What others think of us

Diplomats by their training and the nature of their job are very cautious with the choice of words. They hardly say YES or NO to questions and they give praise where it is not due or express cautious optimism even when things look very gloomy. Foreign diplomats who come to this country never fail to tell us all the pleasant things they have heard of Ghana and its people. They tell us we are very friendly and hospitable and that our country is one of the best on the whole continent of Africa. Some go into history and recall the splendid works of our past leaders, especially Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who they admit was a great leader who devoted much of his life fighting for the liberation and unity of Africa. Sometimes in the profusion of their praises, some of them forgot the role their governments played in the past to frustrate the independence of African countries and how they plotted against progressive leaders like Nkrumah to hound them out of office. Diplomats departing the country tell us how beautiful Ghana and its people are. They tell us how we are making progress in the economic and political fields. These days, the additional cliché is, Ghana is the beacon of democracy on the continent. Such sweet words make our leaders very happy, sometimes very proud and take our minds off the gloom surrounding us. Diplomats by tradition are not expected to tell us the truth, at least not when they are on our soil but God knows the confidential information they feed their governments with in the comfort of their offices. Classified information made public by WikiLeaks on various governments including that of Ghana about two years ago was just a small indication of what people say about us in public and what they think of us in reality. When we cast the sweet words of diplomacy aside, African countries do not conjure any positive image in the minds of many in the international arena. Ours is a picture of misery, poverty, disease, ignorance and corrupt leadership. If truth must be told, we need to make a sober reflection to determine whether we deserve the praises being heaped on us or whether the gloom being painted about the continent is a true reflection of state of affairs on the continent. At independence, the first president of the republic, Dr Nkrumah, set a high for the Black race and vowed to prove that what others could do, Africans and for that matter Blacks could do better. He set a cracking pace on all fronts and it became obvious that if that momentum was sustained for appreciable length of time, that pledge to redeem Ghana from political and economic bondage was going to be a reality. Things did not work the way we expected and as we prepare to celebrate 56 years of independence, the question on the lips of every serious-minded person is, ‘Where is the independence dream?’ The flag and anthem continue to be the symbols of nationhood. Beyond that independence has made limited impact in our national life. We still feel insecure and only regain some level of confidence at the approach of a white-skinned person. In the past, we were looking up to the great economic powers In Europe and the US for salvation. Today, our situation has deteriorated to an extent that we take solace in China, Korea, India and Malaysia. It appears the end is not in sight, and the more we celebrate independence with parades and big speeches, the more we get entangled in the begging syndrome. We are yet to know what we can do for ourselves. We still export our natural resources in their raw form which gives us very little value and import almost everything we need including toothpicks. While others have turned deserts into green fields, we are still at a loss as to how to make use of the abundant water resources at our disposal for agricultural production and other economic ventures. The River Volta alone could have done what the Nile has done for Egypt, but alas, water to drink in our homes let alone for commercial and industrial use has become headaches for us. We are praying for some people from China, India, Brazil and the latest on the block, Turkey or somewhere, to come and fetch water from River Volta into our homes. We cannot as a people get a boat on the Volta Lake for transportation purposes. We cannot exploit the enormous tourism potential of the Volta Lake and change the economy of this country for the better. What diplomats for purposes of their profession would not tell us, the social media on the Internet have made freely available. Just type in an African country and the truth about us would be staring at you. Hopeless people who are always complaining of hunger when they have some of the best lands on the planet. Talk of lack of funds and the social media will tell us how useless we are, always begging others, when our politicians are the most corrupt, stashing away national revenue in foreign banks, investing in grandiose properties overseas, while their citizens languish in poverty. There is a new lobby emerging in the US and Europe which many may not be aware. There are many in those places who are making a strong case against handouts from their countries to Africa. They claim the continent’s problems have very little to do with inadequate resources. They have identified lack of imagination and bad, uninspired and corrupt leadership and, therefore, could not carry the burden of Africa any longer. The Asians have started cashing in and would continue to do so until they have had their fill and left us in our misery. The solution is nowhere but here. We need to change our mindset that without others we cannot make it. The tendency to find excuse for our failures in lack of funds must end. As the saying goes, we need to pull ourselves by our own bootstraps if we are to make ourselves relevance on the international stage. fokofi@yahoo.co.uk kofiakordor.blogspot.com