May I Reminisce?

I usually would walk with my older colleagues to Kwame Nkrumah Circle, discussing football, politics, women, and any other topic a group of twenty-something year old lads talked about whenever they congregated. And when we got there, we jumped into waiting ‘trotros’ or joined long and winding queues. But not on this day – nay! They would tease the living daylight out of me. So I dashed out of the class immediately the lecturer dropped his black marker and duster. “No time for imbecilities!”…as Asempa FM’s Songo usually blurts when incensed about the goings-on at the GFA. Reason? I had had a very terrible day in class, ‘bombing’ an impromptu company law quiz – one I wasn’t prepared for.

The Seed....

 “When is your next ‘motivational’ piece going up on your blog?” I have had to cleverly dodge this question anytime I’m asked since ‘Who Are You?’ was posted in November last year. I always changed the subject when a reader bothered to find out. But one avid reader of my posts beat me to my game and ‘extorted’ an answer from me. And when I told him I was on a short break, he minced no words in telling me “it’s a sign of failure”. He went on to tell me why he thought so, but I won’t bore you with that. Initially, I thought he was jesting, but I was mistaken when I saw no smile form on his face. Honestly, I felt lethargic writing anything after that piece as I hadn’t been ‘motivated’ by any circumstance…absolutely nothing. But his advice kept sounding in my ears each time I saw him. And I said a silent prayer to God to give me something to write about, like I usually do after every piece I write.

That motivation didn’t come when I expected it. Well, maybe it did but I wasn’t giving situations around me the necessary attention they deserved then. I had arrived home from work one evening and went straight for the remote control to catch an EPL game. I hit the wrong button which took me to CCTVD where a documentary on Chinese bamboo was showing. Even though the EPL game had started about 15 minutes before I got home, I decided to spare some few minutes and watch that documentary. I was blown away by what I gathered that evening, and I’ll endeavour to share my very short musings with you in the next few sentences.

Can Ghana Ever Develop?

A year ago, I lost my sweet octogenarian grandmother to medical negligence; a term that has gained currency in our beloved country due to the many instances where rather preventable deaths otherwise lead people to their graves at the instance of health practitioners. I also lost a sister from another mother just when we were preparing to ‘Cross Over’ into 2015. She’d just delivered a bouncy baby boy the natural way than she started complaining of stomach ache. That was all!

Anyway, so we held Maame Efua Ansaba’s first anniversary earlier in the month. Due to pressure emanating from different quarters, I celebrated her with a rather unkempt hair. So on the Sunday of the celebration, I visited my most trusted barber after the memorial and thanksgiving service, for a trim. Upon reaching the salon, I met two childhood friends of mine waiting their turn to trim theirs too.

About 15 minutes into our conversation, one asked the other: “So can Ghana ever develop?” My eyes and ears were fixated on my other friend to hear what he had to say. “Kai…for the where? The individuals dey develop, but the nation di33...Yaa Mutu!”, was his response. I couldn’t stop laughing. On my way back to the reception grounds after I’d had my hair cut, I was still thinking about that response, trying to ascertain its veracity or otherwise. Dear readers, I readily concurred after about a minute or so, and I’ll tell you why.