For starters, I discovered that one of the most widely sung worship tracks in the world was actually composed by a Ghanaian! For all the years we've b
For starters, I discovered that one of the most widely sung worship tracks in the world was actually composed by a Ghanaian! For all the years we’ve been singing “We bow down and worship Yahweh,” it never occurred to me that Kofi Karikari was the talent behind it.
Frankly, that revelation was stunning, and I’ve told God to trend my interview with him so Kofi gets his flowers. Indeed, the last time I checked, close to 80,000 people had seen it on Facebook, and I hope it travels further.
Another event that made my week was the Star’s victory against Mali on Thursday. After a series of ugly defeats and draws, the team finally managed to put a smile on our faces, and that was another beautiful spectacle.
But none of these got my attention, like the explosive comments of a certain janitor in the Netherlands! In a video that’s still viral, Kofigabs, popularly known as “Mr. Happiness,” argued that it’s better to own a Dutch passport than to have a PhD from Ghana’s premier university, Legon.
In the one-minute video, which has 11,000 views on my page alone, Kofi explained that his access to a Dutch passport gives him the ease of traveling the world, a privilege a PhD holder from Ghana may not enjoy.
Needless to say, his comments have triggered A LOT of debates and an avalanche of opinions! While some have applauded his views, others appear indifferent. And many more are burning with red-hot anger.
According to his critics, his comments were reckless and could only come from the lips of a “daft, envious soul who has a deep-seated hatred for folks with doctorate degrees. Others have even questioned his sanity for “disregarding” PhD holders in Ghana!
The point, however, is: are the insults justified, and was Kofi’s comment truly misplaced? To answer this question, I’ll do to Kofigabs what I do to Kevin Taylor and Twene Jonas whenever they vent. My approach to these serial critics is that I ignore the vitriol in their opinions, and nine out of ten, they always make sense!
Indeed, if you also take away the seeming ridicule and “disrespect” in Kofi’s tone, you’ll arrive at the inevitable conclusion that the crux or focus of his message was not about the acquisition of Legon PhDs per se. But rather a strong disquiet for the quality of life in Ghana and the prospects of the country’s educational system.
Like a typical lawyer’s assessment, the “spirit” of his comments was more about Ghana’s development and less about locally acquired degrees. Having said this, the question now arises: how many Ghanaians will prefer to stay, live, and work in Ghana compared to taking abode in the Netherlands and other European countries?
As my senior colleague, Manasseh Azure Awuni, stressed in his recent piece on the matter, hundreds of Ghanaians are yearning to flee the country in search of greener pastures! If you doubt this, why are the embassies filled with people queueing for visas?
If Ghana were a land of milk and honey, or at least had droplets of the same, would the urge to leave the country be so high? Point of correction: there’s actually milk and honey in Ghana. Except that, it’s in the hands of greedy politicians and their cronies alone. Such that if you’re not a friend of the system, you may not be happy.
Now let me use journalists to illustrate a point. Do you know that in spite of the high-end intellectual job of conducting interviews, filing reports, editing scripts, producing shows, and hosting programmes, journalists are one of the least paid professionals in the country?
Indeed, the last report by the School of Communication Studies bemoaned the poor remuneration of journalists, among other harsh factors. Reading the 101-page report from Legon is enough to discourage any fresh entrant who thinks that reading on TV or presenting on the radio pays because, truthfully, there’s no financial pleasure apart from the supposed popularity and “clout.”
Yet in other jurisdictions, journalists ARE NOT paupers! They’re not a bunch of fluid writers who make a living from attending press conferences and waiting to sign for “soli” from dismissive aides of ministers.
The job actually pays well in other countries, and I dare say if 90% of journalists in Ghana had the opportunity to travel and work in a country like the Netherlands, they would all quit their newsrooms with the speed of light, starting with the author of this piece, myself!
Apart from journalists, many other professionals will also jump at international openings without thinking twice! And that explains the massive brain drain we see, for example, in the health sector, and this is what Kofi actually meant when he said having a Dutch passport is more profitable than a Ghanaian PhD (a prestige job).
To treat his comment literally will be to miss the kernel of the issue, which is that Ghana is now a living hell, and thus it’s better to pitch camps in other countries than to be hopeful in a country that looks sold to some deceptive politicians who can’t stop making promises.
Some of those who’re angry even wish they were not in Ghana, but in a vain attempt to appear more patriotic than Kwame Nkrumah himself, they have accosted the man and called him names in their sufferings.
Suffice it to say, THAT IS NOT patriotism at all! Patriotism doesn’t mean defending the rot in your country and being agitated because your country’s identity is being shredded or ridiculed on the internet for valid reasons. That, in my view, is sheer nationalistic exuberance!
If we’re truly angry at all, we must channel our disgust toward calling for better policy reforms that will make sanitary pads more affordable and that will redeem national service allowances from debt.
Until then, a toilet cleaner who has a better quality of life will be justified in mocking anybody who wears a suit and tie but has to queue to buy prepaid units and who sleeps in unannounced darkness like a slave!
And so, in effect, I stand by the substance of Kofi’s comments, and when next I pray to God, I’ll add a Dutch passport to my requests. But I’ll do this in a church that won’t ask for a “seed” for God to bless me.
We shall visit that matter later but for now, Kofi spoke the truth! If you doubt it, check the value of the cedi and see if you’ll wave the Ghana flag high or not!
The author of this piece is a writer, a journalist, and a corporate MC twice nominated by the BBC for the Komla Dumor Award. He’s currently the acting news editor at Christian-based Wesleyan TV, having worked with TV Africa and JoyNews in the past.
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