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 

Nigeria's Elections and Matters Arising

It’s the aftermath of Nigeria’s successful elections even though the real or imagined turmoil is yet to settle and these happenstances seem to have a daunting impression on the body politic of Ghana.  Aside economic relations that have binded the two countries together and fact that they are all west African countries, I am not able to draw any line between the unsubstantiated inferences that are flying about.

According to some observers and social commentators who mostly align with the main opposition party; the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the final results of Ghana’s General election which comes off in 2016 is just the true and exact reflection of what happened in far away Nigeria. The erroneous and oversimplified assertion which leaves no margin of error only makes one want to ask if these people are really serious about governing our ailing state that needs timely redemption.

Admittedly, Ghana is not doing well and requires a formidable opposition that can flaw the modus operandi of the ruling government and offering better alternatives thereof. An opposition that will put forward, realistic issues that will bring everybody to the table and a better campaign message that will translate into a beacon of hope to the hopeless and finally a can-do person we can all rally around to move us out of the quagmire we find ourselves in, but if people go about touting some bogus analysis that won’t fly, then I am tempted to think that the opposition is not ready to take over the reins of governance from our dead goat of a President.

For crying out loud, how can folks even come out with analysis such as, Buhari won the presidency at 72 and so is Nana Akufo Addo by next year at 72 and while Jonathan is already 58, Mahama is yet to hit 58 by next year? While they are both known to take over the reins of power from their bosses after their demise in office, the PDP and NDC of Ghana are symptomatic of the umbrella as their emblems, so by inference, APC, a Socialist party is NPP and Nana Addo, the same as Muhammadu Buhari. Additionally their respective opponents, Jonathan and Mahama have both been alleged to preside over massive corruption, mismanagement of the economy and bad governance which makes the plot Grande.

I shudder at these porous analysis because it looks like that is where the coincidence starts and ends and Nigeria’s elections outcome has got nothing on Ghana’s Presidential elections come next year. These people who think Buhari’s win is a precursor to Nana Addo’s win simply because of a handful coincidences have also forgotten that the political terrain in Nigeria and it’s demographics is far different from that of Ghana and whereas Jonathan woefully failed to contain the actions of the insurgents, Boko Haram, John Mahama has nothing to contend with except the chronic dumsor which has always bedeviled Ghana anyway.

Conversely, these impoverished thoughts have blinded the commentators to forget that the 72year old Buhari is more astute and agile than the 71year old Nana Addo and cannot really be compared to, in terms of health and zest to do the work at the Presidency. It is also noteworthy that Buhari has been a Major General in the army before and comes on as a hopeful candidate to restore peace and to quell down the rampant death, arsons and insecurity as a result of the insurgence of its people. They have also forgotten that as someone who comes from the North, he succeeded in garnering support from the Muslims who almost outnumbers other religious sects combined. And if Buhari has once been a Prime Minister through a Coup d’état, how realistic are these comparisons by comparing Nana Addo to him as though he has also executed a coup before? 

In the same vein, they have forgotten that the sterling performance of the Ex-Army General and

someone who has once being a President speaks for itself while Nana Addo is still contending his Lawyer Status or yet to convince all and sundry that he was called to the Bar? They have also forgotten that unlike Buhari, who is a Muslim, the two main contenders on our terrain are both Christians and are bound to split votes on that score. What more? Buhari has not side stepped the constitution to impose women on their constituents at the expense of their male counterparts or has not issued a caveat to the Ibos not to contest elections in the Yoruba dominated areas, thus denying aspirants and other sympathizers, their constitutional rights to enjoin in anything.

Why has age even become an issue in our political discourse if the constitution has not placed a limitation on it? Are we bereft of ideas and issues that will see us progress? And if there is anything to go by, barring other things, shouldn’t old age be synonymous to wisdom? Methinks it is time we as a people drop this age factor in our body politic to rather focus on abilities and capabilities?

We are already disappointed by the government of the day for not providing the basic necessities that will ensure better socio-economic lifestyles of its citizens but it gets a lot more painful when the opposition to check them comes on with this voodoo analysis and knee jerk reaction that does not stand the test of time. It is even more painful when all they seem to do is to be shifting goalposts and dancing in circles which will otherwise make most of the people who are bedfellows with the NDC  not hesitate to sleep in with the incumbent which will eventually give a closure to Nana Addo’s political career. 

In other words, we have gone past these armchair kinds of Politics, so the Politics in a bid to coming clean and taking the people serious should refrain from all these gimmicks and compose verifiable messages that Ghanaians can identify with, because the comparisons and differences in the two candidates who seems worlds apart can go on unend. And while these similarities are being bandied around, have we also thought about the aspirations of Ghanaians which may not necessarily be like that of the Nigerians?

Going forward, can we agree to play with the thorns on the roses and tell ourselves that the child’s play is enough?

writer tweets @vilejah  

Feature: What is an all-Inclusive government?

"Africa doesn't need Strongmen, it needs Strong Institutions" - Barack Hussein Obama

There has been many calls from different political divides and some identified opinion leaders, all

proposing an all-inclusive government, to do away with the winner takes all governance that has characterized our fledgling democracy since its inception in 1992. The call to commune however, does not sit well with some of us because the timing of the call is misplaced. Simply, an

What is an all-inclusive government when Ghana is always run by an all Ghanaian leaders who are either elected or appointed to post? 

The politician, by his cunning nature will do everything within his means and power to win or amass anything that belongs to the people or where the booty eludes him, he will try to at least have a portion of what the other is enjoying. It is rightfully so, because Politics has become an economic or a commercial venture in which you invest monies, with 98% surety of recouping it, simply because, it has proven to be profitable over the years.

As a political animal who cannot escape my descent, I have keenly observed politics in our dear nation, Ghana, and I have realized that, all we practice here is Politics of Convenience. We do not really love our Country as we profess to and our posture is just a facade. We shift goalposts to assuage for our loss or to still be relevant in the political terrain. Even though, the onus of governance currently lies in the bosom of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), there is no gainsaying that, only two successive governments, represented by the NDC and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have taken turns to rule our dear nation, Ghana, for eight (8) years each in the past. 

We can’t rule out the possibilities the supposedly all-inclusive governance can reap for the nation, but how sure, are we that, the two opposing parties can work coherently to achieve the objectives of ensuring the welfare of our citizenry and the nation as a whole? Who then plays the role of checks and balances on the governing team?

Aside the over-arching constitution, we don’t even have national policies to guide the government of the day, so how are we going to go about the inclusion exercise? Are we just going to look around and call up members of the opposing political parties who can play ball or each party would be mandated to present a quorum to be integrated into the governing team?

Methinks it is another strategy to team up to rip our already touted lean coffers apart, thus denying the electorates what is due them. We all know that, the only bill that gets passed quickly in Parliament is the one that has to do with monies due our Parliamentarians, and that is an all-inclusive governance right there, so just do the math and tell me how our monies will be spent, should the all inclusive government be promulgated. 

Our Constitution clearly endorses a multiplicity of political parties in which the emergent Presidential hopeful forms his government, regardless of whether he obtained the right number of Parliamentarians or not. The system further gives him the right to appoint Ministers and their deputies from all over Ghana, especially those who made it to Parliament regardless of their party affiliation, so which all-inclusive government are we talking about?

Shouldn't we rather be consulting our Constitution which would help us put up strong structures to ensure that, the right persons are appointed by the President to work for us, rather than calling for an all-inclusive government that is already in place?

Since these calls started, prior to the election petition judgement, I thought the proponents of this all-inclusive government were making such calls just to massage the ego of the emergent loser or to bring about peace, but the incessancy of the calls from people who should know better has made it a worrying development which might not augur well for us as a Country.

To begin with, we were all Ghanaians until we decided to break up into different political parties, driven by our varied ideologies which is borne out of religious, Social and economic leanings. Then through the successive days, the individual and the political parties keep evolving through reforms which are dictated by the changing times, yet we still find it convenient being with our parties, because they embody our ideals. We also do this tenaciously because we believe in their governing know-how, so why would we cry wolf if our parties lose?

Just as I don’t expect to see or hear Chelsea Football Club soliciting for some of their players to be integrated into the Glorious Manchester United’s team to have a feel of what glory tastes like, simply because they have consistently won the European Premier League, I don’t expect to see any Political Party making such calls to their opponents either.

Being a good businessman among other things, includes your acumen to foresee what can befall your business and plan strategies to forestall negative occurrences, so I think failure on the part of an individual to see that s/he is not in a winning team should also be something the individual should dearly suffer for. Plainly, if you know or think that you have something to offer this Country, join the winning team to wrestle power and bring your know-how to bear or you sit and bid your time. You can still help from the fringes by suggesting to the government of the day, what should be done or where the government deserves some bashing, you give it to them constructively. 

After all, no one dines with their supposed enemy, because, that is what it is, per the governance in this country, as demonstrated over the years by both parties being at extreme ends of the pole. Any party which wins power is already an all-inclusive government because it is made up of diverse people with diverse backgrounds from every nook and cranny of our nation - so wherein lies the merit of the clarion call? 

Political Parties even in opposition, always have a government in place by appointing shadow Ministers et al; so, I think the call is just another ploy by the Politician to fleece us of our scanty resources.

Conversely, calling industrious Citizens who have a proven track record to join the government to help build the nation is welcomed but not the en masse integration of other party members who do not even believe in the ideals of the government of the day to start with and there is still an issue of trust. You may be finding ways to bring solidarity between your enemy and you, but trusting them with your business will be a tad stretching the already stretched lines.

While still pursuing our selfish ends through democracy, where only a few people create, share and loot at the expense of the populace, let us not lose sight of the fact that, Ghana is already practicing the all-inclusive governance as evidenced by the various representations from the Political parties in our Parliamentary system, so let us not push our luck further, because we might proverbially pooh like the lizard.

Musings - Sins behind the scenes!

You must be leaving in the stone ages if you still believe in the maxim "talk is cheap".  The

government has proposed to increase levy on emails including all the junks and international calls which are mostly placed to lonely and sick grannies in the villages from their children in the cold. Well, the government must be the channel through which these policies must come, but fellows, you have to bypass the government and look at the bigger picture.

 The government is just a group of people made up by members from our society. Some are friends, families, school mates and colleagues, so it's not like they are far-removed from our situation or suddenly become accustomed to riches or luxuries and have turned their back on us. No, their hands are tied and it is a pity all we talk about all day is their inability to deliver on their promises. How can they deliver their promises when the Paymaster has not released funds (which they have amassed from corporatocracy and fascism) or releases insufficient funds with shoe string budgets and strict directives as to how the money should be disbursed? 

From my purview, Ghana is too small a country to resist the overwhelming and imposing figure of Big Brother not to allow all these economic hit men to parade around as entrepreneurs, business and development partners. What is in for them for the street lights and roads they construct for us? What is in for them for the Electrification projects and the beautification of the city? Do they care that much to give us grants just to construct roads without necessarily solving our basic and pervasive problems?

The whole idea is to keep us on the fringes for exploitation because in the end, toxins from mining our mineral resources are willfully pumped into our water bodies which eventually kill people, plants and animals and consequently are paid outrageously for good work done, while the poor victims wallow in abject poverty. 

A look at the regular trends in worldwide poverty rates are published by newspapers everyday and per the world Bank, a daily income of less than two dollars per person have become the benchmark for defining the world’s poor while the poorest scrap on less than a dollar a day and it is hard to imagine how these poor people survive the hardships that come in torrents but even more harder thinking about how such people can ever prosper, not to think about emergencies and affording big-ticket items like building, education, furniture etc.

However the two dollar statistics is just an average over time, meaning there are days you go without the two dollars and there are other days you make more to which you can’t really make plans for because as irregular as the income is, it is small and unpredictable. It will also interest you to note that of all the statistics that have been availed by scores of scholars for the world bank, they have not been able to research into how the poor people survive on the two dollars and how they go through each day.

They don’t really care about you and it is time the poor majority change their attitude towards the government because the government is not there for you. They have actually come to make you poorer and trust me, of every ten units of items they take from you, they give you one.

The whole idea is to annihilate the human race which I know most of you will be quick to refer to as unfounded, but that just goes to portray your gullibility and what you are being fed with. There is more happening around you than you can see and you don't always need empirical evidence to believe. Read beyond the lines and you will realize to your chagrin that, there are other printed matters you have refused to see. They play with our minds; rein us in so we can rally around one figurehead by appending our signatures and consents that will be binding on us as a people. Votes for our Presidents and other leaders are all it takes to set their dominion in motion. Democracy.

Recently, there was a topic for discussion on Africans and for that matter Ghanaians now enjoying middle income status; another illusive praise on us, to probably assuage our psyche, but given that the report is true, how many people are actually in that bracket? How reflective is our single digit inflation and all the economic indicators they keep touting on our behalf? How beneficial is it to that hard working hawking woman with a child strapped behind her? And how does that incredible GDP figures that are churned out every time help the average Joe in Teshie, Wassa, Afram Plains and Atiavi? We as a people have to determine that enough is enough and we want to try another means of approaching same prevalent situations.

Dear reader, there is nothing like middle income class or middle class. Typically on a number scale, there are two sets of numbers, one being negative and the other positive, all gravitating to the middle number which is zero (0), so you realize that even the less positive number (+1) nearer to the zero is more than the highest (-1) on the other divide, and interestingly, the gap between the two divides only keep widening as the numbers increase in the opposite directions, so there cannot be anything like the middle class. You are either there or here. Simple.

Anything middle is defeating to polarity and the duality concept in Accounting and Creation where we have man and woman, up and down, table and chair, negative and positive, good and evil, God and Devil, a freeman and a slave and what have you. The attempt to fuse in ‘middle’ is what is giving birth to gays and their related rights; middle income class and what have you.

Consequently, we will be served more than we bargained for. We will be paying more levies that weever anticipated because everything is just playing to their galleries. Our system has moved into an era where one person can control about sixty percent (60%) of the economy and you think that man is not powerful enough to use human beings the way he likes? Can you imagine how many people will be dependent on that man through the number of employments he is willing and able to provide for the masses? Too much power vested in one person can be very dangerous but unfortunately that is where we are now and the bad news is we are on a journey of no return which ushers in modern day slavery.

There is always a price to pay for every single choice we make except, most of the consequences is not bearing on us because of their negligible effect. We only get to feel those that affect us seriously. The need to pay for everything we utilize is just a tip of the iceberg and a clarion call to what is yet to hit us. They are testing the waters and very soon, we will be paying to breathe ‘good’ air because the whole atmosphere would have been polluted. You either pay, breath and live or die. 

And there is this incessant feeling that will not go away anytime soon, that, one of these days, one or two people will start owning nations and by extension, everything the nation has to offer looking at the rate at which all our mineral and human resources are being used as collateral for borrowing from external sources. 

Brace up because serious times are here!

Big Brother is Fake!

Big brother is supposed to be a reality show, staged in a large comfortable house, furnished with Jacuzzi, Steam bath, large furniture, running water, enough food, alcohol, VIP suite, other luxuries and lots of surveillance cameras to monitor every single movement made by the housemates. Currently ranked as the number one ‘reality show’ in Africa, Big Brother is premised on a group of people who have been handpicked from various African Countries after series of auditions, to mingle and foster relationships in a house where they are isolated and barred from having any interaction whatsoever with the outside world.

The show which runs for almost three months features mostly housemates who are upbeat about fame and how to make it in life by scheming all kind of strategies and plots to outwit each other for the grand prize. Whilst the real objective of the reality show is yet to be known, speculation holds that, it serves as a platform to watch people closely through the lenses of Big Brother’s all-seeing-eye as housemates live their lives.

Apart from the fact that it is a game and sometimes entertaining, most people are wondering what’s in for them since all the fun starts and ends there in the marooned house. Undisputedly, the game if played well, presents a platform for some of the housemates to sell their brands in all African homes and abroad, whiles, some are about finding love by taking their chances. Others are about the fame while some are purposely there for the grand prize which reminds us of choices and preferences.

However, my motivation to write this piece is to dispute the fact that BIG BROTHER is a reality show because whereas the ‘show’ holds true, same cannot be said about the ‘reality’. You don’t congregate a bunch of young men and women in a house and dictate how they should live by telling them what they should do at appreciable time intervals and still call it reality.

Big Brother practically tells them what to wear, where to go and sometimes, what to eat. It tells them when to engage in a task or bath whilst showing their nudity to anyone who cares to watch and I don’t see how these constitute being real with one’s self. 

Reality show is what you see when you enter Makola and Ikeja markets in Ghana and Nigeria respectively. It is what you see when you observe from the corner of the road and see people struggling and shoving each other just to board vehicles that will convey them to their places of work while the snake of private cars honk all through the traffic jam to work.

Reality is waking up in the morning and planning what to do or how to add value to one’s self, not just gossip, chit-chat about everything and anything or saunter around a demarcated perimeter to which anything contrary attracts a stroke and probably sends you packing home. 

I understand people are really living very luxurious lives where they just relax at home and watch the globe turn around without a tinge of a worry about how to feed, but it is different when you camp a group of people with an objective, by feeding, clothing and offering them almost anything basic a person requires to live a healthy and a clean life should at most be a ‘live show’ but not a reality show because we watch live football matches every time but do not refer to them as reality shows.