‘We need a mindset revolution’ — Akosua Bame
A CONSULTANT and entrepreneur, Madam Akosua Bame, has called for a radical change in the mindset of the people to help take the country out of its current challenges.
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She stated that the slavish mindset bequeathed to us by our colonial masters which manifests itself in all facets of the Ghanaian life cannot transform the country as expected, adding that until a mindset revolution is secured, no amount of development in the country can make the country self-reliant.
“In a slave mindset we have a slave and a master. Our current politicians believe they are the masters, taking over from our colonial masters, they feel a sense of entitlement, authoritarianism, to be worshipped and adored while we the slaves feel we are dependent and helpless,” she stated.
She added that the country’s growth has also been stagnated as leaders and the citizenry have shifted from morality to materiality that perpetuates a cycle of the slavish mindset.
“For us to achieve this transformation we need badly as a nation, a mindset revolution. We have failed to shift our cultural behaviour and mindset and we operate on auto-pilot,” she noted.
Speaking to the Graphic Business on the country’s retardation, she noted that Ghanaians have failed to invest in their thinking and successive leaders appointed in this current democratic dispensation have adopted a master and a slave approach to govern the citizenry.
Learned helplessness
The renowned life coach also tackled the menace of educated Ghanaians who feel helpless about the situation, fail to tackle problems they are capable of doing in the surroundings.
“This slave mindset manifests in different ways and forms; citizens for instance believe they are entitled to things they are not, you can’t change without changing your behaviour,” she stated.
Comparing Ghana to other jurisdictions, she revealed that Ghanaians were not health conscious, saying while other countries wouldn’t sit aloof for their environments to be in filth as witnessed in the country, educated Ghanaians witness these filth in their environments and expect the government to tackle such filths which is in their domain.
“This is what we call learned helplessness. We know filth can kill us, we see filth all round us, but we wait for the government to do it. We say it is not our duty, but we know we can clean our environment ourselves,” she stated.
Taking responsibility and ownership
She called on duty bearers and Ghanaians to own up to their responsibilities; believe in a shared responsibility and imbibe a mindset of pleasing each other without relying on government for solutions.
“The slavery mindset is a complex combination. We must enforce our laws. This must be done meticulously till it becomes imbibed,” she stated.
