Issah Azambegu and Nii Lante were two good friends who worked at the accounts section of one of the local banks in downtown Accra. These two were noted for persistently showing up late for work, having extended discussions about the latest soccer updates during working hours, defiantly leaving the office for extended periods of time to attend to their personal businesses and "working" lotto during office hours in a bid to "hit" that ever-elusive jackpot. Fortunately for them, their boss was a very busy person who hardly had time to check on his subordinates. He was either attending meetings, on trek, or playing host to the numerous ladies who trooped in and out of his office. At the end of the financial year, when the bank declared a huge loss, and consequently, the inability to pay end-of-year bonuses to the workers, our two friends could often be seen in the company of other workers, engaged in heated discussions, accusing the bank's top brass of gross mismanagement and incompetency. They threatened to go on strike if their bonuses were not paid and if a number of the top brass were not fired. Interestingly enough, these two failed to realize that their lax attitude towards work had also contributed to the overall decline in production.

Folks, the short narrative above is generally reflective of the erroneous perception that many of us in Ghana have in respect of who shoulders the blame when a company or country's goals and targets are not met. Regarding the latter, political pundits (especially sympathizers of the opposition parties), are always quick to blame the government in power. In the case of the former, it's not unusual for the Ghanaian worker to trace these shortfalls to the doorsteps of the companies' powers-that-be. These schools of thought are right to an extent; definitely, square pegs in round holes governmental appointments and lack of progressive managerial know-how by arrogant CEOs and company heads have in no small way contributed to our dear nation's persistent economic woes. But, not so fast folks; are we not letting another group of people off-the-hook so easily, another very important group? I'm referring to the large group who constitute the nation's workforce; without whom our leaders can literally not function. These are the teachers, drivers, civil service workers, traders and "watchmen," just to mention a few.

Is it not a fact that a company's hardworking and vigilant employees can bring pressure to bear on a head of department who is lacking in competence? That is to say, it stands to reason that a lazy boss would only generally thrive in an atmosphere of laxity on the part of his subordinates. Similarly, corrupt and incompetent government officials thrive in a situation where there's corruption, laxity and complacency on the part of the populace. In such situations, it's usually all talk and very little progress, which is made possible by the fact that the people are so much steeped in their own insincere and dubious little practices, that they fail to hold these corrupt government officials accountable for their nefarious activities. Corruption, laxity, tardiness and persistent absenteeism are rife among Ghanaian workers in several governmental and private enterprises nationwide. It's consequently far-fetched to blame our leaders and bosses entirely for our economic woes and lack of progress. That is not to say I'm absolving them from anything; the crux of the matter here is, by our very sordid acts in our offices and places of work, we have consciously or unconsciously created conditions conducive for corruption and laxity on the part of our leaders, thus making us equally culpable.

The bone of contention that people with leadership roles are wholly responsible for our woes does not in any way exclude our educational institutions. Ministers of education, regional heads of education and headmasters are constantly blamed for the inability of our youth to find jobs. Again, lack of effective and sustainable educational/employment policies and programs could inevitably lead to increased unemployment for our youth; however, once again, the question that comes to mind is: are these unemployed youth not to partly blame for their present unfortunate predicaments? When university students decide to play the role of pornography "directors" and proceed to do the unthinkable to a trader instead of focusing on their studies, are they not part of the causes of their own inadequacies? When high school kids threaten to "strip" a female teacher because she was in the habit of wearing skimpy dresses, is that mindset not an indication of future waywardness? When students do drugs instead of studying hard and drop-out of school only to find themselves in no man's land, are they not part of the problem instead of victims of circumstances as they might want others to believe?

As is evidenced by the way Ghanaians live abroad, when push comes to shove, the average Ghanaian is prepared to do two and even three jobs in order to earn a decent living and meet family commitments back home. Some have to work and go to school at the same time. If we can do it abroad, why the change in attitude towards work back home? If Ghanaians back home approach their work with seriousness, eschew complacency and do away with negative traits, regardless of whether it's at the departmental, regional or national level, our bosses and leaders are bound to either get their acts together or face the music - talk about the kitchen being too hot! No level of hotheadedness or arrogance can override or triumph over hard work and vigilance, Even as I write this article, I know many Government officials, CEOs and heads of departments would loathe the idea of an aggressive and positive change in the work ethic of the Ghanaian worker; such change they realize, would require more accountability and transparency from them and subsequently could lead to startling revelations about the opulent lifestyles they lead at the expense of the workers and the country as a whole.

The purpose of this article is to admonish Ghanaian workers about the tendency to blame government officials and management for socio-economic shortfalls - and then just be content with being "backbenchers." This "backbencher" attitude and penchant for tentativeness is what has enabled government officials and people in managerial positions to exploit the situation for many years. It's wishful thinking to assume that any house-cleaning exercise has to be initiated by the top brass in our society.. I'm not so sure the very people at the top who largely caused this economic decay would find this idea of house cleaning amusing. In other words, they would not want to dig their own graves. Folks, let's take up this challenge! It's time for the Ghanaian worker to show a strong sense of commitment to duty. Merely pointing accusing fingers at our leaders and management is not the solution to economic salvation, nor is it going to deter the die-hard politician from misappropriating public funds; it's only by adopting a new work culture devoid of corruption, tardiness and complacency that real progress can be made. It stands to reason that in such an ideal work environment, most, if not all of the bad nuts would be phased out gradually - like I indicated earlier, THE KITCHEN WOULD BE TOO HOT FOR THEM! Folks, we can do this. It's now or never! God bless mother Ghana!

Prince Akyeampong, Washington D.C.