Message from the Morning Man: The Distinguished Gentleman

Rawlings and Daniel first met in 1978, during the World Military Games, hosted by Nigeria. Daniel was the Chairman of the Ghana Boxing Promotion Council, and a member of the Ghana Boxing Authority, so he had official oversight of the boxing events - which were all to be held in Ghana. The young Flt Lt. Rawlings was in charge of the Military Boxing team. On the first day of the games, Rawlings headed for Burma Camp, where the bouts were to be staged.

He was running a little late, so he manoeuvred his motorcycle through traffic as swiftly as he could. When he got to the arena, he was alarmed to observe that there was nobody there. No cleaners tidying up, no workers getting the place ready. But on second observation, he realised that almost all the chairs were already set up anyway. And then Rawlings saw him.

Standing near the boxing ring was a very tall man. Moving at a slow, but determined pace, the man was setting up the chairs all by himself. It was Daniel. The top national boxing official was setting up the chairs all by himself. Rawlings was struck by the quiet dignity with which this distinguished gentleman was doing things himself. Rawlings went up to him and started a conversation.

He learnt that Daniel was not only a top boxing official, but also an appeals court judge. The fact that such a man would think nothing of spending his time arranging chairs, although it was certainly not his job, earned Daniel the complete respect of the passionate, young Air Force officer.

So a few years later, when JJ Rawlings resumed military rule of the country, he could think of no better person to hold up to Ghanaians as the best example of the dignity and self-respect he wanted us to incorporate into our national identity. And so it came to pass, that Flight Lieutenant JJ Rawlings called on Justice Daniel Annan to join his PNDC Government.

Throughout the tenure of the PNDC, Justice Annan was essentially Rawlings' deputy, and even though JJ was the Chairman, he usually let Justice Annan chair the actual Council meetings. Later, when Rawlings became elected President of the 4th Republic, Justice Annan was made Speaker of Parliament, a role in which he distinguished himself, earning the respect of all sides of the House, until he retired, during J.A. Kuffuor's presidency. Five years later, in 2006, the Distinguished Gentleman passed away.

As a Ghanaian, I spend a lot of time thinking about my country. I try to understand what our problems are, and what we need to fix them. I ask myself what it is that we are missing, and for me, the one thing we need so much more of, is dignity. It is a part of our national identity that we seem to have allowed to diminish over the years. Here's how the oxford dictionary defines dignity: "the state or quality of being worthy of honour or respect"

Tomorrow, we celebrate our 58th anniversary as an independent state. When Kwame Nkrumah first led us to independence, the world applauded us for our determination to govern ourselves. Wherever a Ghanaian went in the world, they were regarded with respect and honour. With dignity. We were the Black Star of Africa, the trailblazers, the standard against which all others were measured, and the very best was expected of us.

So much has happened in our recent history to punch holes in this character of dignity that the world used to associate with the Ghanaian identity. Today, we are the nation that air-lifted cash to our footballers; the nation that has children schooling under trees; the nation that is stealing money from its own people and handing it all to cronies through crooked, controversial contracts, and peculiar, procurement procedures; the nation that needs a bailout from the IMF because we're spending too much of our money paying ghosts; the nation whose President admits to the world that his policies are not credible, and so we need a "headmaster with a stick" to come and tell us what to do. Not a lot of dignity in that, is there?

Today's Great Ghanaian, Justice Annan, reminds us of what dignity looks like. He stood tall in the centre of our society, earning our respect, not by virtue of his age or wealth or academic qualification or professional accreditation, but through his actions. He was the true embodiment of Ghanaian honour and respect, and his life will forever remind us that we are capable of achieving such excellence once again. Today, we celebrate Justice Daniel Francis Kweipe Annan, the Distinguished Gentleman.

My name is Kojo Yankson, and I am a Ghanaian. That means the quest for national dignity begins with me.

GOOD MORNING, GHANAFO!

Source: Myjoyonline.com

By: Kojo Yankson

#opinion247 #kojoyankson