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Opinions of Monday, 10 July 2017

Columnist: Fadi Dabbousi

Nana Akomea, a competent patriot by all means

Managing Director of Intercity State Transport Company, Nana Akomea Managing Director of Intercity State Transport Company, Nana Akomea

“Me Nyemi NPP Brofonyo, ofane toyoateen?” I turned to look over my shoulder. He stood an inch taller, I reckoned. The depth in his eyes bore the traces of clear vision, not only 6/6 but a graceful energy of coolness that burns in its softness. I smiled. He smiled back. With a tap to my shoulder he shuffled away to a meeting at Alisa Hotel. I had known him for long and it was just a matter of time that we crossed paths.

It was some six years ago or so. I am more in the habit of allowing people concentrate on their good work, unless something of an urgent urgency pops up. I had often complained about his cool, unwavering temperament; it really worried me. Maybe because I am hot, shishiiishi, “ole noni ntshoan” – you know what I mean.

So one time I asked him, “Arh, but Nana how do you do it? You are always cool, especially when on radio or Tv despite the chicanery of lying NDC charlatans who can tell a blatant untruth as if by instinct they were born with the wrong genes!”

He laughed, and said, “It is good that we have you and a few other fiery personalities whose furor can char the devil, and it is also necessary to have those who burn with their ice.”

The almost instinctive reply, “ah yooooo”, must have sounded a bit desultory as if it stormed out of my gumption like a wrong answer to an examination question. That night I brooded over the brief discussion we had, and reflected on his answer. I saw what he had long seen, and felt the energy that he had long felt in his cool demeanour.

I understood, then, that no matter how hot one may be in their furor, others might be hotter in their chill.

Since then, I tried to notice his moves, but this guy is stealthy, you know! Now he is on this radio programme, now he’s on that Tv political show, and the cool punches kept on coming.

Next, I heard he was appointed CEO of Intercity STC by the very wise President we all fought so hard to bring to Power. Very well, that was a rhapsody of many notes, sweet melody by all means.

My muse, though, was more in how he was going to beat the competition into submission. Lo and behold, this defunct state company, milked dry by the NDC government of incompetent John Mahama and his bunch of thieves, began to breathe on its own.

The measures taken by this sensible person, Nana Akomea, took ISTC off life support. It is refreshing to notice that the buses have leapt into action. At least the Accra-Kumasi road is beginning to readapt to seeing these buses again, more frequently than ever before.

With better services than the VIP and other buses in their categories, ISTC’s lower fares now make it affordable to the stranded folks, especially the disenfranchised kayayes and others who migrated from their distant towns and villages, seeking greener pastures only to be entrapped by a web of women traffickers, rapists, and human rights abusers.

Thanks to Nana Akomea, the road transport has become alluring and a more interesting endeavour. The final beneficiary is the ordinary person, you and I. The State, also, stands to gain from the return of migrants to their hometowns where many may engage in the “planting for food and jobs” initiative introduced by the Hon Minister of Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto.

So with brains like these two Honourables on board the Akufo-Addo train, Mr President has lifted the bar far higher than any NDC educated illiterate or narcissist ignoramus can ever qualify to reach.

#NanaAkomeaToaso…wae