“There is one thing stronger than all the armies of the world, and that is an idea whose time has come”– Victor Hugo
Serious performers on stage always do better when they choose to ignore their critics than when they pay attention to them. In governance, presidents who choose to ignore critics perform very well. Being true to yourself and your work is an asset. No one will ever tell you it will be easy to stick to your own conviction.
A typical example of a president who did stick to his conviction and finally succeeded is President Barack Obama. This former president of the United States of America proved that determination combined with opportunity and intelligence can make things happen in an exceptional way. So he coined the term “yes, we can”.
I admire our President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, because of the clarity and intensity of their conviction. People often talk about something new being ‘innovative’ and I belong to that school of thought. Recently, I visited Nyinahin where Ghana has a very large deposit of bauxite and I was excited. If indeed Ghana has such a large deposit of bauxite which can be mined, add value to it and export the finished product for hard currency and we sit here brooding over developmental projects all these years, then I am sorry to say we refuse to think.
‘Prescience’ is a word that defines vision, foresight, and creative discernment. When I looked into my crystal ball, I saw Dr. Bawumia and his team brainstorming on what to do with our bauxite so that Ghana would benefit from it rather than allowing foreign companies to come down and mine the mineral and thereafter export it in its raw stage to their countries.
A decision was made for the affable Veep and his team to travel to China to negotiate with the Chinese on how to mine our bauxite and add value to it here in Ghana before exporting. Apart from the fact that the project will create jobs, the country stands to gain tremendously. So far, Parliament has sanctioned the deal and the Chinese are ready to come to the shores of Ghana to begin work. This is what people call “something new” or “innovation”. The arrangement is simple. Instead of going for a loan from the Chinese government to build roads, bridges, overpasses, schools, clinics, etc., the Chinese company will come down to mine the bauxite with their own equipment, add value to it and export the finished product to their country. In return, they will bring their machines, workforce and expertise to construct the above-mentioned projects. Just imagine what two billion dollars can do for Ghana! This is what the NDC is afraid of because by next year when the projects kick off, it is going to be a game changer and the noise being made will stop.
The first year student of economics knows that the arrangement with our Chinese friends is barter and not a loan but the NDC economists chose to call it a loan. When their argument did not hold water, they chose to go to the IMF to report the matter. After investigating the matter, the IMF came out to tell us that what Dr. Bawumia and his team did was indeed barter deal and there was nothing wrong with it. The likes of Ato Forson and Haruna Iddrisu who led the onslaught recoiled into their shells and have since gone silent. Now between the NPP and NDC, Ghanaians have come to know those who wish them well.
ENTER THE DOUBLE-TRACK SYSTEM
“The beginning of every government starts with the education of our youth”. – Pythagoras
The President is a courageous man. He holds the bull by the horn and makes sure what he intends to do is done irrespective of the difficulties that will come his way. He has portrayed to Ghanaians that apart from turning a woman to a man and vice versa, everything is possible in this world. Critics of the free SHS started the noise way back in 2012.
“He can’t do it”, “It is impossible”, “It will take twenty years before we can have a free SHS”, “It is meant to win votes”, “Nana is throwing dust into the eyes of Ghanaians”. The NDC made all these noises in the run-up to the 2012 and 2016 general elections. All along, then candidate Nana Akufo-Addo assured Ghanaians that it was doable and that when he held the reins of power he would surely introduce the free SHS.
The president was sworn into office in January 2017 and in September the same year, first-year students in all the public senior high schools went to school free. Then the noise started again: “Children don’t have furniture to sit and learn”, “Classrooms are congested”, “Dormitories are congested”, “Bed bugs are sucking the blood of our wards”. In the face of all these ugly noises, the president and his team worked behind the scenes to fix the challenges one after the other until the first-year students reached their second year still enjoying free SHS. Because the whole thing is free, the first- year students who entered SHS this year doubled. After all, if in the past I could not take my children to school because of school fees and a government came and said my children can now go to school free, why should I let the children sit at home to become a burden to me in future?
I must admit here that this year when the first-year students were going to school, I had sleepless nights. I asked myself: “How can we accommodate all these students in the various schools?” As for the NDC communicators, they were happy because they knew it would be impossible to accommodate such a large number of students since accommodation was scarce. In fact, they used to argue that school blocks should be built before free SHS is introduced. They have forgotten that when the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana introduced free education in the Upper and Northern regions, he did not build all the schools before the introduction of the free education but as the years rolled by, school blocks were built and even teachers’ quarters were also built to accommodate the teachers. It takes big dreamers to achieve something big. Ever watched children when they are trying something new? They are excited, they are eager, and they welcome the challenges.
The reason why the NDC failed woefully is that they did not know how to deal with obstacles on the way to success. That is why the sages say the bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you refuse to take the turn. The NDC and their leadership as well as their communicators focus on problems while the president and his team always focus on opportunities. In fact, Nana and his team seek for gold amidst the dross. You see, you cannot prove your merit on quiet waters. You have to swim against the tide and this is what the president and his team are doing.
When the issue of double tracking came up for discussion, I got lost in the discussion because it was an innovation none of us ever thought of. Once again, unknown to all of us, the education minister and his team of experts worked behind the scene to solve the problem. Before we could blink an eye, the double-track system had come knocking on our doors. Then the chorus rose to a high level again: “They are destroying education”. “Teachers will be tired and cannot produce quality students”. “The government should have made a broad consultation”, etc.
Anytime the NDC talks of consultation as far as the free SHS is concerned, I wonder whether they understand what is meant by consultation. Consult the NDC? How do you consult people who in the first place kicked against the policy and still demonize the police even when it kick-started a year ago? Today, the second batch of the double-track system are in school and as usual the NDC have resigned themselves to fate knowing very well that this free SHS, the Chinese barter and the railway that is coming will spell their doom.
Now they are singing a new song. They say when they get the nod in 2020, they will improve upon the free SHS and that instead of giving the day students one hot meal a day, they will add breakfast because, according to them, some parents cannot afford breakfast for their children in the morning before they leave for school. Thieves! Who told you he or she cannot afford breakfast for his or her child? This is another way of telling Ghanaian parents that they are so irresponsible that they cannot provide their children with breakfast. What an insult! And they want these parents to vote for them in 2020!
From Eric Bawah