Oct 5, 2013

Letter to Mr. President

Dear Mr. President,

Something is puzzling me and I will ask that you indulge me and think with me on these things that I cannot reconcile.


I will recount to you an encounter I had with some of your sons lately. It’s 3pm and I go to this corner store to buy some airtime for my phone. Well… Since I had some time on my hands, I decided to have a seat while I wait for my appointment.


There I was, with this store keeper in his mid twenties; and his friend, who is in his early thirties.

So three young men, sitting together... What is missing? Football! So I ask, “Hey man. What do you think of our chances in our match against Egypt?”. “What do I care?” he says. “Massa, what I’m thinking of… Its not with these games O”. “A game where one person comes to play for 90 minutes and takes away thousands of dollars? And what do I get?” My friend is obviously on a different level. “Massa, they can do whatever they like in this country. I have better things to think of”.

Wow! That was a bit more than the reaction I expected? Anyway. I could sense that what was ticking this gentleman off was REALLY not our players on the field… or the game itself. It was something deeper.
My response? I was shocked! But I understood him.

 What would force a man to rally behind the flag if he had more pressing bread and butter issues? Ever heard of Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchical Needs?

He didn’t care about his nation’s journey to battle the football greats of the world for priceless glory. In the same vein, he wouldn’t care if Ghana wallowed in ignominy.

So I commented. “Man! That is sad. But you know, this is not the kind of feeling and zeal our founders built this nation with you know…” Ummm… I guess I shouldn’t have said that. Let’s just say it didn’t go down well with him.

It wasn’t really about the football. It was a growing sense of cynicism and apathy and it was clearer with what he said. “Massa. 

This airtime you just bought has been taxed. And it’s these small small taxes that accumulate and we pack it to one or two persons ‘BUM’!” And with this, my friend went on with the argument of how unjust our country is, with some public servants taking home thousands of cedis as salaries and the poor ‘Kayayei’ literally harassed with her load on her head, to pay taxes! And it’s because of these things that my friend has seen that makes anything concerning Ghana, not his concern anymore.

 “Me, I’ve sworn not to make the mistake of going to a polling station to say I’m going to cast a vote anymore”, the store keeper said. “What for? ‘Twea’!” my friend added.

Mr. President. These are your youth. These are the men and women whose brains and brawns you’ll fall on when this nation is hard pressed. And these…are their thoughts.

These men may have excitedly recited the national pledge as children-         
“I promise on my honour, to be faithful and loyal to Ghana my Motherland…”
And as I listened to them, I wondered what this nation could have (or not have) done to these young men, to make them say these things about a nation they had made such a solemn pledge to.

“I pledge myself to the service of Ghana; with all my strength and with all my heart”
I am just confused and I can’t reconcile this. What I hear young people say now; and this pledge they recite at assembly back in school.

Really? Do you think this nation has done enough for our youths to deserve such a sacred promise?
I do not know. But from these two young men, I guess not.

And in the midst of all these Mr. President, I thought…that touchwood, if you should have a flat tire in the middle of Accra, will you have youths, who…with smiles on their faces and a “pledge of themselves to the service of Ghana with all their strength and all their hearts”, help you out and send you on your jolly way?

You are the symbol of our State. When you call, will you meet youths, who are still “faithful and loyal to Ghana our motherland”? Or disenchanted cynics like my new-found friends.  

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