Amazingly, an average Ghanaian understanding of an intelligent person is someone who has the grasp of Englishman’s language-‘English’. For me, such a notion is indeed oxymoronic,--it does not add up. Having the grasp of English language cannot be a cynosure of intelligence.

Of course, having a command over the English language may be an advantage to individuals, given its global recognition. Nevertheless, I take exception to a school of thought who thinks that having a command over the English language is a sign of intelligence. I am afraid, that is not truism.

Needless to say, in Ghana, individuals are held in high esteem for having excellent grasp of Englishman’s language. How bizarre?

So, we tend to believe that a trained communicator for instance, can solve all our problems by virtue of his/her communication skills. No, having the grasp of English language is not a leadership quality. Yes, it does not make one a great thinker. But, sad to say, we, Ghanaians, are frequently lured by vague rhetoric,--no substance.

We need attitudinal change. We cannot always rely on individuals who can speak Englishman’s language superbly, albeit lack reflective thinking. For, if we continue that way, our beloved Ghana cannot develop considerably.

How long shall we continue to put square pegs in round holes?

As a matter of fact, we cannot develop as a nation if we continue to appoint unsuitable people to fill important positions in the country because of unbridled loyalty. Safe to say, Ghanaian political appointments are not based on competence. Needless to say, individuals are often selected to fill various important positions based on their political leanings. Yes, competence is not a criterion for most political appointments. Suffice it to say, such idiosyncratic practice routinely spawns mediocrity.

Indeed, nepotism, cronyism, incompetence and sycophancy would not move our dear country forward, for, indeed, such odd practices would rather slack the country’s development.

It is crystal-clear that we cannot build a prosperous nation with incompetence and sycophancy. But, we can only develop as a nation by appointing suitable people to important positions.

Apparently, we are at where we are today because of shiftlessness. Square pegs have been put into round holes, and, the shiftless plebes persistently fail to deliver the goods. For, if that is not the case, why are we struggling despite all the copious resources at our disposal? Indeed, we lack pragmatic leadership.

Our leaders’ are indeed incompetent, otherwise how can we command all these resources and still be in ‘a pickle jar’?

Of course, every Ghanaian has a part to play in the nation building; however, if our leaders’ fail to put advantageous policies in place, I am sorry, we will get nowhere. Suffice it to say, the onus lies largely on the leadership to provide urgency and afflatus.

In fact, I hate to admit the apocalypse of our leaders’ persistent lacklustre performances, but the true picture is that, Ghana for instance, may not see any meaningful development, so long as we have leaders that are myopic, and only count their achievements with how much loan they are able to secure, and the number of schools they are able to remove from “under trees”. How pathetic.

Moreover, so long as we have leaders that have no foresight, and are greedy and incompetent, I dare say Ghana may never develop in our lifetime.

Strangely, we began with the likes of South Korea, Malaysia and Brazil-Look at where they are. Making cars, Mobile phones, electronics, good roads, good housing, and pragmatic programmes to developed their respective countries; and just look at where we are today. Indeed, our beloved country is undergoing throes of economic collapse.

Regrettably, we now go to those countries we started life with, and beg for donations, or borrow money--do you remember STX? ‘Mourn your beloved country’.

“We need true leadership. We need leadership with vision and ideas, altruistic leadership devoid of greed, Incompetence, cronyism and capable of transforming us into an industrialized and robust economy.

“We are not serious as a nation, are we?”

K. Badu, UK.