Dwindling respect for leadership: a blame for the aged Asagas or the youth?
\nI have no degree, diploma or basic knowledge of elementary economics from any educational institution. But I know by my own common sense growing up as a child, that the cost or standard of living in my home, was largely determined by the earnings of my parents.<\/p>\n
In my home, I knew that my mother- a mere plantain seller, earned very little to support my father, who was then a cook at the defunct Ghana Textiles Manufacturing Company, GTMC -another case of a mismanaged and collapsed national asset that held so much potential for job creation and industrialization in Ghana. That’s just by the way.<\/p>\n
Domiciled in an oven-like single room with mum and dad and my siblings, was a vital pictographic evidence to me that there was little money at home although I was only a child.<\/p>\n
I remember how in those days my mum shared a bottle of Fanta for my brother and I on the last days of the ecstatic school vacations known as ‘Our Day’ amongst children.<\/p>\n
As innocent kids whose hearts and minds were filled with ‘folly’, we still had some thread of wisdom never to demand more from our parents even when we saw other kids with full bottles of Fanta and Coca-Cola which we unknowingly pronounced ‘Caca-cola’, and nicely prepared jollof rice with meat; while we only had an egg divided into two-halves and shared on our plain ‘rice and oil’ with grind pepper.<\/p>\n
On Christmas days; while some kids wore flashy ‘already made’ attires with their hats to match’ we wore what was known as ‘up and down’ sown by a family friend who was a tailor. And for the sake of longevity, they came in oversize.<\/p>\n
But in all of these, we were among the happiest kids because no matter what the occasion\u00a0was; we also took part in it in our own small way and according to the earnings of our parents.<\/p>\n
I honestly do not remember times that we questioned or demanded beyond what our parents toiled to offer us. And most importantly, we never drew comparisons with the fortunate kids who may have been born with golden spoons in their mouths.<\/p>\n
Now an adult, I have come to realize that if we compared; we would have hurt the strenuous efforts our parents had made to put some smiles on our faces – we would have been ungrateful and insensitive to their plight, and would have dampened their spirit of love and care.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, my father was not too hard on us when our end of term school reports were not as excellent as those kids in the neighbourhood who were in better endowed schools and even had the luxury of private teachers.<\/p>\n
He did not compare us to them but rather encouraged us to up our game in the face of the challenges of having to learn in a congested public basic school, coupled with household chores and hawking the streets and corners of Ashaiman with plantain at the least chance, with very little or no time to read at home.<\/p>\n
Ghana’s economic situation may fit into the aforementioned scenario. But here, government – acting as a parent, has failed to provide even half of the basic needs for its children – the citizenry, and yet expects more from them.<\/p>\n
And a government official who was brewed in Ghana’s Parliament for years, served as a Minister and now in charge of Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority, NPA, Moses Asaga, confidently compares the prices Ghanaians pay for petroleum products to that of some of the world’s most powerful economies.<\/p>\n
I find it an insult to the soul, insensitive and perhaps narrow-minded for an experienced politician of his stature to compare prices of petroleum products in Germany or Holland to what pertains in Ghana in his attempt to justify the rather suffocating and ill-timed price hikes.<\/p>\n
I read an interesting Facebook Post that only gave impetus to the hypocrisy and dishonesty in politics in this country. It read “when it comes to increasing fuel prices, they compare us to Germany, US, Holland and other developing nations, but when they are talking about the country’s development progress, they compare us to Togo, Mali and the rest, shame on you” he ended.<\/p>\n
Still on that German comparison, I want to believe that what Germans pay is commensurate with their wages, inflation, cost of living, standard of living, and not abnormally at variance with every other micro and macroeconomic indicator like we have here.<\/p>\n
It will also most likely tally with the quality of social services they enjoy from their hard earned taxes paid to their government. Which of the social services in Ghana performs better for your people? Is it the provision of water, electricity, health or roads?<\/p>\n
I have repeatedly asked myself whether every intellectual robotically or consciously loses his or her sense of objectivity and integrity once they enter politics in this country.<\/p>\n
And even more shocking, is the fact that Mr. Moses Asaga rather used the phrase ”intellectual dishonesty” to describe an opposition figure who criticized the increases; like seriously? A clear scenario of the pot calling the kettle black.<\/p>\n
Who’s being more dishonest here? Is it the one who failed to review fuel prices downwards when crude prices were at an all-time low in the last decade; and now comes to increase amidst worsening power crisis, or the one who merely criticizes the increase?<\/p>\n
Mr. Asaga, please come again if you have something much more rational to say or better still respect the people and keep quiet. Clearly, government is pushing its own inefficiencies of managing the petroleum challenges on the consumer.<\/p>\n
Well, this is not new – In Ghana or Africa for that matter, the cheapest ways used in solving problems of this nature, is simply pass the cost to the consumer and damn the consequences; rather than critically thinking outside the box.<\/p>\n
They are used to taking insults and complaints with no solutions so once such drastic decisions are taken, all they do is put on an alligator skin and take all the shots of vituperation that will come at them; after all, insults don’t kill and it will end after a few days.<\/p>\n
Come to think of it; Mr. Asaga enjoyed fuel allowance as an MP and now as NPA boss in a luxurious car that belongs to the state. And the irony is that, the Ghanaian taxpayer he is ‘insulting’ pays for all that and other unwarranted benefits. What can be more indecorous than this?<\/p>\n
Even an apology is not enough. Elsewhere he would have been fired or in defense of his own integrity and conscience resign. But that culture of integrity is clearly non-existent in our culture or body politics. And where there is no integrity, mediocrity is hailed. And in a society where politics rewards the most loose and lousiest talkers, there is certainly no genuine regrets for such misfiring.<\/p>\n
A friend once said that “when leaders get their bellies filled to the brim, all they spew out is trash”. As harsh as it may be, it is not far from the truth.<\/p>\n
In the last few months, several of Ghana’s youth have made comments deemed offensive to the leadership or the elderly in this country. I will not defend the so-called insults; neither will I be hard on them because I am of the firm conviction that the victims of the supposed insults have brought these upon themselves.<\/p>\n
And I can say without a shred of doubt, that there is very little respect left for leadership or the elderly in this country. It did not start today; it is only deepening more rapidly.<\/p>\n
The era of plastering our mouths as children or youth, while the elderly took wrong decisions\u00a0 and added salt to injury by speaking ‘recklessly’ to our faces is over. It is over because that outmoded culture which was misconstrued as humility and respect for the elderly, only sowed seeds of timidity and silence in us, and cannot be allowed to persist.<\/p>\n
The youth or children of today will bear the brunt of today’s mess tomorrow; and so they can’t keep quiet. Not even the deceitful form of silencing people by painting them with partisan brush, will cow the bold, selfless and patriotic ones into submission.<\/p>\n
Running a country is not like running your home where you shut all your children up when they question your actions or inaction.<\/p>\n
Our President, a communicator by academics, has made comments considered inappropriate in recent past, and so has several of his appointees and party followers; as well as some present and past politicians both in government and in opposition.<\/p>\n
It is even more nauseating when after boldly making those comments and justifying them repeatedly, same persons turnaround to render unqualified apologies sometimes considered doubtful, since they are often done under ‘duress’.<\/p>\n
The youth cannot and will not keep quiet particularly when the gray-hairs are silent – they are the future leaders.<\/p>\n
Respect is reciprocal; it is earned and not commanded like it is done in the military. And not all gray-hairs speak or possess wisdom because a ‘foolish child’ grows gray, likewise a wise child.<\/p>\n
Ghanaian motivational speaker Emmanuel Dei Tumi once said \u201cThe depth of your conversation determines your level of education rather than your certificate”.<\/p>\n
Therefore, let those who parade with double or more degrees, masters, Ph.Ds. and what have you re-examine their speeches once again because it speaks volumes about them than their academic credentials. Ghana deserves inspirational leaders. ‘My mouth has fallen’.<\/p>\n
Author: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie<\/p>\n
Email: enadadzie@gmail.com<\/p>\n
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By: citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n
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Dwindling respect for leadership: a blame for the aged Asagas or the youth? I have no degree, diploma or basic knowledge of elementary economics from any educational institution. But I know by my own common sense growing up as a child, that the cost or standard of living in my home, was largely determined by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":19474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[8],"yoast_head":"\n