The Mirror's Health , Lifestyle and Fashion
Why Ghana Month when 12 months make a year?
For them, Sunday is the only day they will forgive you if you wrong them. Such Christians look for their Bibles once a week Sundays. They forget that Christianity is an everyday culture and not where we spend our Sundays.
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When I hear the hullabaloo about the month of March being Ghana Month ― probably because of independence ― the Sunday Christian comes to mind. Like the Sunday Christian who is only identified as belonging to a church on only one day of the week, we make mockery of ourselves if we need just a month to remind ourselves of our identity as Ghanaians.
If we need only March to celebrate Ghana, what happens to the rest of the months? If we invest so much efforts into promoting Ghanaian businesses, delicacies and culture in the month of March, what about April? Does everything end after March?
We have got to the edge of the cliff as a nation. Regarding the hard times we find ourselves in with the nations of the world currently being plunged into wars and rumours of wars, it goes without saying that it is about time we took our destiny into our hands as a nation.
The black man [Ghanaian] should be capable of managing his own affairs… and it begins with daily celebrating our own!
Those we may be looking up to import from may not have enough to feed their own let alone export. Independence must be a reality now that economies we benefit from are struggling to stand on their feet.
This is the time to grow and eat from our own. Now is the time to appreciate our identity and promote what we have. We can’t be celebrating Ghana Month when our chairs in Parliament are from China.
There’s no need for a Ghana Month when a chunk of what we eat is imported from elsewhere. What is the use of Ghana Month when some local businesses even carry out local transactions in dollars?
No one will patronise what is Ghanaian if Ghanaians are even shying away from such. Ghana must be owned by Ghanaians.
The stable Ghanaian economy we want to have will not be built by angels. It will be built by Ghanaians. If Ghana is all we have, we must intentionally embrace all it has.
The nations we love to travel to were built by its citizens. Their leaders led a passionate drive to put their nation first above every other person’s interest.
Ghana Month should be a month to remind us of our nationalistic duties for the rest of the months ahead. Whether leaders or followers, the Ghana we create is the only Ghana we will get to live in.
Our media outlets are doing their best to promote Ghana Month but what happens in the months after? What is the use of promoting strictly
Ghanaian content for only a month and getting back to the Mexican soaps (and sponges) for the next 11 months?
Of what benefit is wearing Ghanaian costumes for only a month and going back to look like Americans for the rest of the year?
It is hypocritical for our corporate offices to be celebrating Ghana in March when it is abominable to wear African prints to interviews.
We can’t pretend Ghana Month will achieve any impact when most of our parliamentarians can’t boldly dress to represent Ghana in Parliament let alone on the world stage.
Ghana Month must not be a monthly event. It must be an intentional daily lifestyle. It must be a calculated effort to promote Ghana in every sector of this nation; from sports to hospitality. We can’t be screaming, “Ghana Month” in March when Dubai is our vacation destination every December.
Promoting Ghana means making the Ghanaian a priority in all our affairs. Ghana Month is of no use if we have created a system that favours Caucasians and not Ghanaians.
We have failed as a nation; if it takes more effort to register a business as a Ghanaian than it does if you are a white man. Elevating the
Ghanaian cause means living above inferiority complex under the pretext of hospitality!
Ghana is the blood that runs down our veins. No matter how much of a mess the politicians keep making of this great nation, like the leopard, we can’t wash away the spots that give us our identity.
Life’s opportunities may take us to Britain or Russia. Our change in environment, however, can’t change our identity.
Like a Sunday Christian, wearing Ghanaian costumes only in March is not what makes one a Ghanaian. Living the Ghanaian values each day of the year is what true Ghanaians do.
Each day is a day to live with the interests of Ghana at heart. If it takes 12 months to make a year, it will be such mockery to dedicate only one to the place we call home. Ghana Month is not only March.
It is every day in April, May and every other month. Long live Ghana! Long live Ghanaians!
The writer is a playwright and Chief Scribe of Scribe Communications, an Accra-based writing company (www.scribecommltd.com). The livestream edition of his play, I WANT TO SUE GOD!, is happening on Saturday, 26th and Sunday, March 27, 2022. Find more details on www.scribeproductions.com.