Reverse Immigration And The Ageing Ghanaian Population

William Shakespeare in his art of poetry recounted that ‘There is tide in the affairs of man, which when taken to flood leads on to fortune, omitted all these is bound in shadow and misery. Such current are we now afloat and must take it when it serves or we lose this venture’. This assertion by Cassius in Shakespeare’s play entitle “Julius Caesar” brings to mind what my late father once told me that ‘the right thing must be done at the right time, for if you do the right thing at the wrong time, it is still wrong’. It is intriguing to note that with the present average age of Ghanaians in USA hovering around 50 years and over couple with our dwindling nominal incomes vis-à-vis rising cost of living, only God knows what awaits us in the distant future as we get into our 60s and 70s.
Ten years ago, I attempted to develop a discussion on the above subject which I believed then and now to be a very important issue in our lives requiring our ultmost attention and perusal. I am again raising this particular topic because I sincerely believe in my heart’s mind that many of us in this loop should treat this emerging problem with caution, for time waits for no man and it is only death and misery that has seen the end of man. Besides, it pays for everybody to be proactive in our lives to start engaging our friends, peers and families in this huge problem. We need our families because our decision to permanently stay here in the U.S.A. or relocate back home should reflect the consensus and similarly, we need our friends because they play a key role in planning our social lives here or in Ghana which constitute a is very important part of our life. We have to admit that there is a serious problem gradually brewing within our community with an ugly face like the ‘Dracula’ which requires our immediate attention. Time, my brothers and sisters, is not on our side as we continue to get older for we need to be very conscientious and objectively audit our lives to be able to deal with this humongous and complex issue.
America the beautiful, the country that we all adored and cherished so much, the land that we perceived and dreamed about as the ‘heaven on earth’ is changing very fast. Some bubbles have started to emerge with the swollen economy creating high cost of living which explains why some people have already left the shores of America to curve a new life in Ghana. Similarly, it behooves on all reasonable and conscious people to rethink, re-assess and re-align our priorities to be able to reposition ourselves in the distant future in this complex world. We should see life beyond all the illusions and be proactive in our thought process, for many of us are afraid to try new things in this changing world. We live in an equity driven economy based on hard work and good health. There is no room for dependency and goodwill especially as we age with poor health. For the first time, I see the health of many of my friends deteriorating ; most of them are on high blood pressure medication pills with some taking weekly steroids injections for their back pains; others have kneel problems and all kinds of ailments. To be precise, everybody has some type of ailment and taking some form of medication notwithstanding the pain and humiliation occasionally associated with aging on a foreign land. It is important to not that, household economics in Ghana is the reverse in America with relatively cheaper services and whereas people age with grace and respect back home, life can be a complete disaster for an aging person on a foreign land. Despite the high dose of illusions and fantasies parading in the system with promises of ‘heaven and earth’, growing up and understanding the intricacies of the life here will help you to figure out that, many of our perceptions are just a mirage. Consequently, we should not for any reason think about the nursing facilities which have started housing some Ghanaians as a buffer in our old age because that is designed for the privileged few and people under very good insurance programs. Being young in America is fun but growing old is a recipe for disaster because the lifestyle here is designed in such a way that you either swim or you sink. We must be for real and understand that it does not matter whether one is a citizen or not, there is a significant difference in the way people accord you respect here and back home. Presently, our hopes are diminishing everyday with the current rising cost of living and yet most of us are refusing to look at other alternatives for reasons that I personally do not know. Although, our dear nation Ghana is characterized with crime and without other basic amenities like electricity and water, yet with all her resources and our fortitude, we can all help to create change that will ensure our peace, comfort and growth through our involvement and participation in the decision making process.
Ghana needs a lot of American ideas and talents to start a cultural revolution that seeks to change the way we conduct business, our politics, our approach to work etc which can be achieved through us with our effective participation in the re-building process. It is a known fact in many circles that most people in the current administration despises talents from U.S. for reasons that I do not know but that should not debar us from pursuing our responsibilities to our dear nation ,as reference to finding genuine solutions to our serious problems. Most people in leadership hate our gust because they can not handle the truth and it is imperative for us to know that today’s Ghana seriously needs our keen involvement in the socio-economic process as a measure to achieving meaningful economic development. Take it or leave it, this is the truth. How do we sit quietly in our offices and expect Libya to come and spray Accra to kill mosquitoes? I do not know what to say again yet I strongly believe that it is game time and we must be prepared and ready to take our boots and go onto the field and deliver. What kind of expectations do we envisage with the oil money? We should start preparing for action now or forever keep our mouths shut because it takes our serious involvement to change the debates in Ghana as way to reshaping and redirecting our priorities for economic development. Why do we still have to pee outside in the 20th Century in the cities without Rest Rooms and on our highways without fee paying rest rooms? Does that constitute civility? Building Rest Areas in districts by these highways also create jobs and economic activities which is healthy for jobless economy now. We need simply policies which can be implemented for economic growth. How go we direct people to our big houses without street names? How do we cry of revenue when people are sell building plots as much as $200.000.00 (two hundred thousand American U.S. dollars) without paying taxes at a time when most people are earning less than 2 million cedis a month? Shame on all of us!!!!! (These are subjects to be revisited later). That withstanding, it is my believe that through mass exodus and our effective participation in sharing ideas and experiences, we should be able to build Ghana to represent what we envisaged and want it to be, a country of laws and order that provides basic infrastructure and a platform for economic growth. We have to start thinking of what we can do for our country than what we can take from it having enjoyed so much in the past. Fellow Ghanaians, it is pay back this time especially for many of us who enjoyed free education up to university level to find passion in our hearts to give back something to our country by engaging our friends, school mates to develop an agenda for our nation which include the opening up of businesses to create job opportunities; organizing school mates to put up computer labs for school; helping to undertake developmental projects in our respective hometown etc. It is also time for us to seriously get involve in the political process since that is one of the most important ways to shape the agenda and contradictions of the nation. We have a parochial system in Ghana with many arrogant people in places of authority who are simplily impervious to reason or otherwise which explains why we are sleeping in darkness and without water to drink. Are we honestly saying that nobody made a recommendation about the current crises? Are we saying that we did not know the relative terms on the building of the dam; its capacity having sold some power to Togo and Benin? I wish we could have an insight about the many researches done on this problem with huge consultancy fees. Whether Ken Dapaah, the former Energy Secretary and his crew had time to even read some of these recommendations is another question. I slept in darkness 10 years ago when I went to Ghana under Rawlings Administration and six years after the effect under Kufffour’s Administration, we still dealing with the same problem. Most of our leaders in Ghana do not understand what it take to govern and it is therefore a misnomer to stay here and complain about the why’s and the how’s because they either don’t get it or prefer to pursue issues that satisfy their own personal aggrandizement. It is time to stop deliberating about the why’s and how’s and start thinking carefully about what can be done to make our dear nation, one that we can all enjoy in peace and liberty. It takes conscious people to evolve ideas and translate them into fruition to resolve historic problems. It is time we all got involved in the transformation process.
It is indeed true that labor immigration is a global reality especially the executive talent which constitute brain drain. Many Ghanaians have left the shores of Ghana in search of greener pastures on foreign lands, a mission which has not always produced favorable results. Currently, it is difficult to find jobs in Europe because of immigration of people from the Eastern block. Contrarily, it is significantly easier to find jobs in America (U.S.A) just that you have to over work yourself in order to survive the rising cost of living. The question that many people within the aging community are asking is ‘for how long, can we survive this lifestyle?’ Presently, Ghana is changing very fast with many prospects and opportunities for growth in the future especially with the discovering of black gold (oil) which gives reasons for optimism and hope. Ghana has both material and human resources required for a meaningful economic take off and what is needed today is good leadership capable of harnessing all the available inputs for economic development. Ghana needs the infusion of talents from here with exposure to the concept of management in America to help in her re-building process. There is the need to forge a process to change the culture of lies in Ghana and help also to evolve and implement policies that could salvage our crises-ridden economy to one that attracts other foreign nationals to help in our nation building. How do we help to make our law enforcement and judiciary effective? It takes our participation and a good leader (President) who will listen to good ideas and function with people who understands his agenda for the nation.
I know that a lot of people are scared to go back and reside in Ghana because of certain inadequacies like light, water, crime wave etc, but the honest truth is that these reasons are enough to satisfy our own idiosyncrasies in the short run. What we have to understand is that we can not cheat nature because it will catch up with us defining the moment of truth as we age and the reality of the time, so it does make sense to start the process of thinking about the future because to be forewarned is to be forearmed. We must admit that we all pay dearly for our inability to participate in the decision making process as alluded by Plato, the ancient Greek philosophy, since the inertia in our approach or our decision not to try constitute a fallacy in our judgment. Ghana is for Ghanaians and it takes us knowing the psychology of our own people, our ingenuity, our resources available and sacrifice to help develop and re-shape our nation. It is interesting to note that out of the estimated population of 128,000 Irish immigrants predominantly residing in New York, only about 28,000 are left following their mass exodus between the year 2000 and 2004. They migrated to their homeland to enjoy their bouncing economy and to be part of their nation building. I am acutely aware of the problems back home but nothing should debar us from returning to enjoy our booming economy and be part of the re-building process to reclaim our national identity, our pride and our nation. Presently, there are indications of Ghanaians leaving the shores of America to start businesses in Ghana which is a good sign that should motivate some of us who are afraid to try new things to brave up and make a move. This swollen economy can not take care of many of us when we get old at a point when our social security might not be enough to pay for our rent. It is time for all of us to be part of our own survival for our own development and growth.
Our history and experiments of other nations have thought us that it is only through our own efforts and sacrifices that we can grow to establish a nation that believes in her self with pride and respect for humanity. Together as partners and united in ideas, we can forge a path that will lead us to prosperity promising all and sundry good life that abounds the provision for health, water, electricity, work and above all peace.

ERIC KWABENA EDUSEI ,VA.

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.