Dear Dr. Kwame Nkrumah,
I am indeed overwhelmed to have been able to unearth my seemingly endless thoughts to you finally in this piece of writing. This is my first letter to you in my two decades plus of living in a kingdom born out of the struggle led by you and some well-meaning kinsmen.
Indeed, it has always been my dream to scribble to you my thoughts and feelings on issues barricading the progress of your kingdom but the fear of having done a good zero job, knowing very well that you might never get to read such letters has been the sole blockade to such wishes of mine. However, this threat has not been strong enough to inhibit my willpower to watch my bird feather take those beautiful dance steps on a piece of paper on the 60th birthday of our kingdom; your kingdom.
Dr, I was not around when it all started but at least, the good old books of history haven’t failed at reconciling with my mind how our kingdom was born. They say it took the laborious selflessness, patriotism and goodwill for you and some other folks of the erstwhile Gold Coast to restore freedom and hope to the people. That has been the story of the people in the early days of independence.
It has always been patriotism, selflessness, humility and Ghana first. That was the song the Ghanaians knew. The words of the patriotic song which goes: “Arise Ghana youth for your country, the nation demands your devotion, let us all unite to uphold her and make her great and strong…” these words were the inspiration for the youth of the then young Ghana. It was through the spirit of such selflessness and such patriotism that Ghana was able to produce so many things of which we still depend on some of those today. It was that spirit that formed the strong foundation for the Ghana we live in today. Doc, in spite of some few errors in those days, I still commend you and the folks that lived in those days for your good works.
This has continued to be the spirit of the Ghanaian until a wind from the west through the windows of some citizens, changed the whole story. The wind brought the deadly disease known as “partisan politics”. It all started in the early 90’s where there was a call for democracy. Little did we know that Democracy as it was would be misunderstood by our own countrymen. Indeed, when this disease hit the shores of Ghana, everything turned blur. Brothers turned against brothers, sisters turned against sisters and children against parents. Doc, this disease has been the major cause of the failure of Ghana today.
When the folks who live under the shade of an umbrella talk because their kinsman sits on the thrown of our kingdom, then those who ride on the back of the almighty elephant stand to criticize for they are in opposition and vice versa. This has been the reign of politics in Ghana after you had joined your ancestors.
I do not know where you are now but I am pretty sure you have observed such occurrences in your beloved nation. Doc, how can we progress as a nation when majority of the people talk based on their political affiliations rather than the progress of the nation? How do we progress when people leave their jobs to talk partisan politics when there is real politics to talk about? How do we progress when the voice of the people has become the voice of partisan politics instead of the voice of God? How do we progress when people kick against thoughtful policies and programs simply because they are in opposition? How do we progress as a nation when the young man in the street would not think of how to do something exceptional to put Ghana on the world map but rather how to vandalize properties because his party is in power?
Doc, I am proud to be a Ghanaian and I shall forever be proud to be a Ghanaian but for a nation as blessed as ours, we deserve better and I believe the few questions above should be the underlying thoughts for our 60th anniversary celebrations today.
Happy birthday to mother Ghana and thank you so much Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and your fellow countrymen who strived to liberate such a great nation from the claws of white dictatorship.
Thank you so much for reading this letter, Doc. I am just so elated that I have finally been able to write to you. I feel like a child fed with his favorite meal in the middle of the night after crying profusely. The best moment of my life would be reading a reply from you, Doc. I know it might not happen but I shall rest with the hope of seeing your reply someday, somewhere, somehow!
A beneficiary of your struggle,
Gabla Godwin
( Young writer and Poet)
0248341613/0505859669
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