Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where they were only walls” – Joseph Cambell
Prescience is a word that defines vision, foresight and creative discernment. I have always referred to Dr. Bawumia as a visionary leader but since he hit the campaign trail, my conviction has been fortified. I have come to realise that this man from Mamprusi is an embodiment of prescience. He has more under his sleeve to move the country forward. For eight years he, together with his boss, President Akufo-Addo has worked so hard to lay a solid foundation for a quantum leap forward as far as development of the country is concerned.
In the run-up to the 2008 General Election when Dr. Bawuma gave a lecture in one of the universities and told his listeners that the country was being built on a foundation of straw, few people including yours sincerely, did not understand him. He never mentioned digitisation as the way forward, because he decided to keep all his cards on his chest.
Today, because of digitisation, we have all known that for the eight years the NDC was in power, Ghana was really built on a foundation of straw. They failed to move along with the emerging digital economy all over the world, and stayed with the status quo till they were voted out of power. To these shortsighted nation wreckers, building school blocks, toilets, bridges and the importation of rice etc. were all what it took to develop a modern economy.
For example, they did not understand the importance of Ghana Card so when the late Atta Mills tried to issue one to Ghanaians, it was abandoned by Mr. John Mahama and his cohorts who were only interested in corruption, Ford Expedition cars, rearing of guinea fowls and Communist inferior propaganda.
They promised to build bridges where there were no rivers and inflated contract sums for their own benefit. Until Nana Addo and Bawumia came to execute the project, they did not see the importance of a Ghana Card. Even when the bill was tabled in Parliament for deliberation, the NDC MPs boycotted the sitting. They went further to appeal to supporters of the NDC not to register with the NIA to acquire their Ghana Card. Unknown to these poor folks, Mr. Mahama and his MPs went behind the door to acquire their Ghana Cards. All these ignorant NDC supporters who were convinced by John Mahama not to register for the Ghana Card later had to queue for days on end to get their Ghana Cards. You now see how wicked some people can be towards their own people?
If you want to understand the intelligence of Dr. Bawumia, take your time to study the Gold for Oil Programme which has gone a long way to bail Ghanaians from an impending fuel crisis. Nigeria is the biggest producer of crude oil in West Africa. In the early seventies and eighties, Nigeria experienced an oil boom. Many citizens from the whole Africa and the world for that matter trooped to Nigeria to work and have a taste of the honey flowing from the pipelines. Today, drivers in Nigeria queue to buy fuel and the prices of fuel products have hit the rooftop. Some truck drivers drive to Ghana to fill their extra tanks with diesel to sell in Nigeria.
Dr. Bawumia saw the threat coming to Ghana so he and his team went to work. Unknown to Ghanaians, Dr. Bawumia and his team were negotiating with some Arab oil producing countries for the Gold for Oil deal. They came out with the Gold for Oil strategy. Dr. Bawumia did not wait for Ghana to enter the Nigeria zone and before Ghanaians could say Jack Robin, Ghana started exchanging our gold for oil. But for this arrangement, Ghana would have been in a mess and chaotic.
In 1979, forty-five years ago to be precise, when Rawlings seized power for the first time, the AFRC junta messed things up and Ghana experienced the worst fuel shortage in the history of the country. Motorists left their cars at petrol stations for weeks without a single drop of fuel. Ghana was on her knees and fuel became more precious than gold. The younger generation did not experience this scenario so they take the shortage of fuel for granted. Dr. Bawumia has made sure Ghana did not go back to that wish-to-be-forgotten era. Today when I hear people complaining of the high prices of fuel products, I giggle.
Ever heard Dr. Bawumia using any unprintable words against his political opponent? The man has a message and he is delivering these messages in a civilised manner. That is why anytime he visits any palace, the chiefs praise him for his humility, choice of words and the respect that he gives to everybody irrespective of the persons social standing.
The first lesson that anyone who wants to be a leader should know is that of humility. No matter how good you are, when arrogance raises its ugly head, Mother Nature will put you back into your box. His charming smile is very infectious and the way he presents his speeches are thought-provoking and heartwarming. That is why the old and young love the man so much.
As for Asomasi, he doesn’t care a hoot about any Jupiter. He goes about insulting and mimicking his opponents and treats people with ordinary contempt and yet, he wants their votes to become president one more time and introduce the rearing of day old chicks, piglets and goats and sheep for boarding student to eat. The Akans say if it rained in the night when you were asleep and so you could not hear, when day broke and you came out, did you not see that it rained?
If the young man or woman who is a first time voter did not hear all the rots Mr. Mahama spat out on well-meaning Ghanaians some years ago, today they are old enough to hear the type of person who wants to become the president of this country of 34 million souls.
The difference between Dr. Bawumia and Mr. Mahama is that, Dr. Bawumia has several backbones to support his campaign efforts while Mahama seems to be going solo, except his babies with sharp teeth like Dela, who went wayward to insult an accomplished statesman like Mr. John Kufuor. Did I hear the guy has rendered an apology to the old man? Akai! He should start looking for a crash helmet. I will descend on him like kakai at the time of my choosing.
Whereas Hajia Samira is always on the move, propagating the gospel according to Dr. Bawumia, Lordina Mahama is nowhere to be found. She is missing in action. What has gone wrong? Whereas the NPP has two living former Heads of State to complement their campaign efforts, the NDC has none since Rawlings is gone after being treated like dirt by the NDC, led by Asiedu Nketia, and we are yet to know what killed Prof. Atta Mills. Today the ghost of Prof. Mills has refused to stay at Asomdwe Park as he continues to hypnotise the NDC campaigners.
No wonder the whole Chairman of the NDC, Mr. Asiedu Nketia is at loggerheads with the National House of Chiefs and the babies with sharp teeth continue to vomit rot, thereby, muddying the waters for John Mahama to swim like a mudfish. With barely three weeks to the general election, Dr. Bawumia should open throttle to shore, there is no time to lose. Someone should help me say AMEN!!!
By Eric Bawah