A people, it is said, deserve the kind of leadership they have, and the lives and state of any community is also the physical outcomes of their belief systems and thought pattern. As Ghanaians, I think we are what we are because of our beliefs, the way we think and the way we see and do things.
Many of our beliefs and thinking have brought us together as a nation, that is why we seem to be an oasis in a troubled region of conflicts and chaos in some cases.
The notion of “fama Nyame” instead of challenging or litigating a wrong deliberately inflicted by a neighbour always creates a perceptive calm and brotherly environment in our various communities. While I applaud the spirit of forgiveness, I also think that it sometimes creates an incentive for miscreants to harm innocent and descent members of our communities with impunity.
One of the most difficult challenges that ever came my way as a District Chief Executive was the alacrity with which traditional elders, Priests and Pastors rushed into my residence or office to plead on behalf of someone who had been sanctioned for blatantly disregarding the laws of the land or the rules and regulations of the assembly.
People steal, and when they are about to be dismissed, some of the people I have mentioned above will rush to you, pleading for forgiveness.
Others site their kiosks and other temporary structures at unauthorized places that inconvenience the general public, but when you authorize their removal, the person, who suddenly becomes the son or nephew of a prominent Chief or some person of stature within the community, will rush or send an emissary to plead on his/her.
Dare insist on enforcing the rules and regulations which govern the administration of the District, I bet you, you will be branded as arrogant, disrespectful of Nananom, you name the negative epithets that would be showered on you. Thus members of our society are not deterred from doing wrong since there will be people to plead for them. It goes on and on and on.
These days, all one needs to do is to have a political party card, particularly NDC and NPP, and believe you me, you can kill and go scot free. Examples abound but I do not want to go further down there.
One belief system with Ghanaians, which ordinarily should be a good thing but has become very negative to our growth and development, is our passionate attachment to religion. The various Constitutions that have been drawn for the good governance of this country have always recognized the secular nature of our society.
That is to say that Ghana as a nation can never be governed on the basis of any religious doctrine and teachings, even though the right to worship and practice any form of religion is guaranteed in our constitutions.
However, if anyone dared say publicly that he or she does not belong to any religious grouping, particularly Christianity or Islam, that person is looked at askance. Particularly when one is in the midst of Christians, you are immediately called a Buddhist by people who know next to nothing about Buddhism.
Again as a DCE, because I was not going to church on Sundays to dish out huge collections to churches as expected, I was declared a Buddhist in its most negative connotation. Well I did not care; I did not allow myself to be blackmailed by some demons in robes portraying themselves as the children of God, with me being the child of Satan.
As I said earlier, there is absolutely nothing wrong with anyone practising a faith he or she believes in, but if that belief is carried to its illogical and unreasonable limits, it becomes negative to that individual and society at large. Man, have you noticed that the Ghanaian does no wrong at all. Whenever a Ghanaian is caught committing a very grievous offence, he or she promptly pushes the problem unto the devil.
A man goes to rape a 12-year-old girl and he is caught, he starts pleading and blames ‘abonsam’ for his action. Meanwhile there is no evidence to show that prior to his action he had had any discussions during which Kweku abonsam gave him the go ahead to rape the poor girl.
Kweku people should pardon me, it is not my fault to describe Kweku people as mbonsam, but you see, Twereduampong is Kwame, Assasi is Yaa. As for Kofi people, they say they are oba boni (bad child), and Kwesi? Heeeiii, wonblow wo ana, wontell wo. Ye ye great.
As I was saying, it is said that Jesus Christ, during one of his quiet times of meditation, went to some secluded place to pray to his father. And I am told that Jesus and Abonsam were like NDC and NPP, in public they made all the noise about themselves. NDC will say “whoooo, VODAPHONE, shame”.
Then NPP will also say “sheiaaaa, apeeto, MAYBE AND JOHNSON. But when they meet secretly, they will drink Whiskey, chew Muntaka and Tilapia and ask for fat ex-gratia.
So it came to pass that Jesus saw Satan at a corner weeping, so he asked, “My brother what is happening”. And Satan, sobbing said, “You see, if any bad thing happens they say it is me. Just this afternoon, somebody went to steal a fowl and when he was caught, the person said it was Satan who did it. Meanwhile I was not there”.
Then when the Ghanaian struggles in life, makes all the sacrifices, imbues himself with discipline and becomes successful in life, he gives the credit to God. ‘Oooh, who am I, it is by the Grace of God that I find myself in this position’, the Ghanaian will say.
Haaba, so if God will be that gracious to make you a lawyer, an engineer or a businessman with all those expensive cars, why should God allow people to live in places like Sodom and Gomorrah? Or are they not the children of God? Ghanaians do not achieve anything good on their own unless God gives it to them.
Why? If that is the case, then why is God being so insensitive to people in Sodom and Gomorrah and other accursed dwellings with no food to eat?
It is this kind of negative thinking, yes, I say negative, because it does not make people think and plan their lives as they wait on God who never comes until they die paupers. Yes, it is this kind of thinking that make people like T.B. Joshua want to take credit for the result of years of hard work, toil, sacrifices and commitment of Ghanaian compatriots in the just ended World Under 20 tournament. What is he saying?
That he prayed for the victory of the Satellites or saw it coming? Did T.B. (not the sickness oooo) foresee the early exit of the Nigerians? It is this religious gullibility that is making many of our people poorer. Are Ghanaians saying that the participating nations are evil, with the exception of Ghana? Why this kind of thinking in the 21st Century?
Some poor Ghanaians spend productive hours on working days in prayer camps when they should be working.
How can you escape poverty? Our President once expressed the wish that the whole of this country be turned into one prayer camp. I forgave him because he had just ascended the throne and thought that prayers could solve the problems he had assured Ghanaians of addressing.
Just as prayers can not bring crude oil to the nation’s oil refinery for us to stop complaining about the shortages, so will prayers not take anyone out of poverty. It is only through hard work and planning. Go ask the Israelites whether they pray to God anytime they feel threatened by their neighbours or they take practical military steps to ensure their safety and security.
I disagree sometimes with their style, but the point I am making is that Ghanaians need to wake up from their slumber and work rather than look up to God for almost everything.
After all the Chinese are over a billion, if God has to devote his time to any group of people, it will be them and not us. Perhaps that is why they are feeding us but we are still going hungry. Enough of this religious stupidity that has taken over our brains to the extent that we cannot think and do anything for ourselves, else the T.B. Joshuas will take credit for even the air we breath.
