Opana’s ranting and cowries-induced endorsement!

One of my favourite reggae artistes is Andrew Peter Tosh; and “Glass House” is my favourite from his stable. The chorus reads: “If you live in a glasshouse, don’t throw stones. And if you can’t take blows, Brother, don’t throw blow.”

I do know that Mr. Opana is very aware of the wisdom in the chorus. But since he has ignored it and decided to go throwing stones, we cannot be faulted for replying in kind.

At the Kasoa interchange sod-cutting ceremony, Mr. Opana decided to jab those of us with the guts to question the staggering and dubious figures being quoted for government projects. He referred to us as “new breed of political quantity surveyors”.

Well, if Mr Opana does not know, it was these same new breed of political quantity surveyors whose hue and cry led to the review of the dubious bus re-branding cost. Indeed, one does not need a qualification in quantity surveying to know that lighting and asphalting the Kumasi Airport at $24 million is pure stealing.

I hate to say this, but I will say it anyway. I would exercise some sense of shame if I were Mr. Opana. For a man who has the corruption tag hanging on his neck like an albatross, since his days as vice-president, he should be the last person to throw stones at others. Mr. Opana is clearly exhibiting the traits of a dying animal.

The country has witnessed what I refer to as ‘cowries-induced endorsement’ in the past few weeks. John Dumelo and Clement Bonney, aka Mr. Beautiful, deserve special mention.

I remember vividly the first time I met Mr. Beautiful. My first encounter with him was at the Stage Recording Studios in Cantonment in late 2002. My younger brother was then recording a hiplife album, which never saw the light of day. Mr. Beautiful was then working with Amandzeba’s brother and a bloke called Dan on some advertisements.

I fell in love with his comical skills the very first day I met him. He was then a ‘nobody’ in the entertainment industry, but I knew he was going to shine one day. The music engineer at the studio, Ben Bruce, also expressed the same sentiment. We therefore encouraged him to pursue a career in the acting industry.

My joy was thus heightened when I saw Mr. Beautiful in a television series on TV3. He starred with the legend Kofi Laing, aka Kohwe, in the said series; and has never looked back since.

I’m not shy to say I’ve since been a fan of Mr. Beautiful. Even though I was disappointed with his decision to campaign for Opana in 2012, I never stopped being his fan. I, however, did not vote for Mr Opana in 2012 despite being a fan of Mr. Beautiful, who campaigned vigorously for him. Neither am I going to change that stance in the 2016 polls.

I admire Mr. Beautiful’s comical skills. But I’m not stupid to follow him blindly. Clearly, his reason for endorsing Mr. Opana is for personal gain. Why then should I follow him blindly when he is enjoying his largesse alone?

I’m sure there are thousands of such fans across the country. We may admire one celebrity or the other. But we are not going to follow them blindly. We will reject their cowries-induced endorsement because we know it is for self-gratification.

I’m also a fan of Selassie Ibrahim, aka Smartty Lady. But I do know that her decision to endorse Mr. Opana is not out of love for this country. It is rather because of the fattening of her bank account. Will it not be sheer idiocy to join such a character in screaming “e dey bee keke”?

Celebrity endorsement is good, but it has little or no effect in the decisions people make. For sure, Osono should welcome celebrity endorsement. But it should not pay a cowry to any celebrity. Celebrities who love and care for this country will support the call for change because it is the right thing to do. They will reject Mr. Opana’s corrupt and incompetent government at the expense of fattening their bank accounts.

To lampoon A-Plus, Mr. Beautiful, John Dumelo and their ilk have the right to fatten their bank accounts and support whoever they want; but so do we have the right to let the world know that those engaged in cowries-induced endorsement are self-centered. They may claim to see Zu-za doing well; but we know Stevie Wonder sees better than they do.

See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!