Out of the seven continents in the world, we are in Africa, the continent where our beloved country is located. A home to us and a haven for many others. We took our first steps when Dr Kwame Nkrumah led us to independence, coming out of colonialism and nurturing her into development. We have swung sharply between prosperity and decline since independence. Still our journey of growth has just begun. Though it is slow, we are not destructively dependent on our developed sisters. Ghana’s development is moderately progressive.
As pacesetters to independence in Africa, our hallmark is freedom and justice. The nation brews peace and hospitality on every patch on the land. Our homes and streets are filled with freedom of expression and speech. Political parties and the press exercise this right without fear nor favour. Though we still battle with honesty on the side of leadership, it does not affect our political democratic system’s prosperity. True, there are many instances where we feared we were going to have an uproar but thankfully, the nation has been free of any major conflict since independence.
A poem we used to recite in basic school made clear a point, ‘Grass is greener at your feet’. Indeed, Ghana has many resources including timber, gold, salts, bauxite, cocoa, fruits, vegetables, tourist attraction sites, waterfalls, mountains, rivers, forest reserves amongst many others. Unfortunately, the major challenge is the ability of the nation is to process its vast resources into tradeable goods and major attraction sites.
Around 2010, the country became an oil producer of crude, another rich resource. Our motherland is resourcefully rich yet her children instead of cultivating them, run to other nations to enrich their labour. Our economy still stinks with corruption. We cannot compare our growth in terms of development with other countries on the African continent. Yet we hope to recover from our economic crisis soon enough to be regarded as a developed country and surely the gateway to Africa.
A journey of fifty-eight years cannot be disregarded though we are not at where we ought to be, it is good we are not where we used to be either. Celebrating independence growth strengthens our desire to achieve greater development. Ghana is our home even if it is not the paradise we all desire it to be, we are just a few steps away from having it become that desired paradise. Our leaders must arise out of selfishness into selflessness and the citizens out of self-centredness into utilitarianism. Ghana is our home both now and forever. After all our travels and tours, we will always return home to Ghana, our motherland.
God bless our homeland Ghana.
Modesta Chaba and Kelvin Afrane