Still under the yoke of inferiority complex
Arku Jasmine
Features
I was not surprised to read from Dr Koku Awoonor-Williams’ article: “Good average B okay for medical school” published in yesterday’s issue of the Daily Graphic that there was initial resistance to President Kwame Nkrumah’s decision to establish a medical school in the country.
When Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, the heart surgical specialist, came down from Germany with the lofty idea of setting up what has now become the National Cardiothoracic Centre, there were murmurs of dissent.
There were those who, for lack of faith in their own abilities and capabilities, could not come to terms with the idea of Ghana, an African Third World country, dreaming of a medical facility that would demand highly trained specialists and sophisticated equipment.
To such people, it would be better and, they claimed, cheaper to fly out heart and other related health patients for treatment overseas.
Thanks to a listening President in the person of Flt-Lt J.J. Rawlings, Prof. Frimpong Boateng’s idea received support and crystallised into a centre that every patriot should be proud of.
Our colonial past has left us with a deep scar that would not vanish; a scar that has affected our psyche as a people. So if it is not foreign, it is not good. Even the foreign comes with various classifications; it is best if it comes from Britain, Germany, France or the US.
In the 1960s, made-in-Japan vehicles were considered inferior to those from UK and Germany. Today, Japanese vehicles are virtually out of our reach and we have now turned our attention to Chinese vehicles.
Our obsession with foreign things have become a national disease. Hairdressers advertise themselves as London-trained or Paris-trained if that would testify to their expertise.
Our carpenters are very good and could produce some of the best furniture in the world, but our mentality would not allow us to accept our own. We prefer Italian-made furniture.
Without the necessary support and encouragement, our local furniture producers are not able to break into the international market with their products. Our country has become destination of furniture from various parts of the world, including the almighty China.
Competitions or promotions held in Ghana come with tantalising prizes which include Accra-London-Accra or Accra-New York-Accra air tickets. Lately, Accra-Johannesburg-Accra has become part of the package because we have come to realise that the White population in South Africa have turned that country into a comparative paradise as compared to the rest of the continent.
Nobody has given a thought to the fact that the numerous islands of the Volta Lake, the Mole Game Reserve, the high altitude at Amedzofe in the Volta Region and other tourist potentials in the country could become the tourist’s paradise if only we shirk the lethargy and our colonial mentality and its endemic inferiority complex and develop these places for our own pleasure for the millions of foreigners who would want to enjoy our tropical weather when it is winter in their home countries.
Our under-development and near hopelessness rest in the fact that deep within us we believe that we are not capable of doing anything good on our own. Listen to the arguments people make when some of us raise issue with the fact that it is time for our football administrators to give our local coaches the opportunity to enter the world stage by coaching our national team – the Black Stars.
Not that the foreign coaches have brought us any glory anyway but we are satisfied that a white-skinned person is coaching our national team. That is our joy.
Projects, workshops and seminars are not complete unless a consultant is flown from outside—at great expense—preferably from Europe or the US, to come and deliver an incoherent lecture that may not have any bearing on our local circumstances.
Some of these so-called foreign consultants are just above average performers who are nowhere near some of our local experts. Other people take pride in what they produce locally while we scorn ours.
The dependency syndrome which will not allow us to harness our vast resources for national development is a product of inferiority complex that will make us see emptiness where there are tonnes of wealth.
If China can shock the world with its development, there is no reason why Ghana cannot do so, but that will involve a change of mentality from that of subservience to self-confidence and the determination to succeed with local resources, whether human or material.
When Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, the heart surgical specialist, came down from Germany with the lofty idea of setting up what has now become the National Cardiothoracic Centre, there were murmurs of dissent.
There were those who, for lack of faith in their own abilities and capabilities, could not come to terms with the idea of Ghana, an African Third World country, dreaming of a medical facility that would demand highly trained specialists and sophisticated equipment.
To such people, it would be better and, they claimed, cheaper to fly out heart and other related health patients for treatment overseas.
Thanks to a listening President in the person of Flt-Lt J.J. Rawlings, Prof. Frimpong Boateng’s idea received support and crystallised into a centre that every patriot should be proud of.
Our colonial past has left us with a deep scar that would not vanish; a scar that has affected our psyche as a people. So if it is not foreign, it is not good. Even the foreign comes with various classifications; it is best if it comes from Britain, Germany, France or the US.
In the 1960s, made-in-Japan vehicles were considered inferior to those from UK and Germany. Today, Japanese vehicles are virtually out of our reach and we have now turned our attention to Chinese vehicles.
Our obsession with foreign things have become a national disease. Hairdressers advertise themselves as London-trained or Paris-trained if that would testify to their expertise.
Our carpenters are very good and could produce some of the best furniture in the world, but our mentality would not allow us to accept our own. We prefer Italian-made furniture.
Without the necessary support and encouragement, our local furniture producers are not able to break into the international market with their products. Our country has become destination of furniture from various parts of the world, including the almighty China.
Competitions or promotions held in Ghana come with tantalising prizes which include Accra-London-Accra or Accra-New York-Accra air tickets. Lately, Accra-Johannesburg-Accra has become part of the package because we have come to realise that the White population in South Africa have turned that country into a comparative paradise as compared to the rest of the continent.
Nobody has given a thought to the fact that the numerous islands of the Volta Lake, the Mole Game Reserve, the high altitude at Amedzofe in the Volta Region and other tourist potentials in the country could become the tourist’s paradise if only we shirk the lethargy and our colonial mentality and its endemic inferiority complex and develop these places for our own pleasure for the millions of foreigners who would want to enjoy our tropical weather when it is winter in their home countries.
Our under-development and near hopelessness rest in the fact that deep within us we believe that we are not capable of doing anything good on our own. Listen to the arguments people make when some of us raise issue with the fact that it is time for our football administrators to give our local coaches the opportunity to enter the world stage by coaching our national team – the Black Stars.
Not that the foreign coaches have brought us any glory anyway but we are satisfied that a white-skinned person is coaching our national team. That is our joy.
Projects, workshops and seminars are not complete unless a consultant is flown from outside—at great expense—preferably from Europe or the US, to come and deliver an incoherent lecture that may not have any bearing on our local circumstances.
Some of these so-called foreign consultants are just above average performers who are nowhere near some of our local experts. Other people take pride in what they produce locally while we scorn ours.
The dependency syndrome which will not allow us to harness our vast resources for national development is a product of inferiority complex that will make us see emptiness where there are tonnes of wealth.
If China can shock the world with its development, there is no reason why Ghana cannot do so, but that will involve a change of mentality from that of subservience to self-confidence and the determination to succeed with local resources, whether human or material.
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