Kudos to our Folks in Ghana

From their vantage point, Ghanaians abroad view their country with mixed assessment. While some see commendable progress, others see nothing but a directionless country with huge areas of opportunities. The negative assessment, however, may be a case of not valuing one’s own. It thus takes an outsider sometimes to more accurately evaluate how we are doing as a nation. And this author received two unsolicited thumbs up on Ghana in one evening. In short, if we are not proud of our nation, others certainly are.

Five years ago, a Nigerian entrepreneur living in Houston, Texas packed up and relocated in Nigeria. He recently returned to spend the holidays in Houston, and paid a visit to me. Imagine my surprise when he announced that he now lives in Accra, Ghana. Why the switch? “At least Ghanaians are civilized,” he replied. “Nigerians are (explicit).” He went on to say “Ghana makes me feel proud to be an African.”

He says he is impressed with Ghana because it is an African country where the system actually works. Ordinarily, I would worry if what he sees in Ghana was relative only to his native Nigeria. Not so. This man owns a software company with operations in six African countries, including his own and South Africa. Of the six, he saw none more suitable to live and raise his two young children than Ghana. For a guy who holds a doctorate degree in economics and has dabbled in Silicon Valley, I’d say that is a healthy vote of confidence.

That same evening, I was introduced to yet another Nigerian at an event. Upon knowing my Ghanaian nationality, he could not wait to tell me how impressed he was about Ghana. “Man,” he exclaimed, “Ghana Police amazed me one evening I will never forget it.” He received a call from a police sergeant from Ghana seeking to confirm whether or not he had sent any money to anyone in Ghana. He said he had just sent $400 to his son currently schooling in Ghana. The police officer just thanked him and told him not to worry.

Later on his son phoned with the details. He and a bunch of his friends had been apprehended in a crime-ridden area. When the police found $400 in his pocket, they thought he was involved in criminal activities until he told them the money had been sent to him by his father living in the United States. After the father confirmed his story and further investigations cleared the young lad, he said the police returned his money, escorted him to his hostel and advised him to stay away from that area. Had this been in their native Nigeria, they agreed, that $400 would be gone and the lad beaten up.

I felt the need to share these two stories because sometimes we tend to be so critical that we don’t see our blessing. As a Ghanaian living abroad, I share the belief that we still have a long way to go as a nation in terms of socio-economic development. At the same time, those of us in human resource management know all too well that a well deserved praise is an opportunity to positively reinforce good behavior.

So next time you see or talk with someone in Ghana, it may be a good idea to deviate from the barrage of criticism that we have become accustomed to levying upon them. Let’s give Kudos to our folks in Ghana when they excel. For it is through our willingness to praise that we earn the moral authority to constructively criticize. In many ways they have indeed made us proud to be Ghanaians. When my friend said Ghana makes him “proud to be an Africa,” I had a sneaky suspicion that he wished he could substitute “African” with “Ghanaian.” He cannot, but we can.

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