Linda Akweley Ocloo
National cohesion is an attribute which should never be disturbed by the reckless remarks or speeches by individuals, especially public office holders.
Various ethnic groups constitute this country and the constituents bound by a common destiny.
Ghanaians, regardless of their ethnicities, can decide to sojourn in any part of the country.
We take umbrage at especially persons holding public office who make unguarded statements which have the tendency to disturb the unity of this country.
The subject of replacing ‘Akwaaba’ at the Kotoka International Airport with a Ga rendition has trended in the past few days, the jumping into the fray by the Greater Accra Regional Minister especially aggravating the negative fallouts from the conversations surrounding the subject.
The word ‘Akwaaba’ has been around before independence, its origin being Akan. We have lived with this until bad politicians whose tenures have the tendency to evoke ethnocentric negativities.
Accra is a Ga city with a cosmopolitan mix because it is the national capital.
This attribute of the national capital has led to the erosion of the Ga language, which is unfortunate.
When a country or even a city becomes cosmopolitan, its indigenous language suffers, which is what has happened to Ga.
In some countries, to qualify for permanent visa, the ability to speak the indigenous language is a requirement. This is to ensure that this lingua franca is protected.
It is unfortunate that Ga is not spoken by many who have taken residence in Accra.
There are better ways to deal with this challenge, one being the training of more Ga teachers to teach the language in schools. Currently, we have learnt that those learning Akan at the University of Education, Winneba outnumber their Ga counterparts by far. The result of this is that those who want to offer Ga in schools are faced with the problem of the non-availability of teachers for the subject.
This is a problem which should be addressed so that Ga will not suffer decimation. It is a policy level challenge, not the reckless utterance of a minister.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister while making a case for the replacement of ‘Akwaaba’ with a Ga substitute misfired in her argument.
According to her, Accra is for Gas and so ‘Akwaaba’ should be deleted from the Kotoka International Airport entry point.
As a minister of state, such a remark does not cast her as a responsible person who understands what national cohesion means.
Is her motive intended to reverse the falling quantity of Ga speaking in Accra or pure ethnocentric populism even to the detriment of national cohesion?
Remarks by persons holding important positions such as minister of the region hosting the national capital should be steeped in decorum not recklessness.
We cannot afford to have persons who do not appreciate the importance of national cohesion and unity spew out such unproductive rhetoric.