The Ghanaian has no value for time.

“By age 60, you’ve been asleep for 20 years of your life.”

Time is the most precious gift we all have as humans regardless of our race, sex and position in life. In fact, on a daily basis, every human being has the same quantum of time – 24 hours. What makes time precious is that it is finite. Twenty four hours is twenty four hours. You cannot add to it or stretch it to last just a little longer, unlike most other commodities. You cannot replace it or replenish it. It’s lost forever.


How the various cultures of the world make use of their time, probably, accounts for differences in their levels of development. Indeed, if you look critically at how you spend your time as an individual, you may understand why you’ve been able to achieve what you have achieved or why you haven’t been able to achieve what you haven’t achieved. There’s definitely a close correlation between effective use of time and progress or achievement as an individual and, by extension, at the national level.


As said earlier, each of us has 24 hours available each day. The average person is asleep for 8 hours of those 24 hours. By the time you are 60 years old, you’ve been sleeping for 20 years. Ouch! That hurts!! That’s why, many people at 60 wonder, “Where have all the years gone?” You’ve been awake for only 40 years of it, that’s why. A year goes by quickly for the same reason. You’ve slept through 4 months of the 12 months in a year. The time available to you is actually your waking time of 16 hours. If you count the time you use for washing, cooking, cleaning, commuting to work and recreation, another 8 hours of the day is gone. So, your effective time for productive work is only 8 hours a day or 1/3 of your life. Every minute of those 8 hours must be used fruitfully or you’ll be a failure.


With this in mind, we have to inculcate an “effective-use-of time” attitude as one of our values as individuals and as a nation, if we want to make progress. This is why I am particularly incensed by the sheer number of people who spend inordinate amounts of time at funerals and churches. In Toronto, where I live, as company policy, an employee is allowed two weeks leave of absence with pay to mourn a wife, husband, mother, father and grandparents. When an employee passes away, one or two representatives from the company attends the funeral which lasts no more than two hours. The employees return to work thereafter the same afternoon. In Ghana, it’s not uncommon to see a whole company in Accra close down to attend a funeral in Kumasi when an employee passes away. In fact, every Friday by 2pm, all corporate and Government offices are closed so employees can travel miles away to attend funerals. A white Roman Catholic Church service in Toronto lasts for one hour. In Ghana, a similar church service could last for five hours. If you add on church services on Mondays, Wednesdays and all-night Friday services that could be enough time within which a serious student could obtain a Law or medical degree.

As a nation, we teach our kids ‘how to kill time’ very early in life. In High Schools, we are forced to sleep for one or two hours after lunch. Lights are out by 10 pm. Of course, the more serious students light up candles and study into the night. They pass their exams while the lazy ones fail. The point here is that the authorities are unknowingly teaching us bad habits. Most High School and University students in Canada work both during school hours and on summer vacations. In Ghana, the students just roam about all summer long. They just kill time. How do you expect the same people to grow up and respect time. The apologists say that there are no jobs for the students to do; really? Businesses close down for days in Accra for the city to be cleaned and there are no jobs for students to do? Many houses in the cities need painting and there are no jobs for students to do? Many villages are surrounded by bushes and water-logs breeding mosquitoes and there are no jobs for students? There are no teachers for some elementary school pupils and there are no jobs for students? There are no classrooms for some pupils and there are no jobs for students? Old farmers do not have farm hands and there are no jobs for students. Ghana is promoting tourism and there are no jobs for students? Need I go on?


If some one is going to solve Ghana’s development problems, effective-use-of our-time would be one key area to tackle. If it would take legislation to change our attitude towards the use of our time, so be it.


Have a productive day.

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