Five Lessons Government Should Have Learned From Ablakwa’s Embarrassment
- By: Mashud Zakaria | Infoboxdaily
- Apr 17, 2015
- 3 min read
In the last year, Ghana has been faced with a worsening power situation, rife corruption, and an economic slump that have put the country on edge.
As a result, the people have chosen to display their frustration through strikes and demonstrations, among other things.
Despite all its promises, Government hasn’t been able to put the economy back on track or provide a lasting solution to the energy crisis that has hit the country hard the last three years.
Despite their best efforts, some say that Ghanaians still haven’t shown enough rage to Government over the current state of affairs.
But maybe it’s as simple as a sleeping snake not biting until its tail is stepped on.
A planned programme dubbed “Campus Connect,” organised by the Ministry of Education to bring governance to the doorstep of students, was, on Wednesday morning, boycotted by college of education students from selected institutions in the Ashanti region.
Although the students reported at the meeting venue, at Wesley College in Kumasi, they walked out when it was time for the Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary Education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah, to address them.
Chanting “Yԑntie obiaa” (we won't listen to anybody), the students protested the withdrawal of teacher trainee allowances by the John Mahama administration and replacing it with the student loan facility.
Reports say the students claimed they had petitioned the minister with regards to their concerns on several occasions but the Ministry turned a deaf ear.
As far as the students were concerned, if the Minister wasn’t ready to listen to them, they weren’t ready to listen to him.
In reaction to this embarrassment, Ablakwa expressed surprise at the hostile reception accorded him and the Deputy Minister of Information, Felix Owusu Kwakye, by the students, saying, “Their conduct was unacceptable.’’
But inquiring minds want to know if the government was merely surprised or if they managed to take something away from this public embarrassment. Just in case, here are 5 lessons we hope they learnt.
1.Address the immediate concerns of Ghanaians.
Just as Ghanaians are hoping and praying the energy crisis gets fixed, tertiary students want the teacher trainee allowances to be reinstated after Government scrapped them back in 2013.
When speaking to assembly, always speak to their greatest concerns, especially if you’ve spent the last couple of years ignoring them.
2.Ghanaians are angry with leadership.
The audacity to walk out on a deputy minister and his entourage and chant ‘’Yentie Obiaa’’ at them shows the enormity of rage these students have against Government.
The fact that principals of the various colleges of education could not calm the students down to listen to the government officials shows even more clearly that the students have reached the boiling point.
3.You can’t take Ghanaians for granted.
The voice of the people, they say, is the voice of God. Therefore, it will be a disaster if the voice of God is taken for granted. Government threw the concerns of the teacher trainees into oblivion and the repercussions of such a move manifested in total embarrassment. The same holds true for the other issues that are important to Ghanaians — ignore them at your own peril!
4.Dead Goat syndrome can make you feel stupid sometimes.
Last year, President John Dramani Mahama danced to the popular Highlife tune by Daddy Lumba “Yԑntia obiaa” (we won't listen to anybody) during one of his official visits to the Ashanti Region.
Many Ghanaians took serious exception to his action. Just last month, while addressing the Ghanaian community in Botswana, the President announced that he had developed a “dead goat syndrome” (bearing similar meaning to “Yentie obiaa”) to the numerous protestations of Ghanaians.
Well, in apparent retaliation for Government’s deaf ears to the allowance issue, the students have adopted the same syndrome toward whatever Government has to say. Now, was it wrong for one dead goat to chant “Yentie Obiaa” to another dead goat? Do the officials have anyone to blame for their embarrassment but themselves?
The Government had better seek out a cure quickly for their dead goat syndrome, or they won’t have anyone to blame but themselves for what happens to them in the next election.
5.Government must constantly gauge public opinion.
"It came as a surprise to everybody...all the principals were there and they asked the students why they were doing that and they [students] complained of the non-payment of their allowances," Mr. Ablakwa told Peace FM in reaction to the incident.
Shouldn’t Government have carried out research or opinion polls to establish the mood and concerns of the students prior to engaging them? If they continue to fail to do their homework, Government has little chance of passing the tests that come their way from different segments of the electorate.
Source: Infoboxdaily.com
By: Mashud Zakaria
