My Whatsapp chat with Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah

A message to all Ghanaians and Africans on the occasion of the 58th Independence Anniversary Celebration of Ghana.

Date: 6th March, 2015

To: 0264460223 (Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah - First and former President of Ghana, Pan Africanist and Social Commentator)

From: 0249460223 (Frimpong Musa - African Union Youth Ambassador, Ghana’s Leading Youth Development Advocate, Positive Youth Development Practitioner and Social Commentator)

Subject: The state of Ghana after 58 years of independence

Whatsapp Osegyefo,

Happy 58th Anniversary to you and fellow Ghanaians in your new home.

I am happy to send you this whatsapp message these early hours of your beloved country’s (Ghana) 58th Independence Anniversary Day. As a man of vision as you are, I am sure you knew that whatsapp will be the easiest and cheapest means of communicating with you in my generation. Do not get excited yet because the founders of Whatsapp Jan Koum and Acton Brian are not Ghanaians nor Africans but all hope is not lost because my good friend Osborn Adu Kwarteng (co-founder of PaySail) who was also my classmate at your own University, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and a host of other young Ghanaians and Africans are working hard to write their names in the Technology industry so I believe the young people in Ghana and Africa will catch up with their friends in the developed worlds.

I am happy to let you know that my good friends Basit, Watara, Anwar, Husein, Muhsin, Shaub, others and I came together to organise the maiden edition of Ghana’s 57th Independence Anniversary Celebrations in the famous city of Istanbul, Turkey last year. I was even made to dance ‘adowa’ (traditional dance in Ghana) that day to usher you into the hall before you declared Ghana as an independent nation for the 57th time. The mayor of Istanbul who was in the front seat could not sit back during our rich display than to take his camera to take some pictures as I danced in front of you.

Your own Ghana is doing well because we still have hope that things will change and improve for the better. Even in the midst of the things like corruption, unemployment, partisan politics full of winner takes all and insults and most recently is the religious and ethnic wrangling that has made your beloved Ghana a standstill, we still have hope for tomorrow.

Few complains I have for you includes the fact that our education system is not responsive to our development as a nation and I can see little effort from the major stakeholders to do something about the situation. We study subjects that do not matter in the job market. We are told to apply for jobs only when we have 5-10years of experience just after our graduation. How and where can a fresh graduate have such many years of experience from? The older people are not retiring from their jobs and positions for the young ones to have space either. They only retire when they get their children and family members to replace them. Many of our youth especially graduates like me from the Universities and Polytechnics are jobless and helpless now. We are made to pay bribes everywhere we go before getting anything done.

There is virtually no space for young people in governance and decision-making processes in our country now. The National Union Ghana Students (NUGS) which was a major tool for the youth for major social changes in your days is almost dead now with political infiltrations. With our voices, dreams and hopes shuttered now, how can we compete with our counterparts in the developed world even though we are all fighting for the same opportunities? We now compete for basic jobs and opportunities with people from China, America and the rest of the world in our own country.

Even with our abundant natural resources like gold, cocoa, timber, diamonds, bauxite, aluminum and lately our oil, we are still facing serious economic challenges. It seems we are just care takers of our own resources. Others come and take them cheaply in the raw form and bring it back to us as finished products at expensive prices. Few Ghanaians are able to see and buy chocolate even though we produce the cocoa here in Ghana. We buy more and even basic things like foodstuffs, clothes, toiletries among others which we can easily produce for ourselves. We are borrowing more than we can pay and I fear for my generation and the generation before me with the excessive debt waiting for us to pay. We run major sectors of our country like education, health, infrastructure on foreign aids which has made your beloved country a beggar something you never wanted to see at this time.

As a young person aspiring to become a leader and a contributing member of this great nation, I can hardly find an excellent example of a great leader across all spheres of our nation to model myself after. From political, traditional, religious and public servants, exemplary leadership is a big challenge. All I hear and see from our leaders are insults, lies, corruption, fights, pull him down, winner takes all, divide and rule, religious and ethnic wrangling, land litigation, exploitation among others.

I am not sure if this is the independent Ghana we are celebrating today. I believe you did your part for Ghana and Africa as a whole but our leaders especially the current national and continental ones seem to be tearing things apart instead of improving and adding on to them. Though there were things you did not do right but I believe you are still the best leader our country and continent has ever seen and have and I am hopeful that you will call a meeting to advice our leaders to change their ways and make things right and better.

I must leave you now for you to continue your busy schedule because I know you have a lot of meetings and work to do as I also iron my cloths ahead of today’s anniversary celebrations because my light will go off early in the morning. It is sad, right? Ghana is now suffering from a dangerous disease not called Ebola which has killed thousands of fellow Africans in neighbouring Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea but ours is called ‘Dumsor’(erratic power outage) which is even now on Wikipedia and it is killing all Ghanaians. The Akosombo Dam you built can no more provide enough electricity for the growing population of our dear nation. So we are now suffering from frequent power outages making work and business a big challenge for us.

Do not get sad and worried because my generation is ready to reject the line of action of our current crop of leaders and become new and better leaders who care about Ghana and its people more than our selfish interest. Leaders who are trustworthy and have high level of integrity. Leaders who accept responsibility for their actions especially the bad ones and act to correct them. Leaders who speak and stand by the truth always. Leaders who do not enjoy and live fabulous lifestyles whiles their people stay in suffering and poverty. Leaders who do not give gifts in exchange for votes. Leaders who are truly there for the good of their people, society and country as a whole.

I cannot leave without telling you about your most beloved Africa as well. The Organization of Africa Unity (OAU) which is now known as the African Union (AU) which you worked so hard with your good friends Sekou Toure, Haile Selassie, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Mr. Ben Bella among others to establish is also doing well with even your old friend Robert Mugabe as the current Chairman. The 8th Pan African Congress which you love so much is also currently underway in city Accra and your own grandson, His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama who is Ghana’s sitting President has echoed your voice during his address at the congress. He has urge all African leaders and people to speed up plans and actions so we can have a united Africa which I believe you are happy to hear. I believe it is similar words you told your UGCC friends in 1948 that led to our independence on 6th March, 1957 which we are celebrating today. Your little brothers who I believe are standing at your back by now, Nelson Madela and Muammar al-Gaddafi also did a lot for Africa and their people before joining you at your new home.

Last December, I was privileged to have been selected as the only Ghanaian by the African Union to join my other 29 friends from other 25 African countries to attend the 5th Batch Training of the African Union Youth Volunteer Corps (AU-YVC). I had the privilege to visit the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa and you cannot believe the beautiful edifice the African Union is using now. My friends and I bonded perfectly as one people during our two weeks stay at Bonita Youth Centre, Debrezeit in Ethiopia. I really enjoyed our discussions on Pan Africanism, leadership and youth empowerment in the course of our training. Your name and ideals are still popular in the AU and my friends upon hearing me speak confidently started calling me Kwame Nkrumah because they believe I will become Ghana’s President in the future which I pray and hope it come to pass with your support. Sankofa is an idea the AU believes holds the key to the continents unity and development and I believe they are referring to the great legacies you left for the continent and its people which we have unfortunately thrown away.

I came across a very important document entitled ‘Agenda 2063’ during my stay in Ethiopia designed by the AU. I and my other young African brothers really discussed this document which contains the aspirations of the continent and its people for the next 50yrs. I am in constant communication with almost all my new African brothers after I came back to Ghana from our training in Ethiopia through the internet where we share and discuss major issues of importance in our various countries and the continent as a whole.

With this relationship I have built with these fellow young Africans, I have full conviction that Africa can be united as ‘Confederation of African States’ (CAS) in my generation even before 2063 as envisioned. I can now visit 25 African countries without any worries of where to stay because my African brothers like Alfred in South Africa, Kennedy in Kenya, Wale in Nigeria, Sara in Egypt, John in Tanzania, Robert in Uganda, Masilela in Swaziland, Tendai in Zimbabwe, Angelique in Rwanda, Saminas in Ethiopia and many others. We will work hard to ensure that we achieve your long dream of a United Africa soon.

Please remember Ghana and Africa in your prayers for lasting peace, unity and development. Let us work together and come out with a plan that will help achieve a determined, empowered and solution driven Ghana and Africa. I look forward to chat with you again especially on the 25th May (African Union Day) and 1st July (Ghana’s Republic Day) this year by God’s grace.

Thank you for your time and hope you will whatsapp me soon with some of your rich suggestions for Ghana and Africa’s progress, Frimpong Musa, your great-great-grandson.

Long live the Dreams, Hopes and Ideals of our Forefathers!

Long live our Motherland!!

Long live Ghana!!!!

Source: Myjoyonline.com

By: Frimpong Musa

#opinion247