Why People Travel - The ‘Bibiara ne ho’ Syndrome
Whilst working in the tourism sector some time ago, one of the constant headaches I had was with my grandma, Yevakpor. Explaining to her the work I did was such a test on my concept and translation skills!
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First of all, she couldn’t fathom the idea of leisure travel or tourism. And she wouldn’t pretend she understood. People travelling just for leisure? Tsooo!
The look she gave me each time I tried to explain showed that either I was sick or the people I served were not ‘correct.’
‘So you say they have nothing doing, just moving around to see things? And you, too, who have nothing doing, choose to follow them?’ To Yevakpor, idleness couldn’t be elevated to a higher pedestal.
In a country where people travel mainly for work or hometown reasons one could hardly blame my good old lady. In Ghanaian society, if there is another major form of travel, it would be for funerals. But there is hope.
This hope is grounded in the fact that gradually Ghanaians are beginning to realise that there is the need to venture a little beyond the next town, for its own sake. Every now and then, I get asked ‘how do I spend a weekend in that town?’
Still, we would collectively have to do more to rid ourselves of what I call the ‘bibiara ne ho’ syndrome. ‘Bibiara ne ho’ means ‘there is nothing there’ in Akan.
This attitude refers to the belief that because we are not impressed with a place there is no need for others to go and experience there.
The syndrome also relates to the approach that rural communities have practically nothing to offer.
But as we would learn in this series people visit places for various reasons. I coined the term in Paga several years ago after an encounter I had with a company driver.
One afternoon, I was in my small outpost office at the border when a four-wheel vehicle drove towards the Customs office. From a distance I could make out the faint outline of a company logo. The car parked and quickly three gentlemen and a lady alighted.
I was used to the drill. Corporate folks on business to Bolgatanga, Navrongo and neighbouring towns usually visit the border to have a feel before journeying back south.
I watched the group of four walk around. One man, who obviously was familiar with the grounds, was pointing out a few things to the others. After talking for a while I saw them signaling to the driver in the car. The driver got down. After a few more exchanges, they all walked off leaving the driver by his car.
All this while, I sat in my office observing. What got me more curious was that the driver kept talking to himself, pointing after the others and gesticulating everywhere. It doesn’t take a lot to draw me into situations, especially in those days. I got up from my seat, shut the door to my one-man office and slowly walked towards an obviously agitated company driver.
If I thought my approaching him will quieten him down, I was wrong. He was courteous enough to respond to my hello but soon went on with the murmuring. I got the drift soon enough. They had come from Bolgatanga heading to Kumasi. But the Accra people on the trip wanted a quick look at the famous Paga Crocodiles before trekking on.
After the crocodile Pond, the Accra people wanted a drive to the Border post. Now at the border from nowhere came the idea to walk across into the Burkina Faso side for the experience. People do that all the time.
The problem was that my friend the driver wasn’t amused. Why, I ask him. “Wheee ne ho!’’ he protested. ‘’Mese, bibiara ne ho.’’ By now he was almost in tears.
By now I was more than curious. So, why does he say there is nothing worth seeing around the border? Thumbing his chest proudly, he said (and I translate) ‘’because I have been there before, I know the place and there is nothing there!’
Listening more to his mumblings, and placing myself in his shoes, I soon realised that what pained my friend, the Company Driver, most was the fact that he had told them. He had told them there is nothing there and yet they still chose to go!
That wasn’t quite all. Watching him rant on I discerned that my friend had a second major pain. Again I translate: “They themselves will go and see that there is nothing there. Nothing!’’
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That encounter made a strong impression on me. Indeed, how could I forget that man and his unreasonable reasoning? More importantly, what would make a Ghanaian take such a stance? A sad combination of factors.
Not least among them is the thinking that when a landscape is bare (and true, that Savannah landscape can be bare) it holds nothing of importance. According to this ‘logic’, the places worth seeing then become places of high rise buildings, disco sounds, neon lights and fast cars.
Considering the infrastructural and services landscape of America, France, Britain, Germany and all the other big countries, one would say that there is nothing in Ghana.
In other words, ‘bibiara ne ha’ Why then do tourists from the ‘first world’ leave their countries and come here to spend money. Indeed, why do they even go past our cities into our villages?
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To be continued
The writer is a CNN Award-winning journalist and author of ‘Romancing Ghanaland the Beauty of Ten Regions’ & ‘Harmattan a Cultural Profile of Northern Ghana.’ For copies of books please contact 0202496880 Email: [email protected]