Charles Darwin is a much maligned father of the theory of evolution . His detractors are mostly Christian Conservatives , a lot, ignorant about science . What is his postulate? It is that change takes place , usually in small increments. Some people refer to it as ‘innovation’ . Now those best able to adapt survive and he termed this ‘survival of the fittest’ , and those who fail to adapt, die or get left behind . We have all heard about the dinosaurs and we wonder about them . In Chinua Achebe’s ‘ ‘Things fall apart’ this theory is discussed in different terms .‘ As the hunters have learnt to shoot without missing, the birds have also learnt to fly without perching’ Then our folk tales tell us about a ‘race between the tortoise and the rabbit’ , which the tortoise won, as he kept on going

A French Scientist Larmack also talked about evolution taking place in catarclisms, that is through force . Newton a physicist then postulates a law stating ‘ everything remains in a state of rest or uniform motion unless it is acted on by an external force . So what is all these ? It is that change happens, the only difference is if it is voluntary or through force. Should we have change imposed on us or do we want to incorporate it into our psyche? . Should we accept the philosophy of ‘as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be’, or should we accept that as you are stationery you move backwards . All over it is the arguments between the conservatives and the progressives(Liberals) . Capitalism or social democracy a caring economics system that in more inclusive.

I had a boss who brought this home to us by giving us a Christmas gift of a book ‘Who moved my cheese?’It was simple , three mice had a store of cheese which they fed on every day . One day thy got there and there was no cheese . All three were despondent and complained . (Sounds familiar?) Two kept going to the spot every day and kept complaining. The third one after the first day started looking for a fresh there source of cheese . He finally found it somewhere else. The others needless to say perished

Does this sound familiar? We all have our belief systems and our success or failure depends on it . This will be culture, norms, religion . It may be as individuals or as societies. But are they sacrosanct? . Can they change? We see today the Wall street meltdown , and the Banks in a mess ,Auto Giants all steeped in CAPITALIST philosophy begging for STATE INTERVENTION (Is that not SOCIALISM) , The US borrowing money from COMMUNIST CHINA ?. What happened? Who moved My Cheese ? Change has taken place They remained in a uniform state of motion , now an external force has to be applied .They went to sleep How can they get out of it ? Innovation , Innovation STUPID !!!!

In Ghana do we have the same syndrome ? Three times African Champions,now Egypt is 5 or 6 times African Champions . First Black Nation to be Independent . It is 50 years and we still IMPORT most of our products and services .50 years ago China had a trade deficit with the US . Ghana also had a trade deficit with the US ,to day Ghana has a trade deficit with the US . It is an HIPC . China has a trade surplus with the US to the tune of 200 billion dollars India got independence in 1948 and is a nuclear power and has landed on the moon , Ghana wants to import ‘ebing’ shit from Canada.50 years ago Ghana had a per capita income that was highest on the continent about $2400 it is now $600 .50 years ago we were arguing about the Akans being superior the others especially the Ewes .Today we still have the same purile arguments We have a population of about 23 million , 45% of which live on less than a dollar a day . Can we use the economies of scale? How did the US and China succeed? Economies of scale and INNOVATION . Chinese also speak different languages I am told , Should we not accept our INTER DEPENDENCE and spread it to Africa? We love soccer . Can we learn from it, that when you play as a team you win , selfishly, you lose

I coached a club and we were to play our traditional rivals .I love sports because you do not have to wait a long time to get the resuts. The night before the old guard were waiting for the old stars to arrive so we could play the next day . I took my young team of unkwons home and they slept . I took the field with these inexperienced players the next day The score was 5 – 1 on the rivals own back yard .All of a sudden we had new stars I believe the Great Ashanti King, Osei Tutu, did a similar thing to found an Empire. He dared break tradition and it was probably an ABOMINATION. He must have said ‘cowards die many times before their death, the valiant but taste os death but once’ . Jesus Christ our Savior ,’ a carpenter’s son was crucified on a wooden cross with tools from his own tool box’ K Awoonor , This Earth my brother

Can we then move from our traditional tribal, conservative Christian mode into the Global Village and innovate to compete ? Can the modern day brave warriors, descedants of the Great King Osei Tutu and those of King Agorkorli from Notsie complement each other to forge a modern empire called Ghana, that is second to none .

It is my belief it can be done by appreciating our inter dependence, get to know one another Ignorance is not Bliss , it is FEAR . Can we work for INCLUSITIVITY, instead of exclusion, openness, instead of closeness (AKonta or Nye Bro) accountability, responsibility to have synergy 2 + 2 = 5 We have a new beginning , a new dawn , the choice is ours , greatness stares us in the face can we lift up our wings and soar ? The choice is ours LET FREEDOM REIGN

Sebastian Tamakloe