I think Ghanaians talk too much and do too little. Don’t get me wrong I'm not talking about every single one but rather the majority. I used to think we didn’t have the technology or money or enabling environment to be more action-oriented but that doesn't seem to be the problem at all. I can't fully say I know what it is but I have a number of guesses; laziness, mediocrity, a simple 'I don’t care' attitude or even low self-worth. I am writing all this from a very sad and terrible incident that occurred today. A shopping centre collapsed killing a number of people and injuring many. I saw the pictures and felt sad. I had one of those moments. Those 'it could have been me' moments. All I can say to the people who lost anyone today is I am sorry for your loss and may their souls rest in peace. It's sad.
I was on Facebook today and found myself reading random status updates about the incident. My odd way of gathering info...I can't say it’s amazing but hey...So majority of the updates were about how inefficient Ghanaians are in responding to an incident like this. There were references to the media, Police, Military, the President, engineers and a few more. Most of what they were saying was "why aren't they doing anything proper about it?” and they were annoyed at what was going on. It is quiet sad that things were how they were but my problem here is simple. Were they helping the problem, keeping it the same or worsening it? I would choose any of the last two. I am not saying they don't have a right to speak. Far from it. Their words convey their concerns which are veered in a good direction but should it end there? Maybe you are thinking "ahhba Julz! What do you expect me to do? Leave my job in the middle of the day and go and do someone else's job?" No, that isn't it. I'm just saying. Just as you were smart enough to notice this, you could come up with something to do that can help the situation.
Let me give you an example. A number of people were not happy (many sounded pissed) with the fact that GTV who is a national TV station did not start airing the incident until pretty late. I'm just saying. Instead of 'going off' online about this, how about calling GTV to express your distaste. I don't know how things work at GTV but if I owned a TV station and I had numerous phone calls complaining about what I'm airing I would do something about it. You get what I mean? It really doesn’t matter much if you fail. What matters most is that you tried and you actually did something! We need to learn to help ourselves and, well, look out for each other too. Teamwork! I'm sure people who play or watch team sports will relate to this one. When you are in a game and your teammate is not playing his part well you cover up and tell him to step up. You don't shine as the point guard and get mad when you lose when you could have helped to rebound. You play together.
I read on twitter one time that “it’s not bad people that would destroy the world it's those good people who know better and do nothing about it.” I know I said it wrong but bear with me, it's something like that. I'm not here to point fingers. This is just something I have noticed. Ghana is a country to be proud of and one with enough potential to go to amazing heights. Let's build her up together so when she is at the top we can tell our stories of what we did for our country. Think about it.
