An open letter to the paramount chief of Asebu traditional area

Respected Chief,

The Koobi at midnight question: A Masterclass in strategic vision, not a comedy sketch

With the deepest respect for your high office and your role as a custodian of our people’s heritage, we must humbly but firmly invite you to look beyond the immediate image of a woman buying koobi at midnight. The question, "Who buys koobi at midnight?" is not a critique; it is the very key that unlocks a new era of Ghanaian commerce.

You have missed the forest for the tree. To see the tree, you must first understand the soil, the seasons, and the harvest. Let us re-educate ourselves on the president’s true vision and architecture of the 24-Hour Market.

1. The Hidden Law of Location: The Wholesale Engine

The detractors imagine these markets as mere night-shift retail shops. This is a profound misunderstanding of their strategic design. A careful study of their placement reveals they are not for the retail consumer; they are wholesale absorption hubs. They are strategically located to act as massive connect to bigger silos for large-scale farmers, acting as the first link in a national supply chain that feeds into smaller, day-time market spaces across the country.

Why at night? Because the current system is broken and exhausting. Our urban traders, the lifeblood of our food economy are mostly women. After a grueling day selling in the hot sun, they must travel long distances at night to purchase farm produce from rural areas. They go at night because it is the only time they have, and they must return by dawn to open their stalls. The 24-Hour Market removes this punishing "invisible journey." It says: "You do not have to travel to the farm at night; the farm will come to you, at midnight, and you will trade instantly."

2. The Future "Iron Road" and the Death of Glut

Now, let us cast our minds forward, as visionaries must. Our beloved railway system is being revived. Imagine full functionality. A freight train loaded with tomatoes from the Volta Region, or maize from the North, arrives at an urban hub at 2:00 AM. With a 24-Hour Market, the produce is offloaded and traded immediately, not left to rot in a warehouse until sunrise.

This means farmers will have access to a round-the-clock buyer. They will be encouraged to produce more because they know they have a guaranteed, perpetual outlet. The haunting specter of gluts where farmers burn their harvest because they can't sell it will be virtually eliminated. When supply is constant and efficient, the oldest commodity of all, food, will reach a price point lower than normal, giving the average Ghanaian a lower cost of living. And when food is abundant and cheap, the value-added processing sector (canning, drying, packaging) will explode, appreciating the raw produce and creating thousands of jobs.

3. The Current Advantage: The Digital Precursor

But you may say, "The railways are not finished yet." Indeed, so we must leverage the era of technology today. The 24-Hour Market is not just a physical building; it is a concept. We are now entering the era of the Digital Trading Floor.

A market woman does not need to physically travel to the 24-Hour Market at 12 midnight. She can sit in her home, on her phone, and place an order for 500 kilos of koobi at 2:00 AM. The farmer, who is currently processing the koobi at the coast, receives the order instantly and confirms delivery for 6:00 AM. This is trade accelerating around the clock. The 24-Hour Market is the physical anchor for this digital system it is where the logistics, storage, and security converge.

4. The Nkrumah Principle: Infrastructure for the Future, Not Just Today

Finally, let us address the matter of investment. Kwame Nkrumah did not build the Akosombo Dam or the Tema Harbour solely because the population at the time needed that exact volume of power or shipping capacity. He built them because he saw the future. He understood that infrastructure is not built to serve the current demand; it is built to create the future demand.

He invested in the thinking. He appreciated that if you build the rails and the ports, the economy will grow to fill them. You are looking at the 24-Hour Market as an answer to today's problems. We are looking at it as a spine for the next century of Ghanaian commerce.

A Humble Plea for Vision

Respected Chief, we ask you to look again, in your mind’s eye, and see what we see:

1. See the woman who no longer has to risk her life on a dark road at night.

2. See the farmer who laughs at the harvest because he knows the market will never close.

3. See the young graduate who starts a night-time logistics business to move produce from the market to the shops.

4. See the Ghanaian family eating cheaper, fresher food because the supply chain never sleeps.

This is not about koobi at midnight. It is about opportunity at all hours. We do not ask you to ignore your concerns; we ask you to elevate them to the level of national destiny. The 24-Hour Market is not a gimmick; it is the architectural blueprint for a self-sufficient, food-secure, and industrialized Ghana.

In the words of the great philosopher, a society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. We are planting these markets for the generations that will never know the pain of a closed market at dusk.

With humility and deep respect for your title, we urge you to reconsider. The future is 24 hours long, and we must all be awake for it. The future is clear and bright.

Yours respectfully,

Kelvin Ocran