In the last few decades, the world has increasingly and consistently pulled its warped cloth together on many fronts, and more so than the distant mirror has ever revealed to us. The movement of people, goods and services from different continents and across frontiers has been relatively peaceful, colossal and unceasing. Undoubtedly, unlike the numerous wars and woes that characterized the lives of our ancestors, there is increasing cooperation and respect within and among societies than disagreement and disrespect at both domestic and international levels. Thankfully, local and international media keep disseminating such encouraging developments to us timely, and across the globe.
Here in Africa, virtually all races are present and represented. In this peaceful and loving country called Ghana in particular, it’s very unusual not to meet and interact with various colours that constitute the human farmyard—Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Germans, Italians, Dutch, Mongolians, Americans, Arabs, Lebanese, Biracial and yes, I–Belong-Nowhere every day, and who, by our spirited loving purity, are at peace and happy with our environment. Those in doubt and privileged to live in our nation’s capital should take a walk along the oxford street at Osu and establish this naked truth. Even in communities thousands of kilometers away from Accra such as Kaleo and Kulungugu in the Upper West and Upper East Regions respectively, one is bound to find Europeans, Asians, Americans and other races of the world. What could be more interesting than to learn that in Bongo near Bolgatanga for instance, a peace core volunteer has been duly installed and recognized as a chief whose responsibility is to ensure the welfare of his fellow foreigners serving within the district? His stool is said to be blessed with a native linguist who assists him to discharge his duties efficiently and effectively. Similar enthronements of foreigners as development chiefs are a common phenomena especially in southern communities.
Not surprisingly, and on account of these incorporations, our world today has earned the name Global Village in which people travel freely and quickly to transact business in other parts of the globe without much fear of insecurity and mistrust. Modern communications such as the internet, mobile phones and satellite television networks as well as fast-speed planes have further brought the world even closer and smaller. So school children now know that though the world is roughly and artificially demarcated and compartmentalized into continents and nation-states, among others, inhabitants here on earth are interdependent on each other, enjoying, suffering and sharing invariably differential conditions. What a beauty of union among God’s children!
In spite of this welcoming integral and interconnectivity of our world, faces of horror often pop up, leaving victims either maimed or dead. The recent unpleasant news of a bloody massacre of six Africans including Ghanaians in Italy is painful and traumatizing. This unfortunate incident, no doubt, has placed anxiety and grief at the doorsteps of relatives. Loved ones who left our shores for a better life, and hopefully contributed immensely to both the Italian and Ghanaian economies are gone forever without saying goodbye. Isn’t it frightening that such chilling coldness occurred before the pious Pontiff? The colourful feathers of doves from our beautiful yard have been bruised in a distant land. Our proud flag has been soaked with our own blood, yet once more. Again, a few months ago, we heard a distressful voice on radio from Libya crying for help. Whilst the terrified coarse voice announced that hundreds of Ghanaians were being detained in crowded prisons and under dehumanizing conditions, an official of the ministry of foreign affairs argued that the complainant was probably an alarmist. Again in March this year, our pride was thrown into the dustbin when Ama Sumani (peace be on her) was cruelly dragged from a hospital in Cardiff, UK, and flown here in a fashion not different from the way our ancestors were shackled and driven into slave boats to labour in this same country This harrowing deportation, which the immigration officials called a removal, sent her crushing into her grave within weeks. No doubt this incident shocked the world community like a disastrous earthquake and left many loving souls in a comma. In the name of God, where do human beings come from? Can it be otherwise and not the Planet Earth? How can the preachers of democracy, human rights, equal opportunities, love, peace, and all other accolades of the virtuous - especially of the self-acclaimed pioneers of civilization - continue to perpetrate such dastardly acts? Before the seat and mercies of the great Vatican, blacks were gunned down in cold blood! How on earth could the greatest colonizer whose ancestors our ancestors served with humility amidst daily cruelty, both abroad and right here in our own farmyard, afford to treat us with rare disgust when they ought to be apologizing to us for forgiveness? How come these horrific incidences continue to occur in highly revered, civilized, advanced and industrious democracies? Do recall the savage murder of Senegalese Diallo in peaceful and democratic United States by cops. Are some of the laws governing some parts of our world and its peoples not morally bankrupt? How can sane witty societies justify such occurrences that produce these rare colossal sobering pities? And will the wisdom of the world ever understand, accept and readily forgive such ghastly acts?
We in Ghana and Africa at large are tempted to see the gruesome murder of these Africans near Naples as apparently a product and produce of awakened racist and fascist tendencies. Already, they are labeled as secular gangsters and their killings are allegedly attributed to drugs, a convenient strategy to marginalize this gory incident and to eventually deny the departed and bereaved families justice. Over the years, it is apparent that some races and states are behaving like owners of heaven who have the authority to expel angels probably sent by God. Perhaps these packaged deaths visited on Africans in the Diaspora are worse than those conferred on deftly native-white murderers on whose necks hang uncountable list of victims. Clearly, these acts signify the purity of insanity of modern society; they reveal the deeper layers of modern societies’ racial prejudice, greed and immaturity. On one hand, it shames and disgraces Ghanaians and Africans for traveling far and wide to fetch unpleasant disharmonies and inhumane treatments. But it’s more a disgrace to the expellers and murderers for they have displayed to us in Africa the true measure of their love for us-- an ocean of hatred.
Contrary to Article VII of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, which states that, “No-one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” the famous makers and upholders of this law have suddenly become profoundly dubious. This is certainly frightening! These ugly scenarios should provoke a reawakening and review of our relations with the rest of the world. In the deeper layers of consciousness, our slavish and colonized past are sufficient to guide us towards safety and dignity. As Malcolm ‘X’ once aptly commented, “you cannot make a chicken lay a duck’s egg.” The slave master’s organization will never be the instrument for the liberation and development of the descendants of slaves and the struggling children of their former colonies whose present predicaments are a direct measure of their ancestral exploitative and denigrating inclinations. That’s why these bizarre events deserve the urgent attention and collaboration of Africans everywhere, but more especially the foreign missions of the various Governments. A bold demonstration of our self-assertiveness and self-preservation before the world community is long overdue!
As Western governments consistently and strenuously ensure the welfare of their citizens abroad, African governments often show lackadaisical attitude under similar scenarios. For instance, when a Pan-American plane exploded over the skies of Lockerbie, hurling some four hundred innocent souls to their deaths, white victims of that disaster were not allowed to remain in the silent sleep of the tomb. There was a genuine refusal to marginalize the victims of such arrogant savagery. Painstaking labour of detection identified the culprits—in one case, Iran-sponsored mercenaries were alleged to have created that doom as revenge to the downing of an Iranian passenger plane during the FirstGulf war. Libya was accused and sanctioned for decades on similar grounds. In contrast, when the UTA plane from Brazzaville disintegrated on its flight over Chadian territory in September 1987, we simply did not bother to know who the perpetuators of this insolent crime on African soil were. “Enquire from the average African student, public affairs commentator, even the political analyst from any state-controlled radio, television or newspaper across the entire African continent—they simply do not know,” the Nigerian Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, laments in his Dubois-Padmore memorial lectures. African governments also failed to establish how many innocent Africans were brutally murdered in that UTA disaster. However, the average Canadian did know that there was a Canadian engineer on board that plane. “The African victims, by contrast, are killed twice over, shrouded in anonymity as dirged in James Baldwin’s ‘Nobody Knows My Name’. They are yet again Ralph Ellison’s ‘Invisible Men,’ Soyinka tearfully reorients us towards critical self- assertiveness.
Isn’t some form of conditioning or manipulation responsible for our silence over these cold events that persistently penetrate our nervous flesh? In our slumber, China is shouting and screaming for justice over the death of six of her citizens in Sudan a few weeks ago. The government of Egypt, after some silence, is now also shouting for justice in Saudi Arabia where some of her citizens including medical practitioners are alleged to have been thrown into jail without due process and flogged several thousand times over. The bruised wings of black doves must not endure any longer! Leadership must be responsive and responsible to the needs of her citizens. As already assured by Ghana’s Ambassador to Italy, the facts surrounding the killings of those Ghanaians must be known for justice to prevail. The murder of about 40 Ghanaians in the Gambia is still lingering in the minds of loved ones and relatives. All of these demand justice and any failure on our part further fetches down our dwindling national and racial dignity. There is no reason left to remain subservient over such sordid machinations but every reason to react forcefully and appropriately.
Notwithstanding, these incidents should also serve as a great reminder to ordinary citizens, but more especially our leaders. that the more Ghanaians or Africans leave the shores of the continent, the more revealing our collective and unpardonable failure to transform our societies into better places for lives to blossom. The current political drama unfolding in Kenya and Zimbabwe are typical occurrences that forcefully plunge peace loving Africans to hot spots. In Desperate Dreams, a BBC correspondent reveals the horrific stories of Africans on their way to Europe via Libya. A Ghanaian admits he lost two of his colleagues on their way across the desert but lacks the strength to disclose their deaths to their parents who keep calling him. The plungers of public funds with consequent untold hardships on the innocent populace of Africa are obvious factors of African indignity and subservience before the world community. The outcome of the trial of former Liberian President, Charles Taylor at The Hague, cannot redeem the miseries he is alleged to have willfully and cruelly inflicted upon neighbours and Africans. The deaths of infamous Mobuto and Abacha and the horrific revelations of oceans of cash they stashed in lenders’ banks in Europe are epic tragedies that have left deep scars on the face of proud Africa. Obviously, their mischief has uprooted many citizens who have had to plant their feet in the hot soils of Europe and America.
In the face of these tragedies that leave some Africans slain like pigs in foreign countries; in the face of carefully calculated egregious strategies to deport (illegal?) immigrants from Europe, USA etc, isn’t it prudent to caution all those planning to travel abroad, especially persons without proper documents to reconsider their decision purely on the grounds of this vile unfriendliness? Doesn’t the pride of Africans deserve better than these unwholesome waters we continue to swallow and bath every day? Our painful past should compel us to persistently ensure that our self-preservation and self-assertiveness are not once more severely trampled upon. Let’s turn our inexperienced ears to Malcolm ‘X’ once more: “The collective white man’s history has left the non-white peoples no alternative, either, but to draw closer to each other. Characteristically, the devilish white man lacks the moral strength and courage to cast off his arrogance”. When native Kofigo disappointingly murdered his American lover and buried her near Tumu in the late 1980’s just to possess her car and a few dollars, justice quickly prevailed. When will justice prevail for Ghanaians who are alleged to have been murdered or maltreated in foreign countries? We the concerned at home are not only challenging the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its affiliates to work hard and add value to Ghanaians residents outside by obtaining justice for the unfortunate and needy citizens but are closely and silently monitoring their competences or otherwise. We recognize the painful sacrifices staff of foreign mission make by living away from home. Such sacrifices must essentially be meaningful.
Most importantly, as global trends and dictates become less attractive and regressive to our general development and emancipation, as recent decades appear laden with fixtures of convulsive national greed and decaying sympathy, let’s simply reorient ourselves and our children to understand that the phrase ‘Global Village’ is fast becoming nothing but ‘Racial Brutality’. We must constantly remind our kind that there’s no place like home; emphasize that no one on this planet can offer Ghana or Africa something better than her citizens. This is indeed a crucial challenge to the next government of the Republic of Ghana. Sure, by our actions, let’s prevent the ardent but disappointed poet from saying “God has placed forgetfulness and subservience as a doorkeeper on the threshold of the African temple of human dignity!”
About the Author:
Sundong Abdul Korah is a filmmaker, an essayist, poet and songwriter based in Accra. He is a graduate of NAFTI. Whilst working with Kencity Media ltd as a director/ producer for NET2 TV, he also wrote feature articles, editorials and news stories for the NATIONAL AGENDA NEWSPAPER. Some of his works have been published in the Daily Graphic newspaper, Premeir AD Magazine,and others. He hopes to publish a collection of his poems DECADES OF DECAY next year.
