Pale Shadows

After a long hiatus, I decided to break the jinx that has characterized my inability to publish my reeling thoughts and perspectives in recent times by pondering over why I stopped in the first place which ostensibly launches an onslaught of careful diagnosis and its attendant prognosis into a deep ROOTED problem in my environment.

Feelings distract. Once you catch an unguided one, you are on a downward spiral to nothingness. Void. At most you'd only be left with a pale shadow of your former self - a work that was in progress and could have blossomed into a thing of awe and glory. 

It is necessary to note herein, that whatever you are daring at requires time to maximize good utils to make one satisfied and if this pursuit is not meaningful then one should by all means desist. When was the last time you did something you loved to do? When the last time you actually did something that made you fulfilled and got you feeling like you were chipping at what life is going to be; the future and the feeling of what is to be?

 A day at a time.

Whatever you do, it doesn't matter if it’s the characterizing money, plaudits, platitudes and fame that spurs you on, it makes someone happy and so should you. By all means find something you love to do and do it regularly because in the end, it's all that matters. It's all that would ever matter.

What are you known for? What are you contributing to the society, and most importantly is it just situational or you are passionate about it?  Is it what you set out to do or it’s just accidental? Spurring yourself on to whatever you may be falling in love with may be the curve ball, and therein lies the root of the mishap.

Life is supposed to be simple but our daily choices make it complex and it's even saddening to note the effort we put in to make ourselves unhappy. Reading comes to me with ease and anybody who is looking through the looking glass should tell you that it's even easier if you are the one trying to churn out your perspectives for public scrutiny and engagement. And right there marks the groundbreaking to writing again.

We stop because people don't seem to like nor relate to our style or in worst scenarios, our presence. We stop because the plaudits are staggering and spatial. We stop because we haven't won yet. We stop to scratch people's asses. We stop just so we can be validated. We stop when we begin to be too focused on ourselves. We stop when we become inadequate. We stop when we want it so bad. We stop because we feel we are not good.

Well, I just might start publishing again because I cannot have my thoughts and sentiments deadlocked on my computer when I ever fail to wake up one day, for death is inevitable.

Writer tweets @vilejah

The State of our schools

It’s the aftermath of the annual edition of the JoyFm’s old skul reunion which is also touted as the biggest outdoor program in West Africa and I want to use this opportunity to pat the back of JoyFm who is ostensibly the poster child of the multimedia group of companies based in Accra, for instituting and achieving this feat and to also wade into the national debate of the estranged relationship between Religion and education.

I do not intend to bore you with the history of Schools but once upon a time, Missionaries with all

The Main Gate of Presec boys that leads to a citadel of Knowledge

intents and purpose set foot on our land to evangelize the word of God but decided over time to set up schools to educate the inhabitants of the land to facilitate easy preaching and conversion, then came the government to take over from the Churches, thus rendering them a pale shadows of themselves without a bearing.

Education, as one of the building blocks of society has lately been in the news for all the wrong reasons such as yearly examination malpractices, decline in discipline and excellence - resulting in weaker institutions, inconsistent curricula, devaluing of our certificates outside the shores of the land, unwilling and unqualified tutors due to inadequacy and unattractiveness of the teaching profession and now a political tool in the hands of the Politicians which often results in unbridled strike actions, probably due to neglect from the very people it has helped nurtured into positions of repute and also because the government has decided to micromanage the schools including the very ones that were built by and through the toil of Churches.

The government then intruded the educational system as it were through regulation which eventually neutralized and accorded every player in the educational terrain an equal status to probably drive home the fact that we are all equal, before the Law and even before God. Maybe, we should be thanking the Government for whipping us into congruence. Nevertheless, I do not think we are all the same and wields equal status like they try to impress upon us simply because I see and commune with different sorts of people in my everyday walks of life and have seen enough to still frolic in the idea of all of us being the same. However, whoever thinks that we are all equal can revel in their delusion.

In every society, continuity is of essence - to preserve their cultural orientations and beliefs, to at least give them a false sense of permanence.  This permanence or any effort at instilling it is not hewed out of frivolity but often arrived at out of practical convictions have become one of the very reasons why humans will procreate to continue their race. I also believe it is in the same vein that religious entities instituted schools to indoctrinate their very owns and other affiliates who find their way to their doorsteps.

Muslims and Christians with their varied sects such as the Catholics, the Wesleyans, The Presbyterians, the Anglicans and even some latter day churches, through their mission schools have produced a chunk of excellent individuals who have metamorphosed into giant brands and sometimes, with a lot of followings. Then came in too much liberation and the equality argument without recourse to the preambles and purposes of why the mission schools were built in the first place turned up a notch higher. 

All persons, regardless of their creed were allowed anywhere but should they not be compelled to abide by the tenets of the accommodating institution?

Personally, Muslims and traditionalists who have no school anyway can attend the mission schools if they wish to be nurtured by the indoctrinating school of their choice and vice versa, but such individuals must be compelled to go the full haul to align to the spirit and letter of the Church or their schools thereof. And rightfully so, to continue breeding legions of soldiers who are without a doubt the future of the Church and an extension of its doctrines to ultimately fulfill the purpose of establishing the Church. 

But what do we see?

The St. Augustine's Administration block in its full glory

Pockets of infidels found their ways into these mission schools and have over time become cystic and protected by the law through their fundamental human rights that they can even haul a whole institution to a battle of wits at the courts of Law. The mission schools have now become pale shadows of themselves because discipline which invariably is/was a key to breeding near excellence is no more. Students are not even caned any longer or where necessary it cannot exceed six. 

Methinks, if the powers that be do not have a problem with these churches or cannot impugn on their existence and their indoctrination thereof, then these churches should be allowed to build their own schools as an appendage to train students accordingly. These Churches also have a need for permanence which requires them to spread their tentacles and by extension, their dominance. 

To think that religious and moral education have been expunged from the curricula has only made the government’s efforts at neutralizing and thwarting the objective of the mission schools too blatant. Government should both build its own school and make it free education or whatever political gains they stand to derive from their gimmick and leave the religious schools to operate since their mother churches have been allowed to fester. Better still, the government should leave the administration and its bearing in the hands of the Churches and if need be, regulate it from the fringes. We all know now what it means to say that government has taken over schools as it is so evident in how educational standards have fallen to their lowest ebb but the question is why and how does government take over all the religious schools in the first place?

Thus far, it is even convenient to say that it was imprudent of the government to take over these schools because it doesn’t seem to be making meaningful strides. At most, education is even a distraction on government’s plate, looking at how they are still toying with what a senior high school curriculum should entail and look like? If a lot was achieved through crude and not-so-smart ways of doing things in terms of storing and availing data or textbooks in the past with the Churches in charge, why can’t we mobilize, plan and execute our agendas in this day and age where schools now take pride in websites?

 Writer tweets @vilejah 

Churches in the Wild...

Thou saith that “for where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in their midst” but can we go a tad further to scrutinize the passage by trying to conceptualize the wherever therein?

I am convinced beyond doubt that God with an Omni presence is everywhere even if the people thereof are gathered in the name of evil but does it imply that He will still be amidst two or three people who are rooted in His name in the middle of a certain Champs Sports Bar in Accra on a Friday night when the whole of Accra have decided to go there for a getaway? Wow!

And I almost thought good and evil could not dwell at one place…

I know God protects his people wherever they find themselves but just how did Churches resolve to convert Classrooms into places of worship? How did we as a Society allow these latter day sects to fest among us? And did you also know that they are the number one culprits for noise pollution in the City?

Pray do tell if it’s not a worrying sight to see a six classroom block, each occupied by a different Church, screaming on top of their voices through the low quality PA systems they use as though there are laurels at stake for the best noise pollutant? I bet you haven’t noticed that most Schools in the City and recently a budding trend in the villages have become places of worship by day and invariably a place of worship at night?

How do they even do it? Wait, I can hazard a guess. Firstly, the Pastor with a group of people will go and consult the Headmaster alone or together with the Board that they want to start worshiping in their facility to align with God’s directive of winning souls for Him to which the Headmaster being a religious person will assent to either by veto power or in consultation with other stakeholders. Next thing, ground rules are set with some money exchanging hands and a promise to keep by both parties.

Then comes a day of worship where you will see a group of believers coming to the school ahead of time, frantically pacing about, waiting for the extra classes that have run into the evening to finally come to an end for whatever they were worth for their Classrooms to be occupied. To worship. And when the bell goes for closing, you are sure to see these Church members practically shoving and parking the desks to one side of the classroom even before the kids leave. Some sweeping and picking up litters, others decorating the Teacher’s table with fine lace and a flowered vase and a collection box placed between the Clergy and the Congregation to continually remind everyone of how good it is to give…

What in God’s name will make about 15 or 20 people decide to establish a church as though it’s a venture? What are they teaching that is not been taught at bigger Churches; mostly from where they break off? Just visualize a Classroom and tell me how many Church members can actually squeeze in if not just a handful of Congregants? 

Methinks Church premises should exude an atmosphere of serenity, quietude and that saintly presence that draws you in and brings chagrin to the fore especially for a reckless sinner like me - that is why this sudden transformation of a classroom into a holy place within a twinkle of an eye does not cut it for me. Blame my conservatism, but I also do not believe we need too many Churches. We need some decorum in the house of the Lord because it looks like these zealots are becoming more Catholic than the Pope. 

As much as there is freedom of Association where people are entitled to their respective choices, I think society still owes it a duty to save some of these wandering souls just the way the government has taken it upon itself to save and protect smokers from the throes of wee(d) which hitherto used to be one of their right and delight.

And Just a quick question. Will there be a conflict of interest should a teacher decides to organize an extra classes for the pupils on a Sunday morning which also happens to be the Church’s Harvest?

Writer tweets @vilejah                                            

To be a man should be easy!

It’s not easy to be a man is a cliché I have been made to internalize since childhood but going forward, I have come to realize that it was one of the many ways the men have employed to stay ahead of the women pack. At least it used to be true in the past but I think times have changed and it has ceased to apply.

In times past, women were housewives or helped out with family businesses and were mostly

excused because of their biological make up. Women take time off to breed babies, take time off during menstrual periods since most are characterized by sicknesses. They also take time off to take care of the house which in itself is a full time job; bathing two or more children at least twice a day, bathing and taking care of themselves to still look attractive and youthful for the men, do all the family laundry, make sure there is always food, patch every torn garment there is, make sure their men are sexually satisfied every time their libido requires to be attended to, keep the house clean and orderly and the list is endless.

In view of the foregoing it could also be argued that providence for the house exclusively became a man’s job. A man makes sure even against all odds that his family is well fed, they have a roof that wont leak which also dodouble as a chimney, a place to sleep, has to ensure that there is enough food for the household and solely responsible for their protection against any harm. The man is compelled to be the hero of the family, to take good decisions whose benefits will inure to the family’s benefit and the list again is exhaustive.

Fast forwarded to now and nothing has really changed except a subtle agitation in the women folk to really have a feel of what manhood feels like – acting and feeling like men, thus usurping most of their roles. Even though it smacks of pulling leverage, most women are now working in one form or the other to contribute in the upkeep of the house or to at least fend for themselves which used to be the preserve of the men. Most women are now educated and appreciably intelligent and are helping their husbands/men build empires.

And in spite of some limitations in their famed “what men can do, women can do better” mantra, which some of them like to brandish at every instance, it can be argued out that women work like their male counterparts and are exposed to every danger like everyone else. Their tendency to be damned by irresponsible men who are not men enough to take care of their own children and the crudeness they are exposed to when ruthless men rape them has even made them more endangered than the mythic Dinosaurs.

Aside the natural forces women have to face on every day basis, they also face discrimination in all forms. It is a known fact that women are harassed, intimidated and exploited for sex at work places and even at Churches. They are also beaten, abused, assaulted and subjected to all kinds of ordeal by men. It is also notable how the womenfolk are relegated to the back of the burner except for the new breed who would not allow these gender cards to be played in their faces – the Feminists.

Whereas, men are preferred than their female counterparts when it comes to employment, they are also faced with a glass ceiling that does not allow them to really climb the career ladder or rise to higher positions in their various endeavors - and while they are still being tagged as weak, panic-stricken, impatient in some cases, their mortality rate still stands higher than that of their male counterparts but I am yet to really hear them coin anything like being a woman is herculean or a curse.

So my question which has become the thrust of this write-up is, if women go through all of these things just to be accepted as women of good standing, why then would their male counterparts be shouting from the rooftops with Chinese megaphones reminding everybody how difficult it is to be a man? Is it to court the sympathy of the womenfolk who already have a lot on their plates?

In the face of all these oddities, methinks being a man is the easiest. I also think being a man should comparatively be easier because while at it, they don’t have to periodically bleed amidst agonizing pains in the middle of a meeting. Men also have an array of jobs to choose from that is why until now, when a woman ventures into a male dominated field, their profession is preceded by their gender such as Female Driver, Female Carpenter, Female Electrician, Female Boss et al.

Finally, I think it is time for the men to look at the positive sides of their gender and count themselves blessed by not pathetically clinging on to the cliché “to be a man is not easy” because I maintain that being a man should be easy by all means necessary at least while society is still patriarchal.

 writer tweets @vilejah