Be that change
Change is in. Just some few weeks after the election of Nana Akuffo Addo, expectations are already high. The overly excessive jubilations tell it all. Most of us are already envisaging a heavenly 2017 experience in Ghana.
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Well. We were deluged with a flood of promises during the campaign season and if those promises are indeed anything to go by, then our nation should be some “para-Heaven” of a sort by next year or two.
Should all the promises be realities within the next few years ahead, our nation should be able to rub shoulders with the Singapores, Malaysias and what have you.
Every promise, somewhat, is achievable. It depends on how you look at it; whether long term or short. The better Ghana we have been promised is not beyond us… considering how much wealth goes down the drain as waste each year.
The bitter pill all of us, however, should take is… change begins with us. If there’s indeed ever going to be a change in this nation, it doesn’t depend on only the President-elect or a political party. It doesn’t even depend on his policies much. It depends on us all. It’s a two-way thing. Our collective efforts would make our nation great.
We need to change our mindset. A change in mindset will mean a change in our ways. If a developed nation is what we really want to have, the hard truth is… we have to start acting as developed people, too. If new wine can’t be put in old wineskins, a new Ghana can only be possible when there’s a new, fresh mindset.
A mindset which doesn’t cut corners to make wealth. A mindset which puts the nation before their selfish interests. A mindset of belief in self and in Ghana. We need a mindset of optimism!
Bringing about a turn-around in the economy and every aspect of this nation is not a thing of magic. It would require you… and me.
No one ever got to the top alone. Success is teamwork. Even God created mankind with others. He said, “Let us…”
If change will ever be a reality in this nation, you should be part of #TeamChange. Individual changes in our lives will collectively be the change we want to see. To experience change, start being that change.
You have a role to play in effecting change. You have a role to play at work. You’ve a role to play as a citizen. Change depends on the President-elect as much as it depends on you. Change will never be a reality when we still do the same things over and over again.
The waste at our workplaces. The bribery and corruption. The brute disregard for the elderly. The unproductivity. The bad stewardship of state properties. The tall list of bad attitudes that shoot our nation in the foot.
Doing the same things always yet expecting change is like sitting in a rocking chair and expecting to move forward. It is utterly impossible! If we want to see a nation where hard work pays, we should be ready to not only work hard but also ensure that that hard work is productive enough.
If we want to experience an improvement in our livelihood, we should be ready to cut down on the waste in our lives.
Imagine you were the CEO. Would you have loved to see your workers work like you do? If no… change. Should every citizen act like you do, would Ghana be any better? If no… change.
If there’ll ever be a change in our fortunes as a nation, it begins with our personal savings. It begins with how productive we are wherever we find ourselves. It begins with how honest and transparent we are with what has been entrusted in our care. If we can be faithful with our little, then only can we be faithful with much. Change doesn’t begin with the politician. It begins with you.
Ghana is us… so let us. Let us make it into a nation posterity can’t stop thanking us for. Let us together make it great again. Let us churn the opportunities therein into our fortunes.
Mind you, it’s not about your political affiliation. It’s not about whether you voted for Nana Akuffo Addo or not. It’s about Ghana. It’s about our future which is today. You ought to play your role as a good citizen. His success will depend on you. It will depend on me. I emphasise, it is teamwork.
Not wishing your president well is not partisan politics or sheer pettiness. It is daylight witchcraft. If you wish him failure… well… you inadvertently wish yourself failure, too.
It’s like being on board a ship and wishing the captain failed because you don’t like him. When the ship capsizes, the captain may take the lion’s share of the blame but… you all will go down! So… you had better wish him well.
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Let us… have a merry Christmas.
The writer is a playwright and Chief Scribe of Scribe Communications (www.scribecommltd.com), a writing company based in Accra.