Stone debris in waakye - When will it stop?
Of all the local delicacies we have, the ‘waakye’ brand is the most popular. It is only the ‘waakye’ stand that is notorious for commanding long queues of customers.
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No wonder when CNN mistakenly reported a case of an outbreak of hunger in Ghana, for which they were prevailed upon to apologise, ‘waakye’ was at the centre of the whole issue.
Because of the favourite position ‘waakye’ holds in the heart of Ghanaians, there is always the tendency to overlook the tiny stones that are always constantly found in the food.
It is more often than not overlooked in order not to interfere with the gleeful enjoyment of the favourite delicacy, not only by customers, but by the cooks as well. Why has there not been a change of that since ‘waakye’ has become part of our diet for a long time now?
Has it got anything to do with our attitude of inertia and lack of innovation in our approach to doing things as a nation?
Education
This retrogressive attitude even manifests itself in an area as important as giving education to our children. The world is at a stage where time has become a very important resource for many people and national states.
In the past, when a lot of time was needed to complete a simple tasks such as delivering a message, transportation and transactions, today seconds and minutes are enough for such efforts.
People are constantly finding ways and means to achieve a lot by using very little time. This has brought about innovation and speed in almost every aspect of our lives. Education to the young ones is lacking in these values.
Teachers in Ghana, especially at the basic and high school levels, have institutionalised extra classes as a normal part of the school system. To them, nobody can do without it. They demand extra hours and days to complete a syllabus planned within a given time frame before they can adequately prepare the young ones for examinations. Besides reflecting a lack of innovation and efficient time management on their part, the children are being exposed to the attitude of inefficiency and a lack of innovation right within the period of their formative years. They are likely to continue the cycle of ‘don’t innovate’ and ‘demand more time to complete a task.’
The economy
The picture is not different when it comes to the management of the economy. Sixty long years after inheriting a colonial economy, many aspects of the sector still have on the relics of those times.
Agriculture, energy generation and international trade, among other sectors, are not contributing as they should to the improvement of standard of living of Ghanaians.
Why do we keep doing the same things all the time and expect the standard of living of our people to improve? What does it require to restructure the foundations of our economy to yield us the needed results?
Politics
The very people that are responsible to put measures in place to ensure development and prosperity for all are bogged down in systems that aid their display of inefficiency and lack of innovation. Some can’t manage resources to improve the lives of their people.
They always demand extra, through corruption, before even little can be achieved for their people. Within political parties and even the organs of government, there are loopholes in the systems that established these institutions.
People will always take advantage of the loopholes, if there cannot be any innovative legislation or constitutional reform to change the situation. We need our laws to work for our good, to be definite on which actions constitute corruption and to specify the exact quality required for qualification into public office.
With problems, significant parts are solved when they can be defined and identified. We know the reason why we have retrogressed 60 years down the line and we also know why we are still grasping with economic and several other challenges.
We always use the Asian Tigers as our reference point. We were all at the same status at independence, but they leapfrogged far ahead into the distance, living us behind. We know what propelled them into their present position on the world stage and this is enough to define our challenge.
Are we prepared to accept our shortcomings and weaknesses and make the requisite changes by adopting the right attitude needed to move our nation forward?
I think if we can collectively do that, we will see improvement in all aspect of our lives, even down to a simple aspects of enjoying our favourite local dishes without the inconvenience of biting into stones.