THE NORTHERN MONSTERS

Many times I have been queried by my friends, which part of the north do you come from and I have always responded is it important? What is there to boast of? Perhaps there used to be something to be proud of. I have heard tales of their hospitality and sense of goodwill, my grandparents are a testimony. But I am convinced the story is different now. And so I am always grateful I was born in the southern part of Ghana, Ashanti region to be precise.

A lot of people, northerners I mean, are afraid to say so because they do not want to be seen as people who have lost their heritage. Well fair enough but for some of us such kind of heritage means nothing. Others, non northerners also refrain from saying the truth to the face of the northerners under the pretext that it is culture sensitive and might be perceived as ethno(whatever) crap.

Sometimes I ask myself if people in the North have been cursed. But I look at the success of the many northerners in this country and I get convinced that we are not except that the very many leaders we have are nothing less than selfish monsters.

It is fair to say that the geographical location is not the best and so in that regard they are disadvantaged to an extent but with the kind of people and especially the leaders we have, be it chiefs, kings, politicians or private individuals, even the Garden of Eden will not bring us prosperity. I believe it is time to open up and put a stop to this nonsense about it being a tribal issue and so we should keep quiet.

I have heard many say the northerners have been disadvantaged in many ways. Let’s just to pretend to accept that’s true, the question is, the many times they have had opportunities to develop themselves what has happened? The same story, selfish monstrous leaders have happened. But the painful thing is that when people stand up to speak, some poor young men in the north will get up to protest.

First and foremost if you have a bunch of poor unemployed people who are willing to chop off the head of a neighbor just because of some useless chieftaincy disputes and when there’s constant and consistent unnecessary conflicts and violence for very cheap reasons, how do you expect to develop even if its Jesus Christ governing you, there surely cant be any meaningful development. The hard truth is that the Northerners have failed themselves and it is time to say it in their face. Many of them are a bunch of losers.

Let’s talk about SADA. The Savanna Accelerated Development Authority. This is a project borne out of the kindest of intentions to help bridge the poverty gap between the North and the South. Though a few districts of the Northern Volta and Brong Ahafo regions equally benefit from the project, it was largely intended for the three northern regions. And to make sure that the interests of the northern people are met, the project was handed to northerners as managers. Wasn’t that the best of things to do? But what do we see today, these rich and highly accomplished individuals for reasons best known to them have virtually collapsed the rather kind and progressive project and its now plagued with corruption and the people of north continue to suffer. And so now am forced to believe the Asante proverb that says, “aboa bi beka wo a na efri wo ntoma mu”.                                                           

It becomes more painful and annoying when it is that we have a president who cannot crack the whip. In the face of all these disgusting act of selfishness, greed and wickedness perpetuated by these leading Northern officials in whose hands the project was put, John Mahama has virtually been silent. Such silence gives me more reason to believe that his entire public outcry about fighting corruption is just a mere rhetoric borne out of hypocrisy and nothing more. We saw him against another northern compatriot whose outfit was indicted in the infamous GYEEDA scandal, rLG’s Roland Agambire. The least said about that rot the better.

The irony of this whole scandal is that the SADA project is being overseen by a Northern President, being carefully and brutishly destroyed by senior northern officials, defended shamefully by ministers of state of  northern descent, uncovered by a good son of the north Manasseh Azure Aweni of Joy Fm who’s insulted by some good for nothing bunch of hopeless young northerners, and now I write passionately and rather harshly as a northerner (mindful of the insults I shall receive subsequently). I dare not mention the names of the others, because my father has no money to get me a lawyer, at least that’s what they do nowadays,when you say the truth they get their knowledgeable legal brains to write very long and confusing letters whose grammar alone can send shivers down your spine, and  you dare not challenge them in court, they have no shame. (Visit myjoyonline.com to read Manasseh’s full expose,at least there you can see their names, because as for JoyFm they can meet them in court.)

And so henceforth let not anyone blame anyone for the predicament of the North, if any of the many useless Northern Civil Groups have any genuine business protecting the interest of the North, they shouldn’t be chopping off the heads of their fellow people of different ethnic background, or burning the few mud houses they have as accommodation but channel their energy to the same big men who have failed them over the years, who have virtually collapsed GYEEDA, and SADA or better still if they find their despicable violent conducts still appetizing and necessary(I doubt if they are vampires), then I guess they know who and whose houses to burn. They should leave the poor innocent women and children of the North alone, they have suffered enough.

BE WARY OF THE MOSQUITO………….. the story of a certain Sir John

It appears Sir John’s intentions right from the start was to match Asiedu Nketia, Secretary of the NDC boot for boot. The NDC man is noted for his annoying and propagandist language and commentary especially against his opponents, the NPP. The obvious thing was most NPP supporters had had enough and so when Sir John came with the “I will match Asiedu Nketia boot for boot” message, people fell for it. What they failed to ask was, to what extent he was going to do that and at the expense of what? Because it looks to me it was in the extreme and it was the expense of concentrating on his actual job and wining power.

The NPP over the years has been seen as an elitist kind of party, calm, composed and diplomatic in terms of how their executive machinery operates. That is not to say the NDC is the opposite but at least from where the NDC came from, the ashes of  military revolution, bloody coup d’état etc, the aggression and radicalism in them is to be expected.

But it appears after Sir John’s victory he threw all these NPP accolades to the dogs and took after Asiedu Nketia like he promised. In the early stages it appears people enjoyed it. So it was not surprising that once, after Sir John adequately dealt with Asiedu Nketia on a Kumasi based radio station, this market woman from Asafo called and said; “Sir John de3 y3nyaa ne so du wc y3 kuo yi mu a nka yawie” to wit As for Sir John, if we had 10 of his kind in our party we wouldn’t have any problems.

Comments like this speared him on and his banter with the General mosquito became more interesting by the day. I remember in his early days he made comments like, he had come with Sasso mosquito spray and now Asiedu Nketia is on the run for his life, funny isn’t it? But was this how the NPP really wanted their Chief Executive Officer to go about things?

With time leaders in their party started voicing out their grievances. And so the ridiculous allegations against the NDC over their involvement in the accident of Dr Mahmud Bawumia, Running mate of the NPP, in the run up to the 2012 elections and the infamous contempt charge against him in the heat of the Election Petition and other very similar comments would call for his head. It is disputable; however, it looks pretty obvious that Sir John’s obsession with “dealing with” Asiedu Nketia, the general mosquito blinded his sense of duty and the general course of seeing the NPP win the 2012 elections. To some of us it became clear that the NPP had had it up to their neck and his mandate was not going to be extended.

The sad truth is that Sir John thought Asiedu Nketia was not worthy and was somebody he could just walk over and put a stop to. If the problem for Sir John with Asiedu Nketia was that he insulted and cast unnecessary insinuations, engaged in propaganda  at his opponents then I guess the best way was not to descend down there with him and do the same thing that he accused him of. The thing with such people is that, if you engage them, they will reduce you to their level and beat you with experience.

Just like the tiny insect mosquito after which the General secretary of the NDC Asiedu Nketia is named, it can be very annoying, the noise making in your ear and all, the flying pass your face and everything and more importantly it can kill or in this case send you to opposition so I say, when next Sir John or anybody is confronted with another mosquito of any kind, just be careful, because in your desperate attempt to clap the breath out of it, you might just end up hitting a blow on your own cheek.

One thing I know for a fact is, some of us even Asiedu Nketia will miss him.