| Do You Understand What You Are Reading?
By Nii Amu Darko (November 23, 2009) This is the concluding part of the series on the significance of Obama’s visit to Ghana. The first part dealt with the prophetic potential of Africa. I tried to validate the fact that Obama’s assertion that Africa through Accra will exert influence in global affairs comparable to that of Washington or Rome or Moscow, by using precedents in history where the least important city or personality had risen to the greatest height or prominence possible within a twinkle of an eye. I tried to prove the fact that Obama was not just being politically correct by saying nice things to his guests. In fact, the guests did not invite him, he invited himself. The prophecy is spoken and Africa, Ghana in particular will have to pick up the challenge. That is the only proviso for the prophecy to be fulfilled. The 2nd part dealt with paralyzed and crippled African system and our professional begging status. As is my style, it is not enough to tell the present truth, you have to provide a permanent solution to it. I used Obama himself as an example of what can come out of ‘’nothing’’ and posited that even the thought of an African – American becoming US President hadn’t occurred to many as a possibility in this century let alone in its 1st decade and that, that remote possibility of Africa’s victory over ignorance, poverty and disease even in this century can happen in the next decade. I then went on to concretize my belief that there is hope for Africa by analogizing our scenario of paralysis to that of the paralyzed, lame man at the beautiful gate in the Acts of the Apostles. That man wanted money from the 2 Apostles but they knew he needed strength in his legs so could fend for himself. As is my basic philosophy, one cannot explain anything to anyone outside his/her belief system so for the overwhelming Ghanaians who take the Bible as their primary source of inspiration and guidance, a relevant scripture or story to explain a life scenario is not only appropriate but divinely instructive. I pointed out that if that cripple from birth could walk again, then crippled Africa could also spring back to life again. We don’t need aid money, we need to strengthen our legs, the institutions on which our system stands and we shall walk again and beg no more. Africa, rise up and walk was the concluding clarion call. This 3rd part will deal with the most important ingredient in the whole recipe; the human element. As we know, a system is as good as those who are in charge of it. If the righteous bear rule, the people prosper so says the Bible, but the people suffer when wickedness reigns. Throughout history, nations have depended on the wisdom, knowledge, understanding, insight and integrity of their leaders to prosper. The lack of these qualities in the leaders of any nation is a recipe for disaster. The verdict is so clear, the quality of the leadership translates into the quality of life in the nation. There is not a single exception to this rule. The human element is supreme, Jesus put in this way, ‘’ man is even the Lord over the Sabbath’’. Even the Sabbath, the sacred holiday prescribed by God is subject to the needs of man. Wow!!!!! In talking about the human element we know that for the prosperity of the nation, the key section of the human element is the leaders. When the righteous bear rule…… So how has Africa fared in this department? The results on the ground leaves no doubt that we have had the worst form of leadership in all areas of life ; political, intellectual, scientific, cultural etc of all human species in the last 50years. Is there any hope for the African intellectual to stand up to the task of leading the reconstruction effort? Does the African intellectual know his position in this world relative to the development of his country and continent or he is part of Jim Reeves ‘’this world is not my home, I’m just passing through’’ mob? May be the more appropriate or starting point question is, does Africa have enough intellectuals and thinkers relative to her needs? I believe, we do have the numbers. Ghana has had PhD holders as elected President or Prime Minister than any 1st world country in the last 50years. The last NPP Cabinet had more PhD holders than the Bush Cabinet. Every Ghanaian is chasing a PhD or at least Masters. Everybody is doing MBA. I believe that for every university class, the number of students per class which moves on to do postgraduate programs from Ghana can match any comparable class anywhere in the world. The overwhelming majority do well in the pursuance of further studies. There is no institution of higher learning in the English speaking 1st world that you will not find a Ghanaian studying or teaching there. Is it the attainment of further letters behind our names which drives this craze for further studies or the desire just to leave the country at the least opportunity or the desire to acquire specialized knowledge for the betterment of our dear nation? I believe the last possibility is the least probable reason for our mega appetite for further learning. We have become a society driven by titles. Even Pastors are clamoring for honorary PhDs, they are not satisfied with Reverend, not even the Archbishop title is enough to quench their gluttonous appetite for titles. They who are supposed to be the salt of the earth, have lost their saltiness and have become useless and very soon be trampled upon by men. They, the spiritual leaders have joined their secular counterparts in chasing vain glories; they like them have also failed the continent. Like the proverbial feet of the mysterious dwarf, they have turned the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ in the opposite direction leading men to believe that which is not scripture and to abandon that which is scripture. They have not taught their congregations that from the beginning God blessed them and said ‘’be fruitful, multiply, replenish and subdue the earth’’ that God has given us every ability to perform these tasks and all we need to do is pray that God delivers from temptation and evil and gives us abundant life to prosecute these tasks. We fail to realize that God is not a Christian and He is not interested in organized religion. He used to come to Adam and Eve daily in the garden. He still comes to us daily. He’s interested in personal relationships. He is interested in us doing His Will. His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. It is even blasphemous to ascribe anything human to God. To be a Christian you have to believe and confess that Jesus is Lord and he is your savior…… so you see why God can never be a Christian? He is, I am who I am. Most Christians do not understand this, they think God will throw gifts at them because He God, belongs to their camp. They don’t teach that God put Adam in the garden to the east of Eden to dress and to keep it. From day one, God gave him work to do. Not to pray for anything. Not to fast for anything but to dress it and keep it. They don’t emphasize on great teachings of Jesus on time management and foresight ( the 10virgins), on productivity and increase (the parable of the talents) and simple prayer life (pray in secret and not by the road side). They don’t teach that faith without works is dead. You will see young men believing God for shoes when all they have to do is to find work to do and buy their own shoes, even if that work is to do menial jobs. The culture of work which is so central in God’s scheme of things has been slowly replaced with a culture of faith, that if you persist in extolling the virtue of human effort, you will be labeled faithless or in the extreme Godless, too known person. That is how the spiritual intellectuals have failed us. I believe that Ghana has more Ministers of Religion per population than any nation on earth and if they are doing their job well, we will not be where we are today. So with all these many secular and religious intellectuals how come the African scenario is so dire and desperate? Why is it that all the leaders have got it wrong? Why can’t they put into practice all the great ideas they learn in the course of their studies? Why is it that there is such a big gap between theory and practice in Africa? What is the point in sending people to go and study new things only to come back and do the same old things? As I have written before, the most appropriate way to explain a life experience is to take a relevant example from a primary source of belief of the people in question, in this case the Bible. The state of the African intellectual today though unique as compared to other intellectuals from other places is not unprecedented. I find the following account interesting and very relevant. The Evangelist Philip was busy holding a crusade in Samaria, when the Spirit of the Lord flew him to Gaza on the way from Jerusalem towards Africa. He was flown there only to meet one guy who was returning from a pilgrimage in Jerusalem to his home in Ethiopia. He was the Treasurer or the Chancellor of the Exchequer or the Finance Minister to Queen Candice. He was travelling in his chariot with pomp and pageantry. The Spirit beckoned Philip to join himself to this big shot in his chariot which he did. The Treasurer was then reading the book of Isaiah chapter 53. He must be very learned; he could speak and read his own native language and obviously speak and read Hebrew as well, very much like the African intellectual many of whom are multilingual. Philip asked him whether he understood what he was reading. The big man looked at little Philip whom by all account has less formal education than himself and said, No, I don’t understand, I need someone to explain it to me. According to the Bible, Philip took that scripture and preached Christ to him. The man believed and asked to be baptized, which was done and he journeyed back home joyous with his whole entourage. In recorded history, this was the 1st non – Jewish to be converted to Christianity. He was converted before the Roman Cornelius was. In actual fact, this man got converted before my favourite Apostle Paul of Tarsus whose mandate was to preach to the Gentiles. Does it mean that we were not considered Gentile, that God considered us to be part of His elect? Was it any coincidence that Apostle Paul never preached in Africa, that he preached mainly in EuropeAsia Minor? Why would God stop Philip in the midst of a full swing crusade to go to the desert to meet an influential man going to Africa if He was going to appoint pretty soon an Apostle to the Gentiles of which technically Africa was supposed to be part of? In recorded history, Africa was the 1st continent the Gospel of Jesus Christ got to outside the confines of Eretz Y’srael (land of Israel), never mind the fact that the Messiah himself was a refugee in Africa as a baby. and The interesting thing about this encounter was that the big shot in the big chariot said he didn’t understand what he was reading. He couldn’t make a practical sense of what he was reading. He had been to the major centre of learning (Jerusalem), he had listened to the Professors, he had the book, he could read the words but he knew that when he would get back home it would be like the previous year, just another funfair trip, nothing would change on the ground. Why? Because he didn’t understand what he was reading. The African intellectual would go to all the big universities in the world, the Ministers would attend all the meetings in the financial capitals of the world in big suits, sitting in 1st class or Presidential jets (their chariots), they would listen to all the talks and discussions, they would be giving pamphlets, handouts, books etc, they could read the words but believe you me, they don’t understand the practical implications of any of them. If you stray into the 1st Class compartment and dare ask him the meaning of what he is reading, if you are not careful he will get you arrested when you get home. He will go and back and nothing will change on the ground because like Treasurer of Ethiopia, he doesn’t understand a thing. The problem is that unlike the Ethiopian the African elite of 2009 is overly arrogant and will never declare his lack of understanding. Leave Gaza ( the plane from London to Accra) to Africa itself and you will find the same elite sitting in the most expensive, latest 4WD with projects and plans given him by IMF to implement but he can’t because he doesn’t understand them. He will need a small boy from IMF who he is more formally qualified than to come and explain to him. The problem with the African elite is that we are very literate but poorly educated. We can read everything but not understand it to the point of separating the weed from the wheat and for adaptation of the essentials for local application and benefit to our people. Like the Ethiopian eunuch, we also go on the academic pilgrimage in the 1st world to put our names down in the book and have the ‘’been to’’ accolade, come back home and ride big chariots (4WDs). The difficulty with our intellectual mob (including the Ministers of Religion) is the brazen arrogance which comes with higher studies or the so – called call of God; this becomes a huge barrier for them to overcome in order to accept correction and proper instruction. We need the humility of the Ethiopian eunuch and a Philip – like person, ‘’anointed’’ and inspired to come and explain to us the texts we have been reading for years without understanding. Enter, Barack Obama. You can all go back and read his speech again. Apart from the prediction that Africa through Accra will assume more prominence in global affairs, every other thing he said was pretty much known my many people. We have attended seminars, workshops and what have you on all of them yet we lack something to make the implementation of the resolutions successful. Obama is saying, ‘’guys, you have everything just that they are all in a state of maximum entropy, you need to organize yourself, don’t put round pegs in square holes for any reason. We will be there to help you all the way’’. What we will be there to help you all the way suggests to me is that he knows it is a journey, but it is a journey that others have taken already, so if for instance you don’t know how to run an effective local government system, ask those who know by saying I have all the plans but I still don’t understand it, please help me. It is very obvious that we lack practical and relevant capacity in almost every area of our national life and the sensible thing to do is to call for appropriate help. We map out all the areas of need and approach those we know have done it very successfully to help. Obama said he will help all the way to make us viable again. Since I was a child, Accra has flooded every July, yet nothing has been done about it. Why? I think we don’t have the relevant experience and expertise. Should human life and property be continued to be lost because of national (empty) pride? Who in his right mind will think that a nation which still eats from the kitchen of the colonialists 50 years after independence has any pride? Obama came to tell us that, African boss, throw your pride away, ask us for appropriate help to assist you understand how to put the theory you have imbibed in our institutions of learning into practical usage in Ghana. You just have to look at the age and qualifications of those who attended the many functions Obama spoke at and you could immediately figure out those encounters were like the one between Philip and Ethiopian Finance Minister. You could see complete amazement on the faces of the apparently older, more degree holding and longer serving public servants as the young, first degree holder, inexperienced public officer Obama explain to them local problems that have bedeviled the country for over 50 years and which they have shown no evidence whatsoever that they have a clue to solving them. Obama is like a Philip unto us, but the big question is whether we know we don’t understand what we are reading. A yes, we know we don’t understand is all we need to move forward and get to the Promised Land with joy like the Ethiopian eunuch and his entourage. Tswa omanye aba | Obama's Historic Visit Series
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