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Opinions of Sunday, 1 February 2004

Columnist: Folson, Ako

But We Can... An Attitude We All Need.

As a nation we are making strides in many fronts, even though in a lot of cases it is an uphill struggle with a steep learning curve, but we can. This is because as a people, if we embrace a ‘can do’ attitude we will find that truly, solutions to our problems lie within ourselves as individuals, coming from our expertise, and our hard work. We have heard this over and over but believing and doing it is another.

Yes, we have a lot of work to do on all fronts, be it economic, political, social, educational, and even physiological, but we can.

The USA is often cited and used in many instances as a benchmark, but the tenacity of its people, especially when it comes to issues of national interest is worth emulating. Not to be deterred easily is a value that needs to be instilled in our very fibre and value system, especially with the youth.

Our youth need to know that life is an uphill battle, everywhere, but with an agenda and focus, regardless of hurdles that we meet, we can reach or meet our desired objective. Yes, we can. Our adults sadly enough can also learn a thing or two about this.

An example of this lack of ‘ can do’ attitude, which we need, can be seen in the sense of hopelessness that seems to be the staple presentation of issues of Africa by foreign media, which can be greatly influenced by our own media, skillfully augmenting the negative portrayal of the continent and its opportunities. We have technology, we have expertise and we have good stories to tell, so why do we not tell them, but rather act as if victimized, when we allow western media to do a PR campaign on our behalf which is not authorized and definitely not positive for us, especially when we can fix this.

Shifting our thinking and disposition from that of being victims, with respect to our issues, to individuals in the driver’s seats, capable of assessing situations and conditions, analyzing them, formulating corrective action plans, implementing them, and monitoring the execution and results of that corrective action, is what we need to embody, and of course, we can.

It has been said that no raindrop ever felt as though it caused a flood, but stop and think about it. How did the rain create the flood? A total contribution of the action of each raindrop as a collective, as opposed to that of an individual raindrop caused the flood. It still happened one drop at a time.

First let us work with our individual self; we will see this manifest itself on a grand level. Our institution, Ghana, is made up of you and I, and by individually embodying this attitude; there is nothing that we, as a collective people cannot overcome. Yes, we can.


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