You ran home crying because your friend beat you?

While enjoying my conversation as a young Captain with my senior colleague neighbour at his car port, as was our Saturday morning routine, his six-year-old son Kofi, came running and crying, with his mother in hot pursuit.

Instinctively, my friend offered Kofi immediate protection and then demanded from his wife, why that early morning hot chase!

“Ask him what he has done!” The fuming mother retorted.

Losing

Kofi’s submission was “I was playing with my friend Kojo and he beat me, and I started crying.

“When I told Mama, she got angry and wanted to beat me, so I ran to you!”

My colleague exploded asking, “What? You allowed your classmate to beat you and you came home crying?”

When the unexpected smack landed like lightning on his back, Kofi took to his heels like Usain Bolt.

It was a clear case of “from frying pan to fire” from mother to father.

My colleague then decried how soft kids of the day were.

He added that, as a little boy his son’s age, if he lost a fight at the beach in his fishing village, he dared not tell his parents for fear of reprisals.

He simply prepared for a return fight!

Commentary

A week later, while enjoying our chat, Kofi came beaming with smiles with his shoulders high and feeling pea cocky! 

When asked why he was in such a jubilant mood, Kofi gave a commentary of what had just transpired.

“As we were playing, Kojo hit me and I hit him back. Then he hit me again and I also hit him. Then he hit me bam bam, two times!  Then I hit him ham, ham ham, ham, four times! Then he started crying!”

He had won the return match!

“Good!” My colleague exclaimed. “This is what I want you to do. You cannot grow up in barracks and be a weakling, coming home to tell your mother you have been beaten in a fight!”

Why this story which happened over 40 years ago?

By the way, Kofi has grown to be a fine senior military officer!

Rationale

In the aftermath of Ghana’s Elections 2020, I heard and saw on radio and TV threats by some aggrieved Ghanaians to go to the United Nations (UN), Commonwealth, African Union and other international organisations to present their grievances for solutions.

I could not believe it!

Over 60 years after independence, why do we tell the whole world that we cannot solve our own problems except the international community steps in, in the first instance?

Black Star

We have always prided ourselves as the first black African country to attain independence from colonial rule in 1957.

Why then do we, the “Black Star of Africa” help reinforce the conviction some hold that, the black man cannot rule himself?

In any case, don’t we know that, there are 193 countries in the UN?

Assuming every country after elections hurtled to the UN with grievances including alleged rigging for resolution, what would the UN Headquarters be like?

Arguably, the outcome of Elections 2020 in the world’s self-proclaimed leading democracy, the USA, has been worse than what we experience in Africa.

On January 6, 2021, there was an insurrection and a violent attack inspired by Trump on the Capitol Hill at the time Congress was sitting to ratify their 2020 Election results making Joe Biden the President.

Americans described it as a shameful tragedy which flew in the face of whatever good democracy it was credited with.

Despicable as it was, did the US run to the UN like little children to help them solve their problem?

Indeed, on January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of USA.

Dr Samuel Johnson

Called the father of the English Language for publishing the first English language dictionary in 1755, Dr Johnson stated as follows.

“The supreme end of Education is expert discernment in all things; the power to tell the good from the bad, and the genuine from the counterfeit; But above all, to prefer the good and the genuine to the bad and the counterfeit!

I commend this to our politicians! Use your education to maturely solve Ghana’s problems for our utilitarian good!

Conclusion

If Ghana were a human being, he or she would have retired in 2017 at the compulsory retiring age of 60.

We cannot continue not matching our actions with our words.

The UN/Commonwealth, etc., are not there for referral of cases in the first instance of countries’ problems, which they can solve themselves.

Let us learn from the example of six-year-old Kofi, that running to your parents crying because a friend has beaten you is not the best solution to problems.

While the UN/Commonwealth/AU cannot beat Ghana like Kofi’s parents beat him, we may be politely told to be our age and go solve our problems ourselves!

 Fellow Ghanaians, wake up!

The writer is a Former CEO, African Peace Support Trainers Association Nairobi, Kenya & Council Chairman, Family Health University College, Accra

E-mail: dkfrimpong@yahoo.com