THE MAN WHO WENT TO TOWN; PAUL ANSAH RELOADED

4th November, 2013 saw the re-launch of Paul Archibald Vianney Ansah’s Going to Town, a selection of newspaper articles he had written from 1991 till his death in June 1993. The event, held at British Council hall saw the likes of Mr. Nhyira Addo of Citi FM , Ms. Joyce Aryee (Chief Executive Officer of The Ghana Chamber of Mines), Mr. Kojo Annan Ankomah (a Legal Practitioner) and Ms. Esther Cobbah (Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Communications Africa) gracing the occasion. Also in attendance were Prof Kwame Karikari (Executive Director, Media Foundation for West Africa), Prof Kwesi Yankah (President of Central University College) and Dr. Margaret Amoakohene (Acting Director, School of Communication Studies), just to mention a few. The master of ceremony for the occasion was Mr. Kwame Sefa-Kayi.

It was an honour to have his close friends and associates share their fond memories of this great and illustrious son of our land and regale us with tales of some of his feats – what cut across in all these stories was P.A.V. Ansah being described as a man who stood for truth and justice, abhorred wrong doing and loved his country too much to watch it being destroyed by, in his own words, “political dwarfs, knaves and scoundrels”. It was this passion that “took him to town” to get things off his chest without fear; at a time when speaking the truth or publicly airing an opinion especially one not in favour of the sitting government could cost you your life.

As at 1991 I was unaware of the existence of a newspaper called the Ghanaian Chronicle, let alone Prof. Paul Ansah’s column and it probably would have remained so but for the re-launch of this book which offered me the rare opportunity to get a glimpse of who he was. It is quite sad to note that but for this launch I had no idea who Prof. Paul Ansah was and I can tentatively say I am not alone here. Yes, he has the highest award in journalism (the PAV Ansah Journalist of the Year Award) named after him but for someone who was an advocate for free press and even went further to make his voice heard in any print that would allow him and as an intellectual, refusing to be cowed into a culture of silence, he deserves more than that! Again this brings to fore how we neglect our heroes while over celebrating a few (big six in mind) allowing the rest to be “back benchers” and only bring them up when it suits an occasion, only to be relegated back again to the bench.

Of the numerous stories that were shared about Prof. Ansah, the funniest and yet thought provoking was that of Dr Margaret Amoakohene recounting her days as a student and while working on her thesis, hit a brick wall. Some days later she had a visitor at her hall that turned out to be the good old Prof. Apparently, her days of absence hadn’t gone unnoticed therefore Prof Ansah wanted to see her. In summary when she appeared before him she began to lament about how stressful it was and she had run out of ideas for her paper, to which he replied and I paraphrase: “kuraseni 3dwin d3 degree woton wo guamu a,” to wit, “do you think degrees are for sale in the market place”. Of course he said it light-heartedly without malice but the message he was trying to put across was not lost. In short, success cannot be bought. To be successful one must be prepared to work hard for it and nothing good comes cheap or easy.

For a man who was passionate about excellence and professionalism in journalism he probably must be turning in his grave seeing what journalism has become today; where some journalist and politicians are bedfellows and instead of setting the agenda and keeping government on its toes, they rather allow politicians to dictate to them.

Twenty years after his death the setting up of the Paul Archibald Vianney Ansah (PAVA) Memorial Foundation is a step in the right direction. The foundation seeks to entrench responsible press freedom and excellence in journalism and mass media communication across the continent of Africa. This is a worthy cause that must be given the necessary support.

A cursory look at Ghana today and one might say we have made significant progress; but after twenty years the issues that pertained in the early years of the Fourth Republic that necessitated him “going to town” still continue to happen today! Which leaves you wondering if we have truly as a nation made progress? If Prof. Paul Ansah were to be alive today, I bet he would probably go beyond town – wherever that may be – because as you do know, town is too hot and we have been “advised” accordingly to get our passports and get out if we believe the heat is unbearable.

Going to Town is a must have for every well-meaning Ghanaian as it illustrates that speaking up and criticizing one’s government does not mean we are against it but rather the citizens are very much invested hence Ghana must come first in all matters; and also a reminder that a culture of silence is the surest way for a nation to be destroyed.

In the words of Prof. Paul Archibald Vianney Ansah “if others won’t talk, as for me, I shall not deny myself that right.” What about you?

For more information, please go to www.pavansah.org

SAVE THE FUTURE; SECURE THE LIBRARIES

I still remember my first visit to the Accra Library like it was yesterday. Seeing all those books neatly packed on shelves and the intoxicating smell of ink on paper transported me to a world where my imagination could run wild. I was in heaven.

A few trips ensued after that initial visit but all that came to an end once my school vacation was over. After that, my mom would visit the place regularly to pick up the books I requested for. My junior high school lacked a library and only finally built one just when I was about to graduate. In subsequent years I frequented Accra library with my friends on Fridays or vacations and those were cherished moments.

In my senior high school the library was good enough as a place of study and nothing else. Most of the books were either outdated or in bad shape. I don’t quite remember seeing any periodicals aside from the Daily Graphic.

The library at the University of Ghana was however a different experience. The Balme library lived up to my expectation though I cannot say so for all the departmental libraries on campus. Nonetheless, throughout my four years in school I only started appreciating the place more when it was time to write my Long Essay in final year.

Fast forward to today and the state of the Accra library makes me shudder as it lacks the amenities one would expect in a modern library. And if this is the state of our national library then I do not even want to imagine what the other smaller public libraries would look like.

In our part of the world, the decline in library patronage should be of concern to us. Some argue that people have less incentive to use libraries as information is easily accessible online. That should not be the case though as the fountain of knowledge and information that can be found in well stocked libraries can never be replaced by the internet. In any event, technological devices should rather be used to enhance our libraries – an example is digitizing academic books, journals and articles out of print and making them easily accessible online.

For our upcoming generation the benefits of inculcating the habit of reading can never be over emphasized. People should not be denied the pleasures of reading due to financial reasons and that is when a library comes in handy. Besides, if we really want to tackle illiteracy rates then we need to sit up as a nation to make the books or resources readily available. We could do so by investing more in mobile libraries for remote communities whereas existing libraries must be refurbished and stocked with more current books.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson succinctly puts it, “if we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads”.

A TRIP TO THE MUSEUM

Waking up early in the morning to beat the rush hour traffic for work; returning home late; breaking over the weekend (if lucky) only to return to the same cycle at the beginning of the next week makes living in Accra quite hectic. Weekends are mostly spent catching up with family and friends, attending social gatherings such as marriage and naming ceremonies. The night scene is pretty packed with lots of places to go to and so many events and concerts to attend but nevertheless, this city life can be really monotonous and pretty soon living becomes mundane.

It just happened to be one of those times when I felt I was stuck in this uncomfortable rut and needed to shake it off so I decided to visit the museum. I am ashamed to admit that of my over twenty years of living in Accra, I have never been to the national museum even though I have passed by it lots of times. This seemed to be a good time to make amends.

The National Museum of Ghana (Archaeology, Ethnography and Art) located on the Barnes road in Adabraka, Accra is the largest of the ten museums in Ghana. Construction started in 1956 it was inaugurated on 5th march 1957 as part of Ghana’s independence celebration. At the moment it charges a reasonable fee of five cedis (for adults) to enjoy its historic exhibits.

The collections in the museum focus on the early lives of Ghanaians; our costumes; way of life; traditional dances; trade and commerce whereas exhibits from other African countries are on display as well. At the beginning of the tour was a display of a cloth made out of the bark of a tree where our tour guide enlightened us on how the tree bark was “processed” into the cloth. Then next was a display of the kente loom with different designs of the fabric where each design had a meaning.

The next exhibit was Kwame Nkrumah’s presidential chair which felt surreal for the fact that one could touch and feel the chair he once sat on when he was inaugurated as President of the Republic of Ghana. Also on display was the chair of the last governor of the then Gold Coast, Lord Listowell as well as that of the last Governor of Trans Togoland. The intricate designs on each chair tell a story on its own. There were also displays of masks from northern Nigeria and Mali and jewelry made out of human teeth and bones (quite grotesque but very fascinating).

The museum also has pictures of young girls going through dipo rites as well as ritual dolls such as the akuaba doll (doll for fertility among women). Another end of the museum had on display statues depicting some of the Ghanaian dances such as adowa, kpalogo and agbaza. There was also an exhibit on some of the occupations the early Ghanaian engaged in such as farming, wood carving and blacksmiths. There was also on display the regalia of a northern chief, stools used by other chiefs from various parts of the country, gold weights and a pictorial display or timeline of how the country moved from the barter system of conducting commerce to the use of money. In addition was an exhibit chronicling the slave trade that happened in our country with emphasis on Baba Ato and Samori who were notorious slave raiders in the northern part of the country. There also exist a gift shop and a gallery within the museum.

The highlight of the tour for me was seeing the car Kwame Nkrumah once used. Considering the fact that the car had been vandalized and left at the mercy of the weather for a very long period of time, it appeared to be in good shape. Though the window shields were riddled with bullet markings it was still intact showing the durability of his bullet proofed car.

The past is always a precursor to the future hence imperative that one makes time to visit historical places such as the museum. Besides it can serve as a perfect getaway from the hectic life in this city of ours. You definitely need to visit the museum one of these days.

I LIVE IN A COUNTRY

I live in a country where water, gas and electricity are rationed
I live in a country where increase in fuel price affects everything under the sun including burial charges
I live in a country where 55%of the adult population are not literate
I live in a country where mineral rich communities are impoverished
I live in a country where road traffic accident claims more lives than malaria and HIV/AIDS combined
I live in a country where childbirth could possibly be your death sentence
I live in a country where it's health system is teetering on the brink of collapse
I live in a country where mediocrity is glorified
I live in a country where officials elected to solve problems of the nation rather add to the problem
I live in a country where women are still marginalized
I live in a country where the naming of the seat of government is national debate for a week
I live in a country where drinking bars abound and libraries are scarce
I live in a country where Christians abound but corruption and bribery is rift
I live in a country where God is the one duty and every other person is waiting on him
I live in a country whose citizens are more religious than God himself yet these same people hide behind the name of God to do unimaginable things
I live in a country where even though we have elected public officials, we entrust our future to 200 supposed 'men of God' to go to Jerusalem to seek solution to our problems.
I live in a country where in the face of all these challenges people still have hope and wake up each day to make a difference



Written on 16th March, 2013 after it was revealed that some pastors were going on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem sponsored by a philanthropist to pray for the nation and government was the facilitator.