Nana Kwasi Gyan Apenteng, the writer

Quarantine Diary – 4: Meeting Shugatiti (2)

Nana Kwasi Gyan Apenteng Features May - 27 - 2021 , 18:03

Today is Day Six of my ten-day quarantine in London and as you may have noticed, there has been a two-day gap in this diary, which indicates that I am probably getting more comfortable with my “prison” than I had feared. To be totally honest, far from being a prison, I am enjoying the company of my brother and his family. Then of course, there is the matter of meeting Shugatiti, of which more anon.

As you may have gleaned from previous entries in this diary I am spending a considerable amount of time watching Ghana content on television and video during my enforced home arrest, AKA quarantine, in London as a condition of my arrival from an Amber country. As I explained previously, the UK has created a traffic lights Covid-19 categorisation of countries around the world based on the perception of safety. Green is for safest countries such as Israel and Portugal, red is for the most dangerous such as India, and Amber, to which Ghana belongs, is in the middle. All travelers from Amber countries have to quarantine at home for ten days.

As I said, I had expected my quarantine to be tough because mine is a nomadic soul; I find having to spend a few hours in one place rather boring. However, I have filled the time by meeting different people and characters in what has turned out to be a journey of discovery - discovery of Ghana in a way that I had not previously anticipated.

In Ghana, my TV viewing is restricted mostly to the news, current affairs and sports, especially cricket. Of course, social media is everywhere and inescapable but my social media choices only confirm my prejudices which exclude the Delay Show, Mama Efe’s Obra and other such offerings available on demand.

So, now I have immersed myself in Ghana media content to which I would normally not pay much attention, much to my regret. I realise that to understand our country, know what is really going on and what is moving the youth, one has to pay attention to all kinds of media content, especially the off-the-wall, wacky types that feature colourful characters with large following on social media.

There is a clear media generation gap in Ghana. This applies even to the mainstream media where the choices of the millennials are completely different from the gerontocrats. An example is when Akuapem Polo's recent wahala with the law jumped into the mainstream; most people over the age of 40 were befuddled by the whole saga, asking the preliminary question, who is Akuapem Polo!

It was while watching the Delay Show, among others that I met Sgugatiti. Her real name is Abena Serwaa Frimpong who has been described as a “video vixen” and “socialite” –whatever those two words are meant to convey. The word “controversial” attaches to her like a middle name. She is one of many young women who have parlayed good looks and a talent for self-promotion into profitable enterprise on social media platforms.

Despite her self-assurance and confidential pose, from her interview with Delay, Shugatiti is a young lady who needs attention not from the eyes she craves but from those who have set out to manage her. Of course, I am using Shugatiti as a representative of the trend in which vulnerable but talented young people could be exploited due to naivite and inexperience.

I remember that some years ago, the government set up Ghallywood as a training institution for people interested in the movie industry. I was once privileged to be a guest speaker at a graduation event at the institute. The last time I went past the place it was dead. I don’t know how that happened but it was a good concept and people like Shugatiti would have benefited from the tuition, training and grooming at such an institute.