Ghana

A person who has lived all their lives in Ghana, and has never traveled outside its borders tend to have the belief that it is a great nation, and deserves the respect it enjoys among other countries.

It is not that our country isn’t great. But once you leave the country, you now have several metrics against which to compare Ghana to other nations. And you begin to bow your head in shame at the number of milestones we have to cover to reach the rest of the world, miles to catch up with even neighboring countries.

It is not to say other countries do not have their shortcomings, neither is it that our country does not have the potential to be exceptionally great. Across the world, in various countries, companies and international institutions, many Ghanaians are making the nation proud with their sterling achievements.

However, our biggest set back has been politics, people pulling down good initiatives simply because commissions from those projects do not get into their pockets, political opponents dragging one another’s reputation and the nation’s honor into mud.

And beyond and behind the politicians are ordinary citizens with a cheating mindset. Many Ghanaians do not think of providing convenience for the customer as a way of creating wealth from solving a need. Instead, many think of how best to cheat and exploit and make as much money from a loophole in the system as quickly as possible. And it is done with impunity because of political connections. They are 100% confident that their looting of resources that should be for the common good will only end up in endless legal proceedings that get no one into jail.

What a way of inspiring the young generation to cultivate integrity and prioritize service to the nation!

When foreigners are coming to Ghana, I cannot predict all of their expectations. But I do know that if they intend staying longer, they surely will have a number of unpleasant surprises like citizens seeking opportunities to exploit them simply because they do not speak any Ghanaian language.

But there will always be beautiful souls and wonderful places to compensate for the negatives. And I hope they find those.