24th July 2012, Black Tuesday

This day has proven to be a black one by all standards, and its darkness has propelled the "no time to write Efua" to return to her blog....The leader of my country Ghana, President John Evans Atta Mills passed away today. I bow my head and I say a prayer for him, I pray that the good Lord will accept him in his bosom. The bible says the Lord gives and the Lord takes so we can only consider it as his divine orchestration and commit him to his care. I have heard a lot of Ghanaians say people are feigning emotions concerning the president’s death. This is what I personally think, that as a public figure he could not have escaped being talked about, worst of all when he occupied the position of president.

Ordinary people like you and I have people talk about us all the time so why wouldn’t people talk about the president? Human beings can never be pleased so no matter the lengths you go to, people will never be satiated. Lets take Asamoah Gyan as a very current example, he becomes the hero when he does land his ball in the net,his praises knows no limits.. when the ball goes above the net or when he misses that fateful penalty that would have pushed us on to the finals, he is abused from every angle, same person who was being hailed 15 minutes earlier amidst chants of "baby jet, baby jet" but thats human nature at its best. At the end of the day I want to believe this simple truth, that no normal human being wishes that someone else dies and I say this with emphasis on "normal human being". I can’t say we are all normal so for those who actually wished death on him, find yourselves psychiatrists to help deal with your demented minds. I believe most people probably had issues with his political party and the shadows of their past for which President Mills was caught up in and all the drama and the insults that went along with the seat he occupied albeit uncomfortably. Unfortunately that’s just how the world goes, we wouldnt be human if we could be satiated would we? but I don’t believe anyone even in the opposition parties wished death for him. Lets think of him devoid of politics and for once look at him as one person and not a party. Even if people fail to acknowledge this for whatever unknown reasons, be it a different political affiliation or purposeful blindness, he was a humble man.

I remember having blackouts at home and saying "ooooo Uncle Atta", I recall walking through Madina market and hearing people complain about the soaring prices of goods and all I heard was "Uncle Atta" ooo. What of his errors in speech which were even transposed into music? It’s for these same reasons that he will be sorely missed, I pray for strength for his family and above all I pray for peace in Ghana. The timing of his death is frightenly close to the general elections, I understand that Ghana is a relatively peaceful nation, but my prayer is that the peace we enjoy in Ghana now will be sustained. We can only pray that in the quest for political power people will keep their senses in check and their heads screwed on the right way,we all know politics is probably the dirtiest game ever.

I hope no one has forgotten that in this modern age there was a coup in Mali, In West Africa oo, just this past March 2012, who would have imagined it? who would have thought it? Whats that thing Lord Acton said in 1887 again? he said "power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Power seems to be a very intoxicating psychoactive drug with many willing addicts. Prayer is one thing we cannot relent on as a nation, because when we loose everything , prayer will give us peace and bind our nation together. I am indeed at a loss, not because Atta Mills was my best friend, or that we wined and dined together, or shared a few dances but the loss of any human being is something so profound and tragic, especially of a president. He had a troubled rule for a while amidst insults, unneccessary pressure and bouts of sicknesses. I wonder what his last thoughts were as he left this world, I ponder what message he would have wished to send Ghana as he departed...... I wonder if people would have retracted hurtful words they may have said to him even on that fateful day if they knew he was going to pass on, I wonder if he had ample time to make peace with his maker before his demise, I wonder how long we will sit and wait for people to die before we celebrate them....

Death always leaves that numb feeling and the question nagging in your brain, what about you? what do you have to offer? my mom said this to me as we discussed this issue, "wa wie n'aduma k), aka ehen aa yaaka ma ehen so y3b3y3" which translates as Atta Mills has finished his job and he is gone, its left with those of us remaining here to also do ours. Whether his job was indeed finished or not, no one knows but yet he is gone....Maybe its time we revaluated ourselves and realised our time on earth will be over one day but do we know when? no one knows.. I wish him a successful transition to the next life and I pray the peace of God will be with him now and always. Ghana is in a state of mourning, a great tree has fallen and in its wake, the roots and leaves are draped in sorrow. Sleep well great man, sleep well….Ghana mourns you..

One year gone OMG

     
I will first have to say thank you to our gracious God for continued love, grace and sustenance in this journey of life. I can hardly believe its been a whole freaking year since I last made a blog post. I most definitely cant be a blogger as a career for obvious reasons. A lot of things have happened in the past year and I really cannot mention it all but all I can say is that I'm almost through with my time in Canada and I'm just looking back now at the almost two years spent here and wondering, what has it taught me? what have I achieved? whats my story? well its quite simple, its been an eye opening two year period. It has taught me self-reliance, independence, and has made me realise I could have pursued a career in economics as without frugality in finances, living in Canada is almost a nightmare. 

It has taken my mind back to all the things we take for granted in Ghana. Living in the homes of our parents for free, eating for free...... and all those other things i fail to mention, i can go on and on. Canada however has shown me that as soon as you turn 18, well in some provinces 16, you find yourself a job and proceed to move out of your parent's home and the most surprising part is parents actually encourage you to move out, in fact some of them cannot wait to get rid of you. That's quite the opposite of Ghana where till you get married you have no option but to stay under the roof of your parents even if you are 30 years plus. I don't intend to rant on and on but i just have to mention a few of the things i will miss about Canada.

I will miss the cleanliness of the environment, i am definitely not looking forward to the dirt and filth that engulfs most parts of Accra and Ghana as a whole with open drains and choked gutters and even where there are bins people will rather drop their litter on the streets, nope that is not very pleasant imagery and i am not looking forward to any of that. I will miss having Internet access all the time and everywhere, instead of battling with one mtn piece of junk called a modem or a useless modem from vodafone or one of the other cellular networks. Again i am not looking forward to having to walk to the cafe in order to access Internet services. I will miss being able to shop at different shops and finding exactly what you want instead of having to walk the length and breadth of Accra looking for one little thing to buy o, and for those of us who unfortunately have big feet, having to hunt for weeks on end to buy one shoe which wont even be nice at ridiculously outrageous prices ad3n? so yes am not looking forward to any of that.  

I also don't worry about thieves too much in Canada when i leave my phone at random places, that is not to say people do not steal here, they do but you don't constantly have to look over your shoulder as a result of the activities of thieves and petty pick-pockets, i think the problems of the Western world include pickpockets and armed robbers but there are greater worries like stalkers, kidnappers and serial killers. On the other hand i will definitely not miss Canadian weather, i mean spring and fall with winter being the worst, and they all have something in common, chilly winds, and with winter the snow that rises to the knee, not not not. Having to wear thousands of jackets and sweaters to feel a little warmth, and also the heater you have to put on to keep your room warm which may end up giving you an unpleasant headache. The summer sun can also be so intense sometimes you just wonder if you are in the Northern part of Ghana or in Canada.
 

I wont miss the food in Canada as everything natural is found in Ghana as opposed to everything being canned here and causing fatness and other diseases, well am not entirely saying everything is pure in Ghana but at least you will see poultry farms and know the chicken wings you are eating are indeed from chickens and not manufactured wings. As to the individuation of the Canadian culture, it kinda works ok for me because it is a better option to me than all the konkonsa and the sabe in Ghanaian culture where people even want to ask you what deodorant you used in the morning or what soap you showered with before bed. Canada is all about doing your own thing in lay man's words, and even though there is more togetherness and communal living in Ghana which is a good remedy to some ills like depression etc, when it gets too intense and the konkonsa is becoming unbecoming, i think the Canadian way isn't bad at all, just mind your own business. Once again back to Ghana will be back to dirty politics, ineptitude and the mismanagement of our economy by many governments, just see how the cedi has fallen against the dollar? the African problem cannot be solved today so long as people get into politics for the wrong reasons. I am delving into so many different areas you may be thinking, but hey am an omnivorous person so that's how I roll.
Hmm it seems i have to sleep now if i intend to go to church tomorrow, so I shall return and that is a line from cantata TV series on G.TV. hahahah. I cannot say when but i will make an effort to come pretty soon.
bisous mes amis.