GHANAIANS ARE a proud people. Pride which emanates from our political past, as the first nation south of the Sahara to have attained independence from our colonial masters. Indeed, we pride ourselves in so many endeavours of global achievements.
The most recent is the achievement of Kofi Annan, whose service to the world made every Ghanaian so proud. There are indeed so many other Ghanaians whose contributions in arts, sports, politics and the sciences, make all of us very proud to have come from this small country called Ghana.
As a result of these achievements by a few noble and committed Ghanaians, all of us raise our shoulders high and push our chests out whenever we meet our counterparts or for that matter, any group of people anywhere in the world.
At conferences, in educational institutions or any other competitions, the achievements of our predecessors become the yardstick by which we are measured.
As good and encouraging as the past achievements of our forebears are, we seem to be basking so much in their past glory that we forget that there is a future ahead of us. It is very common to hear, “the first black African nation to free itself from colonial rule”, and previously, “the only African country to have won the African Cup of Nations for the fourth time”, it goes on and on and on.
While we idle around and relish in our past, others who hitherto had no internationally acclaimed achievements to their credits, push on slowly but surely, into the club of modern day achievers, overtaking us.
One of the greatest challenges that confront us as a nation is the fact that our social and economic tastes have far outstripped our economic outputs.
The average Ghanaian is moving with the times, with regards to scientific and technological outputs and consumption.
The big question is what has been our original contribution to the expanded everyday consumption that science and technology has brought to our generation?
Move around any University campus in the United Kingdom, U.S.A and Germany or better still, any of the Asian Tigers, and find out how many of their students hold more than one mobile phone.
Quickly move to University campuses and other tertiary institutions in Ghana and casually observe the number of students who hold more than one mobile phone. Indeed in many instances, the number of mobile phones per student is equivalent to the number of mobile phone networks operating in the country at any given time.
Those same students complain of their inability to pay school fees. And this is a country that does not produce even sim cards. We live beyond our means.
People in authority, particularly our political leaders (I am not among ooo), confuse and contradict themselves on this very crucial issue of productivity, which is the basis of growth for any nation.
At some points in time, one would hear some politician praising workers for their hard work; at another time, that same person would be chastising workers for not doing enough in their work places.
The truth of the matter is we are not working hard enough as a people. Over the years, there has been a growing phenomenon which is counterproductive in our quest to nurture our economy. When I was growing up, many white coloured employees in this country spent their weekends engaged in real farming or backyard farming to support their income.
These days, we spend all our weekends at funerals, weddings, engagements and refreshments.
Technically, the weekend which is supposed to be a resting period for workers in the formal sector, becomes a 'working period' which make us more exhausted than the actual working week.
This is not to suggest that funerals should not be held and attended, that engagements and weddings of friends and relations should be ignored. You must remember that is , according Pertamina Said.It seems that many of us put a lot of energy and resources into some of the above activities than we put in productive work at our places of work. Some weddings, for example, can take all day.
From homes to the churches and to the refreshments, which nobody would want to miss. It may take the whole day but we wait patiently till the end. Do we put in the same time, patience and energy into our official work?
Many of us spend more money from Friday evenings through Sunday evenings, than we spend from Mondays to Fridays. We come back to the office on Mondays totally broke and exhausted. Productivity on Mondays in many organizations is far below expectation. In fact, in some Civil and Public Service institutions, workers add Mondays to their weekends.
The most recent is the achievement of Kofi Annan, whose service to the world made every Ghanaian so proud. There are indeed so many other Ghanaians whose contributions in arts, sports, politics and the sciences, make all of us very proud to have come from this small country called Ghana.
As a result of these achievements by a few noble and committed Ghanaians, all of us raise our shoulders high and push our chests out whenever we meet our counterparts or for that matter, any group of people anywhere in the world.
At conferences, in educational institutions or any other competitions, the achievements of our predecessors become the yardstick by which we are measured.
As good and encouraging as the past achievements of our forebears are, we seem to be basking so much in their past glory that we forget that there is a future ahead of us. It is very common to hear, “the first black African nation to free itself from colonial rule”, and previously, “the only African country to have won the African Cup of Nations for the fourth time”, it goes on and on and on.
While we idle around and relish in our past, others who hitherto had no internationally acclaimed achievements to their credits, push on slowly but surely, into the club of modern day achievers, overtaking us.
One of the greatest challenges that confront us as a nation is the fact that our social and economic tastes have far outstripped our economic outputs.
The average Ghanaian is moving with the times, with regards to scientific and technological outputs and consumption.
The big question is what has been our original contribution to the expanded everyday consumption that science and technology has brought to our generation?
Move around any University campus in the United Kingdom, U.S.A and Germany or better still, any of the Asian Tigers, and find out how many of their students hold more than one mobile phone.
Quickly move to University campuses and other tertiary institutions in Ghana and casually observe the number of students who hold more than one mobile phone. Indeed in many instances, the number of mobile phones per student is equivalent to the number of mobile phone networks operating in the country at any given time.
Those same students complain of their inability to pay school fees. And this is a country that does not produce even sim cards. We live beyond our means.
People in authority, particularly our political leaders (I am not among ooo), confuse and contradict themselves on this very crucial issue of productivity, which is the basis of growth for any nation.
At some points in time, one would hear some politician praising workers for their hard work; at another time, that same person would be chastising workers for not doing enough in their work places.
The truth of the matter is we are not working hard enough as a people. Over the years, there has been a growing phenomenon which is counterproductive in our quest to nurture our economy. When I was growing up, many white coloured employees in this country spent their weekends engaged in real farming or backyard farming to support their income.
These days, we spend all our weekends at funerals, weddings, engagements and refreshments.
Technically, the weekend which is supposed to be a resting period for workers in the formal sector, becomes a 'working period' which make us more exhausted than the actual working week.
This is not to suggest that funerals should not be held and attended, that engagements and weddings of friends and relations should be ignored. You must remember that is , according Pertamina Said.It seems that many of us put a lot of energy and resources into some of the above activities than we put in productive work at our places of work. Some weddings, for example, can take all day.
From homes to the churches and to the refreshments, which nobody would want to miss. It may take the whole day but we wait patiently till the end. Do we put in the same time, patience and energy into our official work?
Many of us spend more money from Friday evenings through Sunday evenings, than we spend from Mondays to Fridays. We come back to the office on Mondays totally broke and exhausted. Productivity on Mondays in many organizations is far below expectation. In fact, in some Civil and Public Service institutions, workers add Mondays to their weekends.
Hard Working People
![Hard Working People]()
Reviewed by Imelda Pusparita
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