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Ghana: Building without builders?

Our problems as a nation do not seem to be going away.

Corruption, indiscipline, greed, hatred, tribalism, crime, poor planning, under-development, as well as health and educational problems among others continue to plague us.

As individuals, it is obvious that we are no worse in character than those in countries which have developed. We cannot also accept that we are a cursed people whose efforts will not see the blessings of God.

What seems to be the problem is that we forget that this world is founded on laws and principles, to which we are all subject, irrespective of colour, creed, gender or nationality.

These laws of nature apply to everyone equally. Without applying oneself to knowledge and conducting one’s affairs in conformity with the dictates of nature, stagnation, death and destruction are the result.

We cannot prosper our nation without knowing and understanding it, and then planning and executing those plans.

Every nation is unique in terms of its geography, people, natural endowments, etc. Every nation’s leaders must, therefore, understand the peculiarities of how these factors interrelate to influence the progress or otherwise of that particular nation.

The greatest resource that any nation possesses is its people, but indeed the greatest obstacle to any nation’s progress can be its people.

It takes a leader with understanding to carve out a customised path to success for a nation which is founded on a clear understanding of the peculiarity of its people; and then to align the people to his plans in ways that bring about progress.
Building a country is just like building a house.

All the workers work towards completing the house. When they fail to play their roles but rather choose to engage in other activities that have nothing to do with the building, or in pilfering the building materials, the building cannot be completed.

We cannot, as a people, keep pursuing our selfish interests and expect that the nation would be built. The development of a nation is a different activity from the development of our personal economies.

National development cannot be a side effect or fallout of development of our personal economies.

Party manifestos continue to target different approaches to development without addressing the germane issue of how to carry the people along.

The nation’s leaders want to lead but do not care that they have no followers. The effect is that we have leaders but there is no leadership happening.

The fact that we voted for leaders does not mean that we intend to follow them.

The activities that almost all Ghanaians engage in daily can hardly be said to have any direct link to what needs to be done for the President to succeed.

We simply go out there with a mindset to work to better our personal lives. Ghana will not progress when almost all of us are doing something else apart from working on the plan the leaders of the nation have set out for her to develop.

It is time for those seeking power to stop deluding themselves that they have a plan to turn the fortunes of this nation around, which plan does not entail the conscious involvement and enrolment of the commitment of the majority of the people.

What we see now is that as leaders are thinking or pretending that they are building the nation, the majority of Ghanaians are either pulling it down or minding their own businesses.

There is need for a change in the mentality of the Ghanaian and that of the Ghanaian politician if Ghana is to develop. It is not possible to build a nation all by yourself. If the people’s attitudes are not conducive to the national plan, then that should be the first port of call.

Failing this, the manifestations of the negative attitudes and mentality, such as indiscipline, corruption, nepotism, tribalism, hatred, greed, laziness, vandalism, etc. will continue to fester and frustrate any plans that leaders have for this nation.

Ghanaians are no angels, and governments carrying on their developmental agenda as though they are is a major reason why this nation is not succeeding.

Until governments tackle the problem of attitudes of Ghanaians through efficient law enforcement and mass re-orientation of the populace towards patriotism, their electoral fortunes would continue to suffer on the back of Ghana’s continuous stagnation.

If governments come into power with the promise to do it alone, Ghanaians will expect just that. A word to the wise is enough.

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