The President on Religion, Moral Education and School Curriculum

Egbeme kese do (e)vo, wo gba (e)go, wo lia ati, alegeli susuto kpoe, eye wo konu xexexe.

I was quite puzzled to listen to the president propose the integration of Religious and Moral Education into the nation’s school curriculum. Whose concept of God, and moral ethnics, are our nation schools going to use in delivering lessons on morality? To some of us, not only is twenty-first century Judeo-Christian, and Islamic values exclusionary, they hardly tolerate peripheral spirituality and other forms of knowing (i.e. indigenous cultures). What will happen to some of our school children whose parents are agnostic; people who neither affirm, nor deny, the existence of God, yet embrace the “Golden Rule” and “Categorical Imperative”? Could the president’s sermon on the plains herald his intention to create a new Ministry of Religion and Moral Reorientation? After all, we seen it all before, and I will not be surprised to seeing a replay of something the president knows all too well (i.e. creating ministries after every defining speech).

Mr. President, the declining morality we see in our nation’s schools cannot, and must not, be placed directly on the doorsteps of our disempowered students. It stems from a permissive leadership that is multitalented in preaching universal morals values, yet turns a blind eye on the putrid behaviours of some of our nation’s public officials and their weakness to say(ing) no to sex with adolescent girls. As a matter of fact, these public officials have coined a new vocabulary for downloading the blame on their young victims (i.e. enye mia o, eye system nua. Akwaada yi ya di wo empa mu). It is a moral travesty to seeing our public officials lose their spiritual agency, and blame their pubescent victims for courting them to bed? To some of these lettered men, the privileges of democracy allow them to explore the tiny tunnels of our nation’s young “Eves” for a buck. Who wouldn’t, if the very laws that that are meant to constrain human animalisms are use to vehemently rationalize the insanity of humankind against society’s vulnerable.

Rather than characterizing certain behaviors as deviant, my dearest president should spend some time to examine the proximate causes that trigger the unusual immoralities we see manifesting in our nation’s youth and their politician-patrons. Has the president taken a look at our weak laws, the increasing opulence displayed by the nation’s elite, amid rising destitution, and the temptations it places before our impecunious young girls? Has it dawned on my dearest president to examine our nation’s patriarchal culture, where rich, and powerful, men can extort sex from a minor without any consequences from the criminal justice system? Who dares take the elephant to the church, on Sunday, knowing that its sheer size could scare the pastor to take shelter under the Lord’s altar, if not besmear his pants with watery waste?

As the nation’s Chief Executive, has the president used his absolute powers to find out the status of the four-year old girl who was raped, by his grandfather, and infected with HIV/AIDS? How does the president expect a four year old girl to school to be taught religion and moral education? Who are the patrons of the natural goods our nation’s young girls display on the sex market? They are the nation's political elite some of whom are entrusted with the security, and future, of these vulnerable children. These sexual predators, and perverts, are men, who given their age, are old enough to father their victims, yet exploit their economic penury to satisfy their biological urges.

The nation’s pedophiles are not always the uneducated men who live in the countryside. They are a group of conscienceless men who use their official position, and material rewards, to violate the innocence of our young ones. What was the president’s advise to Dr. Anane? What was the president’s thinking when he labeled Dr. Anane’s sexual indiscretion as a perception during his re-inauguration to office? What did the president say to Mr. Thomas Broni after hearing his alleged involvement with a married woman, which consequently led to the woman’s divorce from her husband? What was the position of the president when he was told that late Mr. Ayim died in his motor accident with a High School student, by the name of Fati? I hope he did not jump from his chair and shouted “this is perception and I dare the storytellers to take their evidence to court.” I must also state herein that, I do not make excuses for Mr. Alan Bagbin’s lack of discretion for allegedly engaging the sexual soothing of his wife’s sister. If true, he should have been sanctioned and not allowed to have invoked culture as a defence. These men are policymakers and I hold them to higher moral standards.

Mr. President, your public lecture on morality, without any strict enforcement, is akin to throwing a stone on a wall. It does not change anything but make the public question your own commitment in cultivating these nobles values in the nation, particularly some of strayed ministers. Mr. President, in your causal encounters with your inner circle of ministers, do you ever listen to their off-centered insights on ways to instill moral discipline in our nation’s children. Would the president be ready to take action if I provide him with the name of a respected politician who is funding the education of a young lady who, supposedly, could be of the same age as his (i.e. minister’) youngest daughter?

Mr. President, while my position is not meant to fault your noble and genteel persona, your frail leadership does not absolve you from presiding over an administration that rewards unusual conducts with deceitful justifications. In my opinion, to launch a moral crusade at a time when your term in office is about to end is comparable to a boxer who promises a tough fight knowing that the match referee is about to declare him as a loser.

Mr. President, the preservation of national morality is about leadership; a leadership that is not afraid to renounce the wrongs that are afflicting the political headship of our nation. The president’s credibility can withstand a weather-beaten storm if he can demonstrate genuinely, and by actions, that he is determined to be part of a moral crusade to sanitize the increasing immorality that is overcoming our nation. As Ghanaians, we must shun partisan divisions and seek guidance in steering our nation away from the inky clouds that threaten to wear down our spirituality and moral values. Mr. President, it is my fervent hope that the immorality we see in Ghanaian youth will not become an extension of your administration’s “Golden Age of Business” and Youth Employment Initiative. Hope all is well. Good day and cheers.

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.