One Capital for UT

All through this week, one trending issue has been the takeover of two Ghanaian private banks, UT (Unique Trust) and Capital, by Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) because both were on the verge of slumping to their feet. These two Ghanaian dreams which had been built over the years had to fold up eventually because of financial stress.

On social media, as warm tributes poured in for the brains behind these two dreams, others took the opportunity to slander them. Coining memes from their downfall, they made mockery of the Amoabengs and what have you. They attributed their failure to all manner of unfounded reasons; even tithes.

I thought most Ghanaians were only ‘sit-home football coaches’. I never knew they were business gurus on the side. It’s amazing how those who have never had a dream of building anything, not even a hut, have guts to call these achievers names. When a man falls, indeed, even his pets have the courage to hoot at him!

The closer technology brings us, the more we are torn apart by our selfishness. When people get injured in an accident, for instance, we prefer to take videos and pictures to report first instead of helping first. Our selfishness in these times knows no bounds.

There’s no more love. Social media has made us even more anti-social. It’s always about us. We want to laugh off everything. When a compatriot’s dream is flushing down the drain, aside all the many Ghanaians who may be laid off, the best another can do is just to ridicule. Really!?

Building a dream from the ground is no mean task, trust me. The headache one has to endure to keep their business running in this part of our world is excruciating. In fact, there are a thousand and one hurdles one needs to keep jumping to sustain what they have built. Entrepreneurship in Africa is a tough terrain only the brave dare chart!

There are many prices to pay; umpteen sacrifices to make. One has to give up a lot of comfort especially in their startup days. When they have gone beyond a startup, it doesn’t get any cooler. A lot of distractions walk in. A lot more bills and tasks stare the business in the face.

So… when one dutifully grows their startup, over the years, into a fruitful business which employs hundreds of Ghanaians, you can imagine how broken their hearts will be when it fails. The last thing they expect, at least, is mockery and ridicule from the same people who claim there’s an influx of foreign content in our society.

The world loves you until you stumble. People will join in chorus to sing your praises when all seems blossomy. Don’t be deluded. Honest praises come when times are gloomy. Others join in the chorus of praise just because their voice is too faint to do otherwise. Thing is, the praise of men is conditional.

It beats my imagination how one would ever take pleasure in another’s failure. What you wish for others, you inadvertently wish for yourself. You push your success a mile away every moment another’s failure brings you joy. If you mock greatness, you can’t attract it!

Irony is when a man who has tried nothing thinks he’s better off than another who failed at something. When you have no idea of how a dream is built from the mind’s eye, you have no business hooting at another’s failed business!

True failure is not when we fail after trying something. It’s when we fail to try something. The man who is still living in his father’s mansion mocks himself when he mocks he whose single room was brought down by floods. You make a clown of yourself if you ridicule a man whose car has broken down on the road… when you’re still driving another’s.

When a man leaves his comfort zone to build a dream, he ought to be applauded even if it fails. He has gained a wealth of experience of doing that same thing right the next time unlike another who was too comfortable to try.

In life, you never know where you stand… until you fall. You assume you are the most loved until you don’t have what you used to have anymore. People oftentimes love us for what we have… not who we are. Our true lovers are those who still walk in when we don’t have what we used to have anymore.

No condition is ever permanent. Don’t be in haste to ridicule a great man who just stumbled. He will still rise. He still has the character to build again. He still has the fortitude to swim against the tide of misfortunes.

Never gloat over another man’s fall if you have legs, too. You may one day use those legs to walk… and fall, too. Don’t be quick to apportion reasons as to why someone stumbled. One day, it may be your turn and those same reasons may come slapping you in the face.

My heart goes out to UT and Capital Bank. May God grant you the capital, grace and wisdom to re-strategize and start again! To those mocking them… I hope you have enough cement to build your dream. Haha.

The writer is a playwright and Chief Scribe of Scribe Communications ( www.scribecommltd.com ). His new play, TRIBELESS, is on Sept. 16/17 at the Drama Studio, Legon.