ARE WE LIBERATED?

My friends know I like Tie and Dye Batik a lot, so I put on Whiteman’s shirt from Monday to Tuesday and the rest of the days in the week are for my Tie and Dye. Something happened one day when I was at Burro, Koforidua. The Americans I work with always fall in love with my Tie and Dye Batiks and that encouraged me to wear more of them. Then Burro got some interns from one of the Universities from U.S. Well they also seem to like my dresses but one day I put on Kasper long-sleeved shirt and one of the interns said,” Today you are dressed up”.  I took it as an insult to me.

But this is where it got interesting, when they were leaving back to the States, all of them including the lady who said that, bought not less than three separate pieces of that same Tie and Dye Batik away. So I asked one of them what he will use them for, he answered he will wear them. Since then I have being asking lots of questions myself and one obvious answer comes to mind. GHANA NEEDS TO RETHINK

Ghanaians still think you can only look professional and presentable when you wear Whiteman’s shirt like Mark and Spencer or Kasper with Tie. It is pathetic! I so much admire Nigerian Head of States because you will never see them in Suit and my own Pastor Otabil. I am not saying we should not wear Whiteman’s shirts, No. Lets wear them but not at the detriment of ours. Can you imagine the market we create for them by wearing their cloths? Let us all do this small analysis, let’s start wearing our cloths we produce to our offices at least three times in the five days we go to work. Don’t you think demand for them will increase and will need increased production? And that will translate into more employment. Do you realize the impact it will have on our economy?

By the way who set the rules? It is us, so we can equally change them.

Do you also realize we don’t farm to feed ourselves? What our colonial masters taught us years ago, that is the same thing we practice today. We plant cocoa because they (Western world) need cocoa. We plant coffee because they need it. We have started planting mangoes because they are demanding them too. Are we just hewers of firewood and drawers of water for the west? I got to know that, we don’t even need factories to process our cocoa into chocolate. You are surprise! Yes, we don’t need factories to produce chocolate. You can make them from your kitchen. This is another employment opportunity.

Then most people believe everything from the western world is the best. Hmmm…, think of this, you aspire to be an Entrepreneur, employee, produce an album or do something to sell. Tell me why people should buy yours or employ you to work for them if everything in Ghana is not good. Why should they take your advice or product if Tie and Dye Batik or Ghanaian music are not good? Are you not a Ghanaian? If everything in Ghana is not good, it therefore implies that you are not good too. And you want to sing for whom? Me? In case you are thinking of producing something for Ghanaians, my friend you better start to patronize made in Ghana goods. If we think the quality is not good let us improve the quality.

Let us renew our mind. Let’s get liberated. It can start from us. Ghana is all we have. May God help us!

We even prefer to wear second hand cloths from the Whiteman to our brand new cloths. Are Ghanaians that cheap? If those cloths were to be good, am not sure they will send them to us. I have come to appreciate the fact that, God never give anything second hand or used. Everything from Him is new. Why then do we reduce ourselves to beggars?

Sadly the Ghanaian youth today thinks the only way to make it is to travel to UK or U.S. Governments use tax payers’ money to educate you and all you can do is to go and be washing dishes. University graduate all that you can think of is to travel and do what? God have mercy. Yes, I agree there are no jobs but it is no excuse. That is why you are educated to think and bring solutions. If there are no jobs, create one. It is good to seize opportunities but it is better to create an opportunity. What are you using your head for? What about the knowledge you acquired? Get up and start something. It is better to try and fail than not to start at all.

For the three decades I live, I have appreciated the fact that Africans are not willing to develop that is why we are where we are. We want to be poor that is why we are poor. We want to be manipulated that is why we are manipulated. We don’t want to be united that is why we are not. And we want to kill ourselves that is why we are killing ourselves.

My friend, you may want to re-examine yourself again and again any time you call Michael Essien or Sulley Ali Muntari unpatriotic because they refuse to play for Ghana. Are you patriotic? Patriotism is not about singing the National Anthem or criticizing the President. Do you have the moral right to accuse anyone of being unpatriotic? Do you rob Ghana of her income, time or even betray her by aiding foreign nationals to cheat your nation? If you are not doing what is expected of you as a citizen of Ghana, you are unpatriotic. If you are not doing what you are employed to do, you are unpatriotic. Are you pulling somebody down, you are unpatriotic. You are late to work, you are unpatriotic and the list is endless.

IT IS ONE THING SAYING I AM A GHANAIAN AND IT IS ANOTHER THING BEING A GHANAIAN.