A Puzzle Within A Paradox.

“Why is Ghana (Africa) so rich and yet so poor?”

As the year of Ghana@50 is still with us, it is good to revisit my earlier pieces to serve as a reminder to many of my readers that although “while things change and they still remain the same,” and Ekow Bedu Woode put it this way, “It seems like the farther we go, the closer we get to where we began,” the next 50 years for Ghana will be bright only if…. ( your action plan.)

One, that there will be a paradigm shift. Our whole mind-set will have to change from “what is in it for me?” to what is good for the country? God first, others second and then me. That we will put the common good of the people above all else for the land is ours and if it is to be a better place, it is up to us all.

Greed, corruption, mismanagement and lack of vision have to take a back seat for we know that Ghana is very rich and we want to make her that way. We have been blessed with all the resources that we need to shine in the World. Once again, “why is Ghana so rich and yet so poor?” The answers to this puzzle within the paradox will move Ghana forward in the years to come.

As we celebrate Ghana@50, let us pray for Ghana and do what we can as individuals to solve the puzzle within the paradox.

G H A N A –

G ive of yourself and all of your resources until it hurts for the sake of the Motherland. If the friends, sons and daughters, according to official sources, can remit over $4billion a year from the Diaspora, we can see that many people are sacrificing for the sake of Ghana and nothing else. Let us continue to give to empower.

Honor God, Ghana and the host countries where the people in the Diaspora live for in a few years to come, many people may return home. When they do, they will bring retirement monies home but their children and friends left behind may not continue to remit as we know it now. In order words, Ghana will not be able to depend on remittances like now but hopefully by then we may not depend on remittances.

Avail ourselves to the service of others.” If you are sitting on the edge, you are taking too much room on the Earth.” He/she who gives to others is fulfilling the love of God. No one ever got a medal for what they gave to themselves. Let us serve in other to make this World a better place. It is very easy to sit and criticize. Let us weed a portion of Ghana from where we are and soon we will meet in the middle.

Never GIVE UP on Ghana for there is hope. The future is bright and so let us light candles in the darkness. “Let your light so shine that others may see your good works and praise the Lord.” It is raining now, but the sun will shine tomorrow. When it rains, plants grow and so let us keep on sowing good deeds for in due time we will reap a bountiful harvest. The law of the harvest says that, “we reap what we sow; we reap more than we sow and we reap later what we sow if we faint not.”

Ask, to quote President John F. Kennedy, not what G H A N A can do for you, but ask what you can do for G H A N A. The land is ours and it is now our turn to take the country to the next level. Let us challenge ourselves to solve the puzzle within the paradox- “Why is Ghana so rich and yet so poor?”

The solutions to the problems of Ghana are in our hands and as we each do our part, things will change for the better by the grace of God. We can each choose a project with a common goal of pushing Mother Ghana to the next level. We must have a unity of purpose, stop the blame game, selfishness and “what is in it for me?”

Happy 50th Anniversary Mother Ghana. May the coming years be her best years ever. May future generations honor those who sacrificed today to make Ghana the pride of Africa. It is possible and so let us get to work; a project at a time. Let us talk less and do more for the sake of the country.

“Y3nnpa aba da!” We will always have hope. The future of Ghana is bright if…….(your action plan towards the common goal. ) Remember the Black Stars of 2006 World Cup and join the team, for victory awaits us. We can defeat the giants by the grace of God.

Those who have gone on before us are calling from the Great Beyond- “Twoo boi!!

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.