Benedict Opoku-Mensah
A young poet, Benedict Opoku-Mensah, has presented a message of peace to Ghanaians as the nation heads towards homestretch with insults and ethnocentrism taking over issue-based campaigns.
In a poem penned and submitted to DAILY GUDE, he said “many a time when we talk about nation building, we tend to cast our minds to leadership which shouldn’t be so.”
He added, “The call for peace and its sustenance for instance is not a duty of our leaders alone but each and every one of us: the President, his ministers, appointees, flag bearers, opinion leaders, the military, police force, civilians and every individual citizen of mother Ghana.”
According to the poet, all Ghanaians have duties to perform to make peace happen before, during and after the December 7 polls and cause the flag of Ghana to rise higher.
“We may have different opinions, different aspirations, different ethnicity and different political affiliations. But in spite of all these differences we are still one people, one nation, and so much as we pursue our individual dreams we should remember to keep the right focus, that is, building a better nation,” Benedict noted.
For him, “If only our politicians will do politics and not politricks; if only they wouldn’t take risks. But leave everything for fate to fix. If only our journalists wouldn’t make cases horrific by being more than specific; if only there wouldn’t be nosy parkers who love to do the work of newscasters” there could be peace in the country.
He continued, “If only there wouldn’t be critics who love to do analysis and statistics; if only there wouldn’t be rabble rousers who will pull up their trousers, go round the neighbourhood to mobilize troublemakers and incite them to cause calamities in our communities” there would be peace.
“If only we will have compromise and not the other wise, then Ghana will continue to be a haven of peace; peace that will never cease but one that will always make us be at ease,” he concluded.
By Ernest Kofi Adu