A Challange For President MIlls

Mr. President,

The incessant shrieking is over, the continual squawking is done, the never-ending shrilling is finished, and the uninterrupted wailing is terminated. Now, you have the mandate. What's next? Well, I need not enumerate our numerous intractable problems as I am sure you are aware of them. I’d like instead to knife through the knotty problems while highlighting a few to drive home the point. Note that for you to bend the arc of history in your favor and etch an indelible mark in the memory of Ghanaians and the world, you must launch radical, but effective and brilliant ideas.

Also, you should understand that Africa won’t taste the fruits of first world development if we straitjacket ourselves with the low-level African misconception that we can develop the continent without foreign investments and technical expertise of the West. Our hydra-headed problems and lack of solid foundation do not allow us to go it alone. We need Multi-National Companies to train our unskilled workforce. Africa can't develop without Western Multi-National companies. Engineering, Technology and Manufacturing drive every successful economy, but Africa does not have the talent or wherewithal to disengage from the West. We must embrace Multi-National Companies but we must be smart about it and hard-negotiate for the benefit of our country as a whole rather than the individual pocket-lining activities of the past. We cannot become a tech hub without Multi-National companies. Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, India, and China bear witnesses to the point. That the exaltation of their economies resulted from the presence of Multi-National Companies and their advanced technologies is insuperable. We should not kid ourselves.

Ghana must focus on engineering and manufacturing and strive to lure Multi-National Companies such as Texas Instruments, Intel, Samsung, Cisco, GE, Motorola, HP, Apple, IBM, Dell, Wal-Mart, etc. if we are to succeed. These companies should be encouraged to open engineering design and manufacturing centers in Ghana. They should train, and employ Ghanaians while transferring technology.

But, Multi-National Companies will not expand into Ghana until we prove ourselves and they see opportunities. First, we must drop the begging bowl that has become an albatross around the necks of generations of Ghanaians and think of ourselves as equal to any man in the world. We should present ourselves to the international community not to beg for assistance but to sit at negotiating tables as equal men and women and drive a hard-bargain for business.

The other point is, Ghana cannot be just as good as other African countries if we are serious about attracting real business. WE CAN'T DO THAT! We must shun that kinda equity. We should instead re-orient our country, our people, our thinking, our way-of-life, and our demeanor to FIRST world levels and establish first world oasis in the third world region of West Africa. We should build first class standards in the midst of chronic sub-standards. Multi-National Companies must see Ghana as the base from which to explore other areas.

How do we achieve this? We can re-orient the mental compass of our people by designing 2-day seminars that combine history, movies, psychology, early childhood education, economics, and other superior tactics to not only pinpoint the root of our problems, but also to demonstrate the way out and to implant a new sense of awareness, urgency and self-esteem in the African.

I am not referring to one of those prosaic conferences, but to 21st Century, awe-inspiring seminars that would shake the African to his foundation and uproot the damage of mediocrity that’s been inculcated into his cranium for generations. We cannot undo generations of inferior mediocre attitude with mundane seminars. We need something not only radical and exceptional but brilliant. Something that will remake the constitution of the African and shake him to the core! Training materials which should include videos, PowerPoint presentations and in-person speeches should themselves be determinants of the success or failure of the program. We should guide those training materials with our lives. Originators and designers of such training materials should be no more than five enlightened Ghanaians of superior intellect. We can achieve mass training through television, radio, and FM coverages while employing universities, trade unions, technical and vocational institutions, churches, schools, and corporations to adopt and disseminate information.

Mr. President you must buy into the program and must have a thorough understanding of the plan, and its purpose. I am available for hire.

On attracting business to Ghana - Right now, as we do not have trained engineers, we should start by assembling televisions, stereos, computers, electric fans, microwaves, ceilings fans, washers/dryers, vacuum cleaners, electric bulbs, dishwashers, refrigerators, cookers, and other low tech gadgets. This would create employment while providing basic training in engineering.

And, we should have squeaky clean cities! Filth drives off investors. Moreover, we should improve the ugly layout of Accra by relocating those living in extreme poverty in the center of the city (eg Nima) and turn those areas into beautiful golf courses with trimmed trees, green grass and exterior lights! We should encourage Ghanaians to open quality restaurants to serve middle-class Ghanaians and foreigners.

In addition, as Accra is already over-crowded, the govt should allocate 10,000 sq acres of land right outside of Accra for technology/engineering establishments. Roads leading to this dedicated land should be double-carriage ways, neatly tarred, and lined with clean-cut trees and shrubs, green grass and lights. The site should have drainage, sewers, and water connections as wells as electricity, cable and phone hookups. We should build first class apartments in that area for future employees.

Furthermore, we should remove the archaic bureaucratic constraints that choke businesses, build more engineering schools, establish business-friendly environment, market Ghana in Western business magazines (Fortune, Forbes, etc.), and dump the defeatist attitude that shackles Ghanaians !

We should leapfrog old technology and think of our country as a test bed for new and advanced engineering. Ghana can be a technology hub or the silicon valley of Africa but we must start by building a first world enclave for ourselves before others will pay attention.

Mr. President - I am willing to re-locate to Ghana to bring this dream to fruition.

okukuseku - The Strategist.

oda sani