''FOR THE LIVING KNOW THAT THEY WILL DIE; BUT THE DEAD KNOW NOTHING AND THEY HAVE NO MORE REWARD, FOR THE MEMORY OF THEM IS FORGOTTEN. ALSO THEIR LOVE, THEIR HATRED AND THEIR ENVY HAVE NOW PERISHED; NEVERMOREWILL THEY HAVE A SHARE IN ANYTHING DONE UNDER THE SUN''. ECCLESIATES CHAPTER 9:5,6
The day I read of the death of prof. Adu Boahen on the Ghanaweb the questions that ran through my mind were; had it been Kufour or Rawlings would the other attend the funeral? If yes, what sort of tribute would the other pay to the dead one? If no, why? Would there be tears or joy? If tears, CROCODILIC or real? If joy, for what? PAUSE After listening to the glowing tribute paid by Rawlings to the memory of the late professor, the above Bible quotation came up on my mind. I shook my head in disbelieve and said to myself, Ghana! when? When shall we see politics as a passing game with rules which its players must obey and respect for the sake of peace and tranquility? I asked such questions basically to the effect that, in the not too distant past Rawlings and Adu Boahen were literally at each other's throat, sadly, over a decade the professor is no more and Mr Rawlings HAD TO visit the bereaved family and pay a tribute. I want to be very economical with words on what went wrong in the past and concentrate on the present and the future, living the effusions that criss-crossed the political platforms between the two that could have brought extensive damage and horror to our beloved Nation to readers who knew of it.
Our political terrain has woefully become so murkier and muddier that I doubt if, the most respected Kofi Annan and the uncountable great men and women of our land, who by dint of hard work have chalked numerous successes in their fields could go through it unscathed. This deadly canker scares most people who could have put their expertise at our disposal to steer the country to a better destination away from politics.
Most of them who have mustered courage to dabble in politics lack the moral guts to stand up for the voiceless, truth, peace and the general good of mankind. Sadly, these men and women are among those who scramble for places in the mosques and churches from Friday through Sunday. They sacrfice the very tenets of their religions that will give them something special for peanuts and toys they get from their political leaders who they fear and revere more than the Omnipotent God who is our live giver.
Therefore, instead of trying to bring the attention of these leadres to what is dividing the country they support them blindly as if nothing is at stake. Let Kufour or Rawlings veer of the societal nroms either in speech or deed and the Lovers and Enemies of Truth and Lies machinery will be in action, thereby sweeping dirt under the carpet only to become a mountain.
It is unfortunate that it took Rawlings so many years, in fact after his death, to recognise the real STATURE of Adu Boahen, after all, the man was not that SHORT. I was actually basking in joy when Mr Rawlings called on politicians to engage in CLEAN and CONSTRUCTIVE politics but was put off by what was to follow later; " I was unable to visit prof. Adu Boahen, he said, when he was on his sick bed BECAUSE OF THE POLITICS OF HATE CURRENTLY PERPETUATED BY THE GOVERNMENT". He went on; " I am saying that I found this disheartening. I had difficulties coming here precisely because of the point I just made that whenever PEOPLE VISIT ME, THE GOVERNMENT STARTS CHASING THEM AROUND WITH VEHICLES HARASSING THEM. IF I VISIT SOMEONE, THEY FOLOW ME AND THEY BECOME THE OBJECTS OF HARRASMENT"
The inference was that, had he visited Adu Boahen the government would have chased him out of his sick bed and harass his family. Unfouded, I think.
He even went further,"Today I have come only when this man is dead and gone. It is regretable, it is painful. I have always wanted to come and I would have wished I had come earlier. I WOULD HAVE WISHED THAT SOME OF US WOULD STOP BEING PETTY AND GROW AND TO HAVE THE KIND OF STATURE THAT SOME OF US DEMONSTRATED WHEN WE WERE IN OFFICE, THE KIND OF STATURE HE ALSO HAD, THAT WE CAN ENGAGE IN DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED ISSUES WHEN IT COMES TO POLITICS WITHOUT DOING THE UNFLINCHING MORTAL DAMAGE TO ONE ANOTHER" The omitted addendum here, I think, was ,WITHOUT DOING THE UNFLINCHING MORTAL DAMAGE TO THE NATION. In a way Rawlings sounded philosophical and seem to be a messenger of peace. However, I was wondering why he tried to insinuate at a funeral and I was trying to figure out what he would have said if he were on a political platform. I would only be satisfied if his attention was brought to his almost effussions by the powerful delegate who accompanied him- Capt. Klein Sowu, Ohene Kena, Dr Mary Grant, Victor Gbeho, etc. I intentionally highlighted part of his speech and drew in the eminent personalities that were with him. I cannot tell how Kufour would have handled such a situation if it had gone the other way round. What I can tell is that, the VALLEY between these two political icons are widiening at an alarming rate.
The adage is clear, "aponkyereni wu a, na ye hu ne tenten"- the real size of a frog is seen only when it is dead. Thank heavens, the real STATURE of prof. Adu Boahen has been made public by no mean a person than the ex-president Rawlings who used to say harsh and unkind words about him on DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED ISSUES. Today, Rawlings and Kufour, who has taken over from the Adu Boahen on the political divide, are still alive and have greater lessons to be learned from the aftermarth of the departed professor. The Conutry stands to suffer should they hold on to their parochial interests of remaining poles apart. I would not be bothered had they not held that envious position of our land.They must re-orient themselves, as fathers of the Nation and work towards reconciliation. They both would have no excuses or anyone to blame in the future as Rawlings tried to do.
If they REALLY care for peace amongst Ghanaians, they need to allow peace to prevail between them. Bob Nesta Marley, by the power of music -ONE LOVE was able to bring two prominent bond enemies together on the same stage so there is hope. The death of Professor Adu Boahen can do just that. I want to see the organisers of the funeral in conjunction with prominent personalities of our land finding a way to difuse the feud. I want to see both shaking hands vigrously and embracing each other, what a spectacle it would be, to show that, really, the teeth and tongue do have friction in their bid to satisfy the STOMACH but they solve it themselves. They can not be AMBASSADORS OF PEACE ELSEWHERE, AND AMBASSADORS OF HATE IN THEIR HOMELAND. IMPOSSIBLE. The two JOHNS, the EX,and SITTING PRESIDENT(S), who are both CATHOLICS taking COMMUNION on the same faith, must smoke the peace pipe. The period between now and the final funeral rites of Adu Boahen should be a time of REFLECTION, REFRACTION, and RESTORATION. Yes, the scheming sychophants seemingly surounding our eminent personalities need to think, bend their stiff-necks for the right thing to take place. The only tribute we can pay to such a great man is reflect and hold on to what he stood for- FREE and LIBERAL SOCIETY free from ANARCHY, TRIBALISM, VIOLENCE, ACRIMONY, HATE, ETC. The memories of great men lies not in monuments but in what they stood for and achieved. I never saw JB Danquah, Kwame Nkrumah or any of the BIG SIX I can choose not to visit their graveyards or monuments no matter how appealing they may be, but with my eyes closed, I can tell my children that, these great men championed the cause of our independence.
Undoubtedly, those who might have seen Prof. Adu Boahen as a SHORT MAN a mere HISOTRIAN have, after his death seen the stuff he was made of, a man who MEASURED UP TO SOME AMOUNT OF INTEGRITY, a great historian, activist, politician et al, who need a befitting tribute from all of us, not in the form of mere euolgies or monument but something that can etched in our memories, something that can be passed on from generation to generation as his works of history has done. Anything short of this would see Ghana lossing TWICE on a trot.- A GREAT SON AND WHAT HE STOOD FOR.-PEACE.
LONG LIVE THE SPIRIT OF ADU BOAHEN, LONG LIVE LOVERS OF PEACE, LONG LIVE GHANA, MY BELOVED.
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