By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

Vice-President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur ought to know by now that the age-old providential magic number globally and cross-culturally accepted and acclaimed is THE MAGIC NUMBER THREE. And so it simply cannot be historically, factually and prophetically accurate that God is His/ Her unimpeachable wisdom would position a corruption-mired National Democratic Congress to carry Election 2012. That would flagrantly amount to insulting the intelligence of the great and smart people of Ghana; and, needless to say, God is not known to be in the habit of thumbing his nose and spitting in the faces of His/ Her own children and grandchildren.

Likewise, in the philosophy of our very own modern Ghanaian cultures, the gift-giving number of appreciation is THREE, not the miserly and impulsive number ONE. Still, what hysterically amused me to no end about the recent THREE-DAY tour of the Eastern Region by the former governor of the Bank of Ghana, is the indisputable fact that in choosing to spend THREE DAYS desperately campaigning in Nana Akufo-Addo’s stronghold, Mr. Amissah-Arthur was loudly and clearly conceding massive electoral defeat far in advance of schedule, which made the imminently sweet victory of the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party on Dec. 7, 2012, all the more appealing and prophetic.

But, of course, one also couldn’t help falling off one’s proverbial chair when the Danquah Academy graduate resorted to the rather cheap, mendacious and tired talk of the National Democratic Congress’ having been pioneers in the spread of education among the highly enlightened people of Kade, Oda, Kyebi, Akwatia, Somanya, Begoro, Akuapem-Akropong, Odumase and Otumi. Needless to say, such hollow talk reminded one of the proverbially redundant task of ferrying mini-buckets of coal to Newcastle.

Well, a desperate politician and his desperate political machine are just that – incurably desperate entities! And this epic desperation, on the part of the dreamland builders of mushroom universities, found no scarce facility for such jaded jokes. Thus in the latest of their electioneering humbugs, the Mahama-Arthur posse is also promising the great and independent-minded people of Asante-Kuntanase a College of Education. I am not sure if Dr. Joseph Oteng-Agyei, the NDC Energy Minister, who is running for reelection, knows anything about college and university accreditation, and the impact of the latter on the professional careers of potential graduates of such veritable sandcastles. Indeed, the foregoing is what Mr. Hassan Ayariga, the presidential candidate of the Limann-minted People’s National Convention (PNC), meant when he observed during Tuesday night’s debate in Tamale that: “We are producing ‘avoidable’ graduates” by legions into an already saturated system of academic and professional unemployables.

*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. SUNY-Nassau Community College Garden City, New York Nov. 2, 2012