I vividly remember the response my octogenarian grand mum gave me when, as a teenager, I wanted to know why it is only the Rooster that crows to usher in the new dawn. She said the Hen could also crow but it was only out of respect that she always allowed the Rooster to do so. She was also quick to add that for the Hen to crow to announce a new dawn whilst the Rooster was around would be an abnormality.
Well, I’m excited to announce to the whole family in Asomdwekrom that the Rooster has crowed again to announce the dawn of a new day. A new day pregnant with goodies that will help improve the health and quality of life of Abusuapanin and the family in general. We should all be excited, shouldn’t we?
Unfortunately, the naysayers are singing their favourite tune again. They cannot defy their true nature and see anything positive in anyone but themselves. The song on their lips is: “The night is still young, so the Rooster has crowed in vain.”
The reaction of the naysayers is not surprising considering their history. We all saw how they reacted when the Rooster first crowed and announced the Free SHS policy to Asomdwekromanians in 2008. They produced numerous adverts against the policy during the 2008 election campaign. The electorate swallowed the bait and voted against it. They repeated the dose in the 2012 polls, which again worked for them.
But the dose failed the third time as the electorate finally came to the realization that the vicious campaign against the policy was nothing short of propaganda. And President Nana Dee did not disappoint his compatriots for reposing their trust in him. He fulfilled the much-anticipated Free SHS promise. It hit them in the groin!
The diabolics that they are, they persisted in their vile criticism even as they struggle with the pangs of pain in their scrotum. We heard them say the Free SHS policy will lower quality and produce half-baked graduates. When that too was debunked by the splendid performance of the first batch of the policy, we heard their leader, President Ogwanfunu, shamelessly proclaim that he started Free SHS. Success indeed has many parents!
We heard similar lamentations when President Nana Dee proposed the ‘One Constituency, One Ambulance’ policy. They said it was a ploy to hoodwink the populace. Did President Nana Dee not deliver to the admiration of all? Again, are they now not quenching their thirst with juice from Ekumfi Pineapple Juice Factory after calling it a phantom factory?
So, you see, it is not surprising that those under the eagle-headed Umbrella are being pessimistic about the crowing of the Rooster to herald the building of 111 hospitals dubbed “Agenda 111′. They come across as people who are delusional, but they are not. They are engaged in deliberate mischief in order to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of the populace.
Unfortunately for them, their shouts of “it is a hoax, no source of funding and it is an after-thought” are useless lamentations since the Great Elephant is currently on the presidential throne. Unlike the Free SHS policy, which could not be implemented instantly because the Elephant was then in opposition, the Elephant can go ahead and implement ‘Agenda 111’ because it is now in government. It is, therefore, incumbent upon those riding on the Elephant to ensure the opposition’s chant of “it is a hoax” never become a reality.
Of course, I do understand the desperation of those under the Umbrella. Their prayer that the Nana Dee government does not get enough funds to prosecute the said agenda is equally understandable. For they know too well that achieving the goal spells doom for them in the 2024 poll and beyond.
But do not be too surprised when you hear them one day claiming to be the initiators of ‘Agenda111’. Yes, that is their stock in trade. The shameless lot that they are, they will brazenly claim to be the initiators of the policy they’ve so openly criticized when it becomes a success.
As for me, I do believe in the Rooster. He does not crow unless he sees the sign of a new dawn. I pray to the Bearded Old Man Above to grant me long life to see the commissioning of the hospitals. What a grand occasion it would be!
See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!