Ghanaian Academia Participation in Nation Building: A Conundrum

The Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Sekondi, Mr. Kobby Otchere-Darko has accused Ghanaian academia of apathy, when it comes to nation building. The M.P. believes that a cross-section of academia could contribute constructively to national issues, but they remain quiet and allow the politician to assume more than the necessary powers, sometimes creating chaos for the nation.

I share the sentiments of the M.P but only to an extent. Whilst it is a fact that all hands must be on deck for maximised national benefits, academia does not necessarily have to be in the limelight of politics in order to contribute. The collaboration between government and academia could be constantly effective, as well as smooth, if both parties would operate on transparency and genuinely target national development. After all, academic is expected to research current issues of community and national relevance, then based on empirical evidence, recommend applicable suggestions to policy-makers. Therein lies the challenge.

Every academic and research conference would usually be opened by a minister or a person in a certain key industrial or academic position. The minister or representative would glibly inform delegates that policy-makers expect strong recommendations from the meeting. Sometimes, getting same representatives to close such meetings becomes a challenge. What is crystal clear is that recommendations from such proceeding are simply shelved by the ministers or sections which receive such, because very workable suggstions are not implemented or factored into various national development agenda. Yet that is just a part of the problem.

Research has become a major tool for national development, because it helps to thoroughly unravel issues. Serious nations have explored quality research to make inroads into crucial socio-cultural and geo-political issues, the benefits of which serious investigations are being enjoyed globally. Africa is a major beneficiary of global research, and one continues to hope that the countries therein will muster their resources and focus on research in order galvanise local solutions to African problems. A utopia!

Whereas other communities pump huge sums of money into research activities, African countries squander resources on triviality, especially four-wheeled vehicles we neither can manufacture nor effectively maintain. The discrepancy between funding for research in some of our partner countries and that of Ghana is simply pathetic, ludicrous! The discrepancy is the singular proof that this nation pays lip service to research. Typically, Ghana waits for simple issues to degenerate into chaos, then it begs outsiders to fund research. Yet, other issues exist.

Due to the concept of publish or perish among academia, research activities are on the increase. It is a fact that mediocre, and sometimes, sub-standard work is paraded as research by some academia, but there is also evidence of appreciable quality research. If Ghana genuinely sought recommendations to existing problems, it could find effective ones among researchers in Ghana, which brings me back to the sentiments expressed by the M.P.

If various research recommendations were studied and thoroughly analysed for applicability, policy-makers would be aided in handling community and national issues. There are so many projects initiated by students and academia across all learning disciplines in Ghana. Very promising projects .are locked-up in various departments and store rooms, or shelved by government agencies because neither institution nor government is interested in furthering the research. Yet, some border on critical issues such as energy conservation, recycling, solar energy, health, better learning approaches, to name five.

Ironically, academia is not even listed among key stakeholders of the 40-year Development Plan currently being trumpeted. When the host of GTV’s Talking Point questioned Dr. Nii Moi Thompson about the absence of academia, the latter answered that academia was counted among civil societies. That is not accurate. That Ghana could consider such a long-term national plan without actively involving academia is such a slight, and a telling proof of how the policy-maker belittles education and academia! In contrast, Mr. Otchere-Darko’s sentiments imply his regard for academia; I am quite sure that he would back the inclusion of academia in the stakeholders. 

Academia is not simply apathetic, at least not all of them. But it is the height of frustration to research issues, offer radical recommendations, suggest very workable remedial strategies and continuously be ignored by policy-makers who rather opt for intrepid adhoc solutions. If governments and other stakeholders genuinely desire the co-operation of academia in Ghana, they should bond through research. Government should begin by budgeting realistically for multi-disciplinary research. It should task academia to plunge into applied research for all the ailing critical situations of the country. Most importantly, government must implement the most effective and progressive recommendation from academia. I count on M.P. Otchere-Darko to support academia.

It would be refreshing indeed, if government would strategise through research and explore holistic and sustainable solutions for national crises! Dare we hope?

Vodafone Adverts: Tasteless and Repulsive

Two of Vodafone’s current advertisements are extremely nauseous due to the manner in which they disrespect elderly people and stereotype a certain Ghanaian group. Clearly, both Vodafone and its advertising agency are clueless about certain fundamental Ghanaian values as well as the potential negative implications a commercial could have. Advertisements are such powerful communication tools in the corporate world that any agency that undermines them risks its goodwill.

The first of the offensive commercials in question is the one in which an elderly man dozes during a professional meeting of a sort and a lopsided young man takes his picture and circulates among colleagues. The maniacal laughter the picture generates among old and young staff alike is a forceful reminder of the moral decadence of the contemporary Ghanaian. The irreverent attitude of the young people in the advert makes a cultured Ghanaian wince with pain and genuine sadness: Pain at the ignorance of the producers, their lack of decorum, their inability to determine the cultural difference, sadness at their poor taste. The advert would be perfect if the person who dozed was a youngster. A young subject would have created an impression of camaraderie among friends. That would have made the commercial refreshing, genuinely hilarious. Too bad both creative team and Vodafone were not savvy enough. Shameful indeed!

Considering that Vodafone has among its subscribers a burgeoning number of elderly ones, its demonstration of socio-cultural impropriety is downright disgraceful. The noxious part occurs where the elderly man is boxed left and right. The act is tantamount to those young rascals physically hitting the elderly man. In the traditional Ghanaian context, it is a taboo for a child to hit the parent. The Akans say “Panin ano ye bosom”, which literally translates, the mouth of an elderly person is a god. Within the Akan context, anyone who understands the swiftness of the gods’ punishment appreciates that proverb. When the elderly person being ridiculed sees the image and shockingly whispers, hεԑԑ, the insightful is terrified for the empty-headed laughing jackals. Any decent child/youngster who cherishes life never raises the hand against the parent. That is why the good old Book exhorts: “If you honour your father and mother, yours will be a long life, full of blessing (Ephesians 6: 3).

In the second commercial, a pest of a mother-in-law subjects her daughter-in-law to a ludicrous lecture about the needs of the former’s son. That commercial is not savvy because it is derogatory to the elderly woman as well as her tribe. It is not funny because Mrs Abrͻfosԑm epitomizes absurdity as she oozes naivety through pretentions. It is not appealing because it endorses oppression.

For a commercial from a communication entity, that advert scores so negatively for the wrong message it relays. The mother subjects the young woman to that a heartless tête-á-tête the entire day. A conscientious person wonders how much that distraction could cause the young woman to commit professional errors during the day. The torture continues at home, because the wife cannot assert herself and stop the mother-in-law. She endures under duress. Meanwhile, the weasel of a son remains in the background, cannot muster the courage to stop his bully of a mother, even when she invades their night, all because of a measly 2-day package from Vodafone! Some older folks do not sleep well at night; the mother likely belongs to that category. So if she cannot sleep, her daughter-in-law cannot sleep either, she seems to imply. That commercial highlights several negatives of the Ghanaian culture: The norm that stifles the young from voicing the fact when the elderly goes astray, the tradition that forcefully deprives the young of assertiveness, the almost dehumanizing tendency of the average Ghanaian to gulp down every injustice under the absurdity of leaving it to God to right the wrong, when God has given humans the ability to right wrongs, rectify situations in order to dignify self and others!

I am aware that nobody reads in Ghana—my apologies to Mr. Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, the columnist—but should the Vodafone team and its advertising folks read this piece, they would know how counter-productive the 2 adverts are. The service provider has had adverts in the past that have featured the elderly in an amusing but dignified manner. Too bad it is degenerating.

Advertisements are such powerful communication tools that enhance or maim the reputation of a business. In the competitive global environment, negative advertisement is a corporate suicide. The average Ghanaian may lack the intellectual sophistication to analyse contents, but there is always the cultured minority that deconstructs such public information for quality. Generally, Ghanaian adverts tend to nauseate, and one always hopes that advertising companies will demonstrate decorum when they reach out to consumers. For that to happen, they really must study and grasp thoroughly the concept of advertising. That is a utopia for this generation which shuns knowledge for material things. Just because a person can put images together, it does not mean that s/he can package information effectively. Advertisers and corporate bodies do well to remember that huge difference. There is no conflict between animation and socio-cultural values; they are complementary.

Vodafone especially must be careful of the message it puts in the public domain, because it represents national interests. It ought to balance marketing interests with national values. Its foreign partners might attempt to heap indignities on the traditional Ghanaian system; the onus rests on the Ghanaian stakeholder to defend the national worldview. Since the commercial was made in Ghana, the question arises: Does the Ghanaian have a worldview? The answer has to be a yes, because no negates our very existence. It is about time we demonstrated that we have a worldview through all human endeavours, corporate advertisement included. Let advertisement dignify rather than commercialise human agents.

It is possible to jest in reverence. May Vodafone and other corporate bodies grasp that worthwhile  concept!