the NPP NDC criticisms, which abnormally sound thunderous in my ear drum that I am unable to listen to the wail of the Chilean miners throughout their two-month stay with Satan, the devil, who thought of high jacking the sons of God (Shame unto Satan). There is no where you go in Ghana even the vacuum, which these stomach political parties will never be heard of.

The most painful thing is the very people who are suppose to educate us on how political polarization can result into war and a bad economy down turn are the same people who turn to be the fire fans instead of being fire extinguishers. I am talking about the so called journalists who will not go out there to look for news about the suffering Ghanaians, expose the shoddy works of contractors, and the negligence of works by the government, who the poor stands in a long thick queue all day long to elect as president and parliamentarians. God save Ghana.

I hope and pray that things go on well in this country soon so that the time I graduate from Ghana Institute of Journalism as a journalist, I shall be an ambassador of peace, a reporter of truth, and be the true mouthpiece for the poor and the vulnerable with my mind on society’s interest to serve Ghana my motherland forever and ever (I expect you to say amen to this).

I therefore wish to defend Kwame Pianim’s statement that any idiot can become a flag bearer, which he makes in the period when NPP nominees are aspiring to become a flag bearer of the party. May be there is a miscommunication with this but the understanding is perfectly clear.

You see, we only look at the dark side of a coin instead of getting the gold from the other side. The man is giving an advice as to how we should go about when choosing someone to be a leader in a society. If we can be true to ourselves, we may notice that there are some kind of people we elect to man the affairs of whatsoever position(s) who are not performing to our satisfaction (You are not suppose to be pleased with everything a person does by the way) that we think another person will have done better. We fail to know the difference between who is desperate to become a leader and “chop chop” and who is ready to govern with all the leadership qualities. Yes, is this not true of us? So in this case, “any fool can be a politician; you just have to teach yourself how to tell convincing lies like a gentleman, that’s all.” These are the words of a Nigerian author Buchi Emecheta in her novel The Slave Girl. It is true. Why then do we keep victimizing the poor man for altering the truth? We as humans hate the truth because it hits us hard in the ear that sounds inaudible. Even though everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, let us be as white as snow before we criticize one another.

Recently in the news, Tony Aidoo was almost consumed when he vomited his peace of mind which is the truth. Tony could be one of those who are astonished on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit comes down upon the one hundred and twenty brethren who are from Galilee but speak in their native tongues. The astonished men are “amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “what does this mean?” but others mocking said, “they are filled with new wine.” This is because mock crackers failed to understand the works of the Holy Spirit.

Lastly, former President John Kufuor, the man I admire a lot due to the way he conducts himself most at times, not in politics, but in his general life. He receives so much insults, humiliations, and what have you but survives all of them. What triggers my admiration for him was what he said at a meeting with the Ghana Black Stars during the Ghana 2008 African Cup of Nations; he inspired them in their performances. He made the Stars aware, that in Ghana everybody can become a coach so they should concentrate on what they are doing.

President Kufuor is someone who is focused and ready to achieve whatever he plans to do.

Also, when he is interviewed concerning the performance of President John Evans Attah Mill’s 17-month administration, he says it will be unfair to say something because it is not reasonable to compare his eight-year rule to President John Fiifi Attah’s almost two-year stay in office. Mr. Kufuor noted that President Mills has a mandate of four-year to deliver his Better Ghana Agenda. Former President Kufuor deserves praise for this.

He also notes during the 2008 General Elections that it is only a lazy man that is poor. But come to think of it, even though it sounds foolish it is the exact truth he has said. Because we cannot sit down with our workable-two-strong-hands in our thigh and expect the manner, which falls some years ago for the Israelites, and expect this same manner today. Even God says that a man has to suffer before he eats.

People blame him for not creating jobs for the graduates to do (which is somehow true) and refers to them as being lazy. Well, they have a point here, but I can tell you if, we should decide to get something doing before we get employed we will be okay rather than waiting for a job to be created for us. For instance, a university graduate can apply to any school to teach whiles writing application(s) for a job. When this is done and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel then we can say something.

The only thing former President Kufuor forgot to do was the lack of euphemism in his statement. President Mills on the other hand, says the same thing in his second State of the Nation Address but polishes it in a way that did not attract any attention from the public, and even people who perhaps take notice, realize that the two presidents are right. I therefore urge all and sundry to give people the freedom to express themselves without suppressing them.

Credit: By: Comrade Bright Selasie Yao Avornyo Email: allknowing00@yahoo.com