AKOSUA SANBALLAT AND KWAME TOBIAH The Bible tells an interesting story in the book of Nehemiah chapter 2. During the reign of King Artaxerxes, Nehemiah sought permission to build the broken walls of Jerusalem, but when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite (hehehehe, if there is Ammonites, there must be Patriotites) heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites, so they ridiculed Nehemiah and did all they could to scuttle his effort. In response, Nehemiah said: “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.” I thought such characters like Sanballat and Tobiah only existed in the ancient days. It beats my mind why anyone would like to wish his or her country ill because someone else would take credit for its success. I was traumatized and scandalized a few days ago when I heard some people on radio praying for the Black Stars to lose their match against the Pharaohs of Egypt because they thought a win for Ghana will give credit to President Mahama. I took note of a man and a woman who were particularly annoyingly pesky on the issue, and I want to refer to them as Akosua Sanballat and Kwame Tobiah. Ajeeeiiii, do you know Akosua Domite? These “patriots” even predicted a score line of 3 – 0 against Ghana, citing hefty winning bonus for the players as their reason, and felt those monies should have been given to workers whose salaries or allowances are in arrears. A good point there! But the bonus for the Black Stars was tied to performance; if workers’ performance in this country could commensurate with the single spine salary, and if only Ghanaian ghost workers will rest peacefully in their graves and stop collecting salaries meant for the living, our country wouldn’t have been where it is today. Sosket, I could imagine ghost workers demonstrating for their salary arrears. They will shout through their noses: “na ye sika no wo hin.” A kwahu friend of mine will tell you that we do business for profit, and I think the government of President Mahama in respect of its promise of the bonus saw beyond the entertainment football will bring. It thought “outside the box”. Do you have an idea the kind of business opportunities that were created in the country before and after the match? A petty trader who sells Black Stars paraphernalia around the Baba Yara stadium, reported on radio that she sold GHC3,000 of her wares a day to the match! And do you have an idea how much money food vendors and bars made before and after the match? Wait a minute, now that the Black Stars qualification to Brazil is apparent, do you have an idea the amount Ghana is going to receive for qualifying? Do you also know the volume of investments that Ghana will attract? Have you also thought of the unity our qualification will bring to our country? Which people were comparing Ghana’s bonus with that of other countries? Must we always copy others? Hell no! We must dare to be different! We must look beyond what the others see. And this is where I see JM as the finest. You see, because God is not an Alatani, He gave us an unprecedented success over the Egyptians to disappoint Akosua Sanballat, Kwame Tobiah and their likes. I will not be surprised if Ghana gets to the final stage or wins the World Cup. Folks, please stay tuned, let’s go for a spot of humour as a short break: Auntie Yaa Arafat, long time no hear from you. Kikikikikiki, how is your boldness level? Eiii Papa J be that, you are too much oo, while others used 30,000 British pounds of tax payers’ money to wear gold chains waawaa, you used your prize money of 50,000 US dollars to help establish UDS. Congrats, Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. JJ. I salute you sir. Who whistled “K4”, you see what I don’t like about some of you? You always want to put words in my mouth and put me into trouble, did I mention anybody’s name? Papa J, should I ask you a question? I hope you won’t be angry and boom on me oo. Ibi true say your dogs dey chew the legs of Tefle people rough-rough? People dey talk plenty for radio top oo; them they say so-so your 20 dogs dey terrorize people for Tefle. Chai, dogs terrorists; sir, ibi Somalia you buy them? Chinekeee Al-sha-dogs no come oo. Please come remove your mouth oo. Sir, don’t be angry with me oo, I just dey report. I no be one of the crookish monsters, neither am I a baby with sharp teeth nor a wicked old dwarf. I no be short koraa; I tall pass Nana sef. Kikikikikiki, I no be twin wey I for be mortuary man too. Sir, what even pain me well, well be say one guy from Tefle say, “who born dog?” Friends, welcome back from the short break. Many years back, whenever my family went through crisis, my late grandmother, Nana Yaa Abuakwaa of Akyem Kade will say, “the kind of test we have gone through this year is the college type which is nowhere near that of standard seven.” It is true that times are hard in Ghana especially with the increase of tarrifs, but let’s keep hope alive. We have a visionary leader as president, and he will make the best out of a worst situation. We must break eggs to prepare omelets. As the germination concept, things must get bad before getting better. A seed of maize must die and rot before germination could take place to produce a bountiful yield for us to enjoy our koko and banku. In case you haven’t heard, as part of NDC 2012 manifesto to increase the level of the Livelihood Empowerment Programme (LEAP) grant by 200% from a range of GHC8 and GHC15 to GHC24 and GHC45 per month, government through the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, has issued cheques for the payment of all arrears due 72,000 households under LEAP. Government also intends expanding LEAP to 100,000 households in 100 districts throughout the country by the end of this year. In conclusion, I want to leave you with the words of Prophet Nehemiah: the God of heaven will give us success as a nation. If the perception of the likes of Akosua Sanballat and Kwame Tobiah is anything to go by, then, December 10, August 29, and October 15, means 3 – 0 in favour of JM. And for some people, the battle continues to be the loss; eii sorry, the Lord’s. By Anthony Obeng Afrane.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 11:28:46 +0000
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