“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I love and respect comedians because they play a very crucial role in our lives. The daily hustle and bustle adds up to our stress. And who else to help us reduce the stress, if not the comedian?
I’m not a fan of foreign comedy. My preference is for local comedy. And in my over forty years of existence on this earth, I’ve had the privilege of seeing many great comedians. The Tommy Annan Forsons, the Fritz Baffours, the Bob Okallas, the Bob Santos, the Nkomodes, the Agya Koos, the Lil Wins, the KSM’s and the DKB’s deserve special mention.
But none of the above comes closer to my favourite comedian. He may not have publicly declared that he is a comedian. But his action and speeches are more comical than the actions and sayings of professed comedians. The man I refer to is no other than President Ogwanfunu.
Do you remember the allegorical Yutong Bus when President Ogwanfunu was the vice-president? The driver of the Yutong Bus, Agya Atta, was criticized for dozing behind the wheel and driving towards a ditch. President Ogwanfunu, the driver’s mate, told all passengers to remain calm because he was going to brew a Brazilian coffee to keep the driver awake for the rest of the journey.
It was not only hilarious, but also very apt. The ‘coffee-brewing’ comment silenced many of the passengers. That was the first time I noticed the comedian in President Ogwanfunu. He has since made many comical comments, including the un-presidential ‘Opana’ statement.
President Ogwanfunu was at his comical best last Saturday in Wa, when his party organized one of its ‘unity walks’. He called the Nana Dee government ‘super incompetent’ amidst cheers from his party folks. He said only the infamous ‘Obinim sticker’ could save the Nana Dee government. Hilarious, isn’t it?
Upon serious reflection, I realized it was a comical irony. If indeed the Obinim sticker has any magical powers, then President Ogwanfunu needs it more than President Nana Dee. For a man whose reign was characterized by numerous corruption scandals, only the Obinim sticker could help him return to power. For a man whose appointees are being lined-up in court to answer for numerous corruption schemes, only the Obinim sticker could wipe his shame.
I clearly understand why President Ogwanfunu has started calling Nana Dee’s government ‘super incompetent’. He thinks tagging the current government could help in painting it black. After all, did he not diagnose the ‘incompetent’ tag by Dr. Bawumia on his government as one of the major reasons for his defeat?
How wrong he is! The electorate in 2016 resonated with Dr. Bawumia because he was calling a spade by its real name. They believed Dr. Bawumia because they could see and feel the incompetence and corruption on display.
But could same be said of the ‘super incompetent’ tag on the Nana Dee government? The obvious answer is a big NO. The superior economic management and the incorruptible leadership the country is experiencing today cannot be ‘super incompetence’ in comparison to the incompetence we saw between 2009 and 2016.
For sure, we know ‘super incompetence’ when we see it. If super incompetence is managing the economy to the level whereby banks start chasing customers for loan, then I prefer Nana Dee’s super incompetence to President Ogwanfunu’s incompetence. If super incompetence is re-introducing nursing and teacher trainee allowance cancelled by an incompetent government, then I will prefer super incompetence to incompetence any day. If super incompetence is paying over GH¢40 million teachers’ arrears left by an incompetent government, then super incompetence cannot be a bad thing.
Again, we know corruption when we see it. Merely shouting ‘corruption’ does not mean there is corruption. Corruption is when people who engaged in blatant ‘create, loot and share’ schemes are sent to the Presidency for protection. Corruption is when people who engaged in phantom tree planting exercises and those who allowed guinea fowls to fly to neighbouring countries are made ambassadors.
Without a doubt, we all can tell the party and government that needs the Obinim sticker for survival. As my late father used to say, “We do not need the wind to blow to see the faecal matter stashed in the anus of the goat.”
See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!