Deepening superficiality: Ghana’s nemesis to progress
In the last three weeks, I experienced two events that have heightened my anxiety about deepening poor professional attitude, which directly impacts negatively on the welfare of the nation.
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When a poor attitude goes beyond neglect to reflect ignorance, it heightens alarms about education and training.
People who pursue careers are expected to develop a passion for what they do over time. That passion might gradually engender a certain level of appreciable expertise which might ginger pride and satisfaction in professional accomplishments.
The combined strength of pride and accomplishment would be precipitated by professional enthusiasm, which impacts the quest for excellent delivery.
Enthusiastic, passionate professionals are always ready to learn on the job. They accept professional challenges with equanimity and utilise such opportunities to broaden their knowledge base and skills.
Such professionals do not patronise; they humbly admit that there is constant room for improvement in human endeavours. Therefore, instead of becoming complacent, they explore various avenues to further develop acquired knowledge and skills.
They eagerly explore aspects of their professions over which they have a lost grasp. In effect, passion, enthusiasm, humility and the readiness to learn fall among the fine qualities that create genuine expertise; such are also qualities that employers desire.
The fact that such fine qualities are becoming rarer among the working populace is a source of grave concerns among well-meaning Ghanaians, for the apparent implications of residents’ marketability, capacity for peak performance and the possibility of maintaining jobs.
Those thoughts ran through my head in the two encounters I have referred to. The most recent occurred ten days ago. I met a person who translates English literature into Twi. Yet, when given a dirge, there was no indication that the translator recognised the genre. Worse, there was an attempt to cover ignorance with apathy and patronage, but I was not fooled.
The displayed poor reading and comprehension skills baffled and saddened me. It was pathetic to observe that the individual had no desire to understand the English piece. Still operating the patronising model, the translator attempted to discredit a good piece by declaring it too difficult, i.e. beyond the comprehension level of the intended readers.
Even when it was pointed out that a cross-section of the audience would be able to handle the piece, the translator pounced on the word ‘camaraderie’ and claimed it would be too big a word for readers. That a translator of English works found camaraderie outlandish sounded strange to me. Listening to the skewed analysis of the intended audience, via the translator’s limited vocabulary skills, was painful.
There was a further surprise in store for me; the person who translates English into Twi failed to accurately read a rendition of the dirge in Twi. The patronising individual did a porous literary appreciation of the poem.
My bewilderment stemmed from two reasons: A person who dabbles in Twi and English was so dispassionate about literary pieces in the two languages. I find it paradoxical that a translator is not a communicator – displayed zero passion and a bare knack for effective communication.
On Friday, July 7, 2023, Nhyira FM featured a report about reprehensible behaviour by a cross-section of Zoomlion employees in the Ejisu Krapa area, Ashanti Region. The Assembly terminated the waste collection contract.
Some of the employees retaliated by demanding back used garbage bins from households. Those who failed to comply had garbage poured on their doorsteps and the bins taken away.
The host of the programme interviewed the assemblyman of the area; the individual confirmed the report and relayed some householder concerns: Some of the original bins had been replaced by householders. Though Zoomlion was contracted to collect waste, the Assembly supplied the bins, but that fact was not well thrashed out.
My bone of contention, however, is that waste managers do not litter; they mobilise communities to clear waste. The horrendous implication of the poured waste being blown into – and choking drains – cannot be downplayed. One would think that waste managers would be savvy enough to protect people, property and the environment.
What the translator and culprit Zoomlion employees have in common is a lack of passion for their work. Apparently, they have failed to develop love and pride for what earns them a living. They do not also live by the ethics of their professions. Therefore, instead of service, they patronise.
That same superficiality continues to characterise the conduct of many a Ghanaian professional. Such are happy to wear titles and certificates on their sleeve but fail woefully to live their professions.
That is the reason shoddiness glosses service delivery in the country. Mediocrity and non-performance fritter away valuable, limited resources. Thus, we are steadfastly negotiating our own stagnancy and constipated progress. What a country!
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