A GNA Feature by Emmanuel Nyatsikor

Ho, Sept. 29, GNA - A minister of one of the orthodox churches who was preaching at a wedding ceremony recently in Ho said faithfulness and loyalty are what make marriages tick not money as some people tend to think. He asked the newlyweds "do you promise to be faithful and loyal to ea= ch other" to which they answered yes.

The minister turned to the congregation and said 93so as a man would w= ant his

wife to be faithful and loyal to him and vice versa so should Ghanaians be faithful and

loyal to their country." This sermon reminded me of the national pledge that we recite at state

functions and other public gatherings like schools' assemblies. The national pledge is a sacred oath that we make on daily basis to remind

ourselves of our individual and collective commitment to be faithful and loyal to mother

Ghana, to be of service to her with all our strength and with all our heart= s and hold her

highly as the heritage bestowed to us by our forebears through their blood and sweat and

be ready to die and uphold her good name. Faithfulness is variously defined as maintaining allegiance, showing a strong

sense of duty or responsibility or conscientiousness. As citizens we must ponder over some pertinent questions such as: Do we really act our promise on our honour to be faithful and loyal to mother Ghana or

are we reciting the national pledge as a mere event? Is reciting of the national pledge making any impact on our lives? Are w= e demonstrating

the faithfulness and loyalty we promise our motherland when executing our various

assignments? Why are high office holders in the country made to swear oaths of allegiance,

secrecy and office before assuming their exalted positions? Is it not because the country

demands faithfulness and loyalty from them? Are those negotiating for loans on behalf of the country, awarding contracts on

behalf of the citizenry and those tasked to collect revenue for the country faithful to

mother Ghana? What about the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary and all those in high

and low positions in the country? Are those students who recite the national pledge on daily basis but vandalize

school property as a form of protestation being faithful and loyal to the motherland? If we actually promise on our honour to be faithful and loyal to our motherland

why the numerous cases of embezzlement, fraud, ghost names on government payrolls,

shoddy contract execution, smuggling and inflating of contract sums by some people. Why are the numerous programmes and interventions by successive

governments not yielding the desired results? Is the carnage on our roads our way of showing faithfulness and loyalty to

mother Ghana and what about the canker of indiscipline that has bedeviled the very fabric

of the Ghanaian society? Is the leaking of classified information to foreigners thereby strippin= g mother Ghana naked in the eyes of the international community the type of faithfulness we promise our motherland? What about the polarizing of the country by politicians.

The Wikileaks tape has now made it clear that most people who parade the foreign embassies and consulates might be agents of such foreign countries ready to sacrifice the motherland yet promise to be faithful and loyal to Ghana, their motherland.

Why should Ghana, which is the envy of even the developed countries because

of its numerous natural resources like gold, bauxite, manganese, timber an= d lately the

"black gold" 96 oil, remain a third world country for so long. Is it not because of the

unfaithfulness of her citizens? The overlord of Asogli State, Togbe Afede XIV, in his address at a gran= d durbar

to climax the yam festival celebration of the people of Asogli last Saturda= y hit the nail on

the head when he stated that the abundance of natural resources does not guarantee

development and job availability unless Ghanaians act honestly and defend what is good

and condemn that which is bad. Those countries that we term as Asian tigers and developed countries to whom

we go cups=96in-hand "begging for alms" are what they are because of 93a l= ittle faithfulness

and loyalty" from their citizens. Mother Ghana is begging for faithfulness and loyalty from her sons and

daughters to enable her shed the third world tag which she continues to wea= r for more

than 50 years of independence. Without faithfulness and loyalty, our desire to achieve a middle incom= e status or

achieving the millennium development goals will be a pipe dream. Let us individually and collectively put the promises and pledges we make in the

national pledge into action and see the transformation that will take place in this dear

country of ours. The magic wand is faithfulness and loyalty.