Weird Thoughts About Ghanaian Society

1.      A person who abuses others is hardly ever asked to stop. We don't want to stand up to the person doing wrong. Rather, we ask the victim(s) to tolerate the abuse. And if the victim refuses to accept our advice, we conclude that he/she is a bad person - not the abusive person. People who abuse others are like 'small gods' to be complained about but not stood up to. They are treated like victims to be understood and pitied and their victims are to be advised and praised for tolerating abuse.

2.       Praying in tongues is a shouting competition. A test of endurance. At the first Pentecost, we are told that the tongues (languages) of the apostles were understood by a multitude of devout men from 'every nation under heaven' (Acts 2: 1 - 8). In our time, no human being can understand the tongues we speak; an endless stream of discordant sounds emitted by people in seeming agony and disarray. 

3.      We swat a fly with a sledgehammer but always attempt to separate horse fights with millet stalks. A petty thief is butchered and burnt without any opportunity to defend him/herself whilst the looters of the public purse are hailed as 'big' men or women and praised for being 'rich'. 

Have you read: Village Boy Impressions - The Kayayei's Tale?

4.      Religious fervor substitutes for common sense and hard work. Students pray to pass exams without studying, unemployed youth pray for jobs and visas, poor people pray for 'breakthroughs' from Monday to Friday, go to funerals and donate 'generously' on Saturday and go to church to thank God for life on Sunday.  

5.    Fact, Truth, Reason, Good and / Bad are all in political colours. The political party we support can never do wrong and even if it seems wrong, it is only an equalization game against the opposition (which is not wrong). Everything is justified if done by the political party. 

Read: Village Boy Impressions - Election Mangana

6.     Corruption is a theoretical concept to be researched, hypothesized, discussed, critiqued and debated in the media and in academia. It is always seen in the other person or party. It is not to be held by the ears and uprooted but cultivated, nursed, cuddled, and lamented from time to time when we're bored.

7.     Grey hair is not just a sign of old age, but of great wisdom and achievement. One who dies at 40 even if he/she has achieved distinction in his/her field of endeavour and leaves a legacy for generations to come is not successful and cannot be celebrated, but one who dies at 100 without any significant contribution to society is revered as successful and named among the high achievers of their generation. 

8.     We love to go to church on Sundays to sing and dance, cry and wail, donate in hope of being repaid by God and from Monday to Friday, to bribe and be bribed and to steal for donation the next Sunday. 

Read: Village Boy Impressions - The Preachers

9.     We love to live above and beyond our means and income. Even if we are heavily in debt and cannot pay our bills, we will still buy that item that we think will mask our poverty and make us appear affluent.  

10.    We love to criticize but not to be criticized. We have the best advice for those we think are in need of it whilst we cannot stand our own advice. Critics are hailed as heroes for criticizing those warriors shedding both blood and sweat in the arena, rising again and again from failure and setback.

11.    The dead are worshipped and the living are scorned and neglected. We would rather not pay for medical care for a relative so that they can die. Then would promptly pay all their bills and organize their funeral program, hiring funeral criers to mourn and wail on our behalf. We then read long tributes that make saints out of sinners whilst demanding donations from drunken 'sympathizers' who would be inviting us to the funerals of their 'hired' relatives next Saturday to donate our children's school fees and health care.  

I must confess that these thoughts are not my own. They came from different people; mostly the complaints of those who encountered situations in which one or two of the thoughts apply, but I have also witnessed some of the situations myself. I began to think about collating all the 'weird thoughts' when the person who actually put the first thought to me posted it on social media a couple of years back and got very 'interesting' comments. After that, I started compiling all the weird thoughts so that readers could read all of them at once and let me know how absurd it is to think such thoughts. Surely they had no cause to complain, do they?