Some Ghanaians have been keenly following the mystery of the missing Boeing 777 airplane operated by Malaysian Airlines. Several countries have now joined the search for the airliner that disappeared almost a whole week ago. Nobody asks for misfortune, but just in case this unfortunate incident happened here in Ghana, how will we respond ?

Facts vs Fears

As soon as it was established that the plane was missing, knowledgeable people involved created different scenarios - four of them still stand (pilot related, hijacking, mechanical failure, terrorism). These fact based scenarios became the main points and were improved with more information. Of course there were conspiracy theories, but they did not get popular attention. God forbid that this happened in Ghana, we would happily major on the minor and minor on the major. Instead of analysing satellite images and scrutinizing radar data, shall we not spread more exciting stories - aliens, rapture, vodoo, dwarfs etc?. Surely we'll even take it further and blame the ruling political party, or won't we?

Experts and Equipment

Several experts from various institutions quickly got on the matter and developed the body of knowledge that we now have publicly. Professors in oceanography and related areas used the plane's last known point to analyse the area, nature of the waves, ocean current, drift etc to pinpoint exactly where the plane might be in the crash scenario. If this were in Ghana, no doubt we have high calibre experts in UCC, Maritime, KNUST etc. But our experts will be the first to tell you that something like this requires more than just expertise or intelligence, it requires equipment too. Intelligence, we have aplenty, equipment we lack aplenty.

Assigning Airtime

Some of the international media quickly brought in specialists from all related fields -Aviation security experts, Naval commanders, former directors of the CIA and FBI, a retired pilot who knew this particular plane very well. Malaysian TV even interviewed a grief counsellor about the state of the families! Simply put, airtime was reserved for people who knew what they were talking about.

Again, God forbid this happens in Ghana, shall we find the experts and pick their brains or shall we use the same panel of regular talk show hosts to discuss everything- from a missing baby to a missing plane?

Finally

But in the end, we are more alike than we probably know. We will all grief for our missing family and friends and be confused about what is going on. And by the way Ghana is not the only country where spiritual leaders pray over technical matters. A few days ago, a shaman commanded the missing plane to reappear just like the Ghanaian preacher who commanded the weak cedi to arise. We pray those two prayers are answered quickly.

Have a good weekend folks!

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About the author

Newaccra Magazine is a positive lifestyle magazine for the young and driven, with Africa in their hearts. Our lifestyle, personal development, sports, health and entertainment content is carefully designed to educate, improve and entertain ambitious young people. Follow us twitter @newaccra or email info [at] newaccra.com. or facebook.com / newaccra