The hottest year;and so it has been
Some intriguing information caught my attention recently. Listening to foreign news the other day, I learnt that 2014 has been the hottest year so far in terms of the weather. Is global warming crashing fast on us?
Advertisement
Taken figuratively, however, this year, the socio-economic and political climates in some parts of the world, including our own country, may appropriately be described as oven hot. Air disasters, governments under pressure from their citizens for better lives, insurgencies, growing militancy, businesses under severe economic pressure and the deadly Ebola have kept some countries in high temperature modes.
In our sub-region, 2014 will go down as the year that saw the deadly Ebola virus brutalising people. Within months, thousands of people had been killed by the virus, leaving tens of thousands infected. Nine months on, Ebola evokes fear and despair.
Still in the sub-region, the world woke up earlier in the year to the disturbing news of the kidnapping of 230 girls from their school in North-eastern Nigeria by militants. The sad story of the missing girls made headlines around the world and despite the world-wide campaigns to “Bring back our girls”; no one knows their whereabouts.
Cases of violence in parts of the world confirm that there were vibrating-hot incidents in 2014. Reading a BBC report released last week, more than 5,000 people worldwide died in November alone as a result of jihadist violence. The four worst affected countries, according to the BBC report, were Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Syria, accounting for 80 per cent of all deaths.
Iraq was identified as the single deadliest country in the month of November while Nigeria was the second deadliest, with Boko Haram blamed for the killings there. Taliban violence made Afghanistan the third deadliest country.
On air travel, the heat was on Malaysian airlines this year as within a matter of two months, their aircraft with a total of over 400 passengers and crew crashed and died. Malaysia must be feeling the pinch as both incidents will cause fear of air travel and a possible image dent on the country for years to come.
Children have not been spared atrocities this hottest year. Apart from the kidnapping of the school girls in Nigeria, the year witnessed a series of random shootings in schools and other public places around the world. Last week’s “Taliban school massacre” reported to have occurred in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, has so far recorded 126 deaths, mostly children. Similar school shootings were reported in the US and Canada.
Has it been any cooler at home? No, at least not on the economic front. As the weather gets hotter and hotter, the “dumsor” problem has aggravated our woes. 2014 has been a difficult year for both government and citizens. As was admitted by our President and the Minister of Finance sometime in the year, our economy has gone through difficulties. The results on the lives of individuals need no telling. Compared to the last five years or so, 2014 has been very difficult.
The harsh economic conditions have triggered a series of demonstrations from various sectors. The heat on demonstrations even caught up with Nananom (chiefs). For the first time in recent history, traditional rulers and some elders reportedly staged demonstrations in the Eastern Region to call attention to enduring bad road networks in their communities.
For the first time, some Ghanaians were ready to forgo the “give it to God” syndrome which has characterised our general attitude. With the use of the new media, and on a day when Ghana was reflecting on its 53rd Republican status, hundreds of “middle class” citizens came together to protest against the economic hardships with an “Occupy Flagstaff House” demonstration. The “Occupy Ghana” team has since then protested against the heat.
The heat emanating from the harsh economic climate rages on with no end in sight for “dumsor” as we prepare to part with 2014. It has been a year of hot moments. I was reminded of the reality when a friend who has been working outside the country since early March arrived home last week for the festive holiday. In a conversation, she was shocked to see how difficult things have got to in the last few months she has been away.
As we prepare to end the hottest year next week, it will be the hope of every Ghanaian that the heat which has melted down our economy will pass us by in 2015.