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The following presentation is a prime example of the
mission of Octa-Ghana House. Thanks to Dr. A...
ADDRESS: KWAHU COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION EASTER FUNDRAISER
Speaker:
John B. Allotey, M.D. Ph.D.
Date: Saturday, April 11, 2009
BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS
Madam President,
members of the Kwahu Community Association, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
It is with a great sense of
pride, as well as humility that I accepted President Margaret Tabiri’s invitation to chair this year’s Kwahu Easter Dance.
I consider it an honor, and I sincerely thank this organization for the invitation.
I salute all members of the Kwahu
Community Association for your tireless efforts to make this a grand occasion every year. Even though Easter is celebrated
throughout Ghana, the season and its celebration have become more or less symbolic of Kwahu tradition. Many Ghanaians of
all tribes congregate at this time in Kwahu to join you in celebrating Easter. This is as it should be.
We Ghanaians
have the privilege of cherishing what is culturally linked to our clan or tribe, but are ready and willing to enjoy and appreciate
the cultures of other groups of Ghanaians. We love the food, language, music, history, festivals and dances of each other’s
tribe and culture, whether it is the Kpanlogo dance that celebrates life, the Agbadza honoring valor or the Adowa dance, marking
a transition from this world to the ancestral world.
And this brings me to the major point of my address tonight,
which is the need to rise above the negative and divisive elements of tribalism in Ghana and Africa. For political reasons,
people are often afraid to mention the word ‘tribalism” in public. Since I am not a politician, I can use word “tribalism”,
but I intend to discuss it from a positive and respectful aspect.
All Ghanaians owe a debt of gratitude to the late
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah for his early vision and warning about the capability of unchecked tribalism to destroy African nations.
We are witnesses to past or present political unrest, wars and genocide in Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Liberia, Congo, Nigeria
and other African countries. Tribal disagreements and differences were the primary basis for these conflicts.
Many writers,
including a number of African political pundits, have listed tribalism as the number one cause of instability and failure
of progress in Africa. Some other notable causes for Africa’s relative lack of development include political corruption,
rampant greed, gross indiscipline and the lack of good governance and accountability. Tribalism and those other ills have
resulted in a divide and rule policy, unbridled exploitation of our own people, socially destructive nepotism, extreme poverty,
atrocious living conditions, rampant disease, high mortality, insane warfare, terrible famines, genocide and mass displacements
of large population segments.
Even though tribalism is not dead in Ghana by any means, our country has generally
been spared from the worst elements and outcomes of tribalism. But my admonition here today is that we should all seek to
proactively create an atmosphere of cooperation and brotherly love for each other, regardless of which part of Ghana we come
from. It is often expedient for politicians with their own agenda and ulterior motives to play on tribal sentiments. All
enlightened Ghanaians have to remain constantly vigilant and distrustful of those who seek to play the tribal “game” to the
detriment of our country.
We should all share a common love and passion for our country Ghana. We should by all means,
be proud of our origins, culture and heritage. But each tribal group can retain its uniqueness while coalescing with other
groups into a well-balanced and united country, as a cohesive whole of equals. We do have a collective social responsibility
to work for the progress and stability our mother country, Ghana in its march towards self-reliance, communal development
and social integration.
Easter represents a period of particular significance for us Christians, because of the redemptive
aspect of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection. In our celebration of Easter today, let us not forget this important
theme. Let us remember that we are commanded not only to love the Lord our God, but also to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Let us support, hold and love each other in the family that is our nation, Ghana. Let us concentrate on breaking down the
barriers that tend to divide us.
Thank you.
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African Professionals Hit by U.S. Recession Are Going Home
Special
to the NNPA from GIN
Some African immigrants in professional positions in the United States are returning to Africa
for better quality of life. (Courtesy Photo/adcminnesota.org)
(June 2, 2009) - (GIN) – A downturn in the U.S. economy
is giving African professionals a second thought about life in America, according to a report in the Washington Post. A better
life beckons in Africa, the report says.
“The biggest thing for me was quality of life,” said James Odhiambo, who
said he traded a deluxe apartment in Dallas, a pickup truck, dishwasher and Big Macs for a healthier lifestyle near Kenya’s
Lake Victoria.
“I personally know many people who are going back,” said Erastus Mong’are, who works for an insurance
company in Delaware and heads an association of Kenyans living there. “The people I know here work two or three jobs just
to make ends meet, while in Kenya — despite its problems — people seem more happy. They seem to be getting more time with
family. More relaxed. Here, if my neighbor sees I’ve parked in his spot, he becomes so upset.... Here, if you have a car,
you’ll share it with four or five people,” he said. “In the States, if there are five people in the house, they have five
cars. There’s a lot of ‘this is mine.’”
With the money he saved in the States, Odhiambo plans to start his own business
— a kind of private coast guard for Lake Victoria, modeled on the community fire stations in the U.S.
“Right now,
I’m just waiting for my business registration,” Odhiambo told the Post, while savoring a warm sunset breeze. “Here, the pace
is a whole lot slower.”
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