Lessons from the 2016 election
The much talked about 2016 election is over and the fears, the anxiety, the suspicions, the insinuations, the accusations and counter-accusations have all settled quietly and peacefully, Glory be to God! Events before, during and after last Wednesday’s election have some immeasurable lessons beneficial to the personal development of every individual Ghanaian.
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Perseverance pays indeed
When man is confronted with difficulties repeatedly and over the years, his endurance ability is certainly overstretched and not many people can stand the ‘waves’, but the ability to endure and fight till one’s dreams are fulfilled is very important. Ever heard of John Quincy Adams saying that “Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air”? Yes, this is more than right and the President-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has every reason to believe in this quote.
His long struggle to achieve his presidential dream has been characterised by many difficulties and I believe that on his way to achieve this ultimate goal, he almost gave up. But “almost gave up” is inconsequential at this point. The man persevered against all opposition both within his party and outside to make history, and a great history of course for himself and posterity making success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure. As the youth of Ghana, many are the challenges we face in life. The challenges of unemployment, education, marriage, poverty etc. can be extremely heavy and can sometimes deny us the courage and confidence we need in life as people make mockery of us and say all manner of unpalatable comments against us but we need to learn from our next president. As we walk in the path of life, challenges and difficulties are bound to hit us from every corner but as to whether they stay and die with us as failures or they die along the way while we live in glory is entirely up to us. Let us, whether we voted for the elected President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, or not, learn for our personal benefit and growth, the importance of perseverance in life no matter how long our bad days may last.
Man’s destiny is in God’s hands last Wednesday election results has taught all
Ghanaians that man does not determine man’s destiny and that only God has control over man’s destiny. The critics of the elected president - as is in the nature of all men- constantly pronounced that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was not supposed to be President. They either said he was not a Presidential material, would be retired in politics or could never be president in this country. But to the shock of these critics, Nana is president. As youth, let us be assured that our critics are not God, so we should endeavour to live beyond the pains of negative criticisms and pray against negative pronouncements over our lives. It is important that we take a cue from this election and not to allow others determine our destiny or to determine others’ destiny based on their unpleasant current situation. We should keep in mind that we aren’t God, neither are our critics.
Money is not always the answer
One of the most important tools in the 2016 election was money. With so much money, political parties were able to do magic in their campaigns, the mounting of giant billboards, printing of party T-shirts and paraphernalia and the buying of advertisement time and space in the media required money but unfortunately, the monies were unable to buy the conscience of the determined voter. As the youth of this country take a great lesson from the fact that money is not always the answer to achieving our goals, I will equally entreat politicians to learn from this, that not everyone is buyable. As we all pray and work hard for money, we need to learn to use our monies positively and in the fear of God and not to control affairs to our undue advantage.
I believe that many politicians, especially those in the National Democratic Congress administration, have been disappointed by some personalities who endorsed their candidature and assured them of their support, especially the traditional leaders who sang so much praises to the president and assured him of almost hundred per cent of votes from their traditional areas. We need to understand that in the 21st Century, people hardly influence others because everyone or should I say most people make a decision from their personal experiences and not from what others want them to do and so we will have to base our confidence in realities on the ground rather than in people who tend to take advantage of our desperate moments to falsely raise our hopes. Had I known they say comes late but there is always another chance for us to make corrections.
Power belongs to the people
The greatest lesson of all in the 2016 election is that power belongs to the people and not their leaders and so the will and aspirations of the people should always be high on the agenda of leaders. Leaders tend to forget that the people wield power and that they are accountable to the people, so the tendency for leaders to be drunk with power is common in our part of the world but I thank God that the people always have a day to pay each politician according to his deeds. As young people who desire to be leaders, bear in mind that being in a leadership position is only temporary.