By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Garden City, New York
August 20, 2015
E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net
Actress Yvonne Nelson must be very naïve to think that after organizing her very successful Anti-Dumsor protest vigil, that she would be reckoned among the favorite artistes or entertainers in the books of the man she so virulently carpeted (See “Prez Mahama Should Not Have Endorsed Only John Dumelo – Yvonne Nelson” MyJoyOnline.com / Ghanaweb.com 8/17/15). You see, African politicians are not very professional, for the most part. They tend to take constructive criticism of the sort orchestrated by Ms. Nelson and her associates very personally. I mean, if the Gonja Boy had his way, Ms. Nelson would probably be out of work and seeing red-and-black spots in her line of vision. She ought to thank her stars and ancestral spirits that the sort of democratic political and cultural dispensation into which the country has been ushered does not allow for the kind of blatant vindictiveness that characterized the political and moral fabric of Ghana’s First Republic.
She ought to also appreciate the fact that Mr. Mahama was merely doing Mr. Dumelo, who had flatly refused to publicly endorse her Dumsor protest, a good turn. He was simply returning a favor. What is more, had she been paying sedulous attention to the crude and brutal dealings of the Chief Resident of the Flagstaff House with the striking doctors of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Ms. Nelson would have been rudely awakened to the fact that President Mahama does not give a cent who puts Ghana on what map. Else, not only would the President have presented the striking doctors with a decent conditions of service package, he would also have funneled the bulk of our nation’s resources into Health, Education and Agriculture. He may well be overfed, which ought to make him at ease enough to enjoy the fineries that our sports and entertainment industry have to offer. But, unfortunately, the conscience and consciousness of a “Dead Goat” are wired well beyond the realm of the living.
I am, personally, not a great fan of Ghollywood; I find the latter to be desperately and embarrassingly trying to play catch-up with Nollywood, which is far more to my taste and preference, esthetically speaking, though in terms of ethics, Nollywood also has quite a bit of catching up to do. Had she not so impetuously, though understandably, crossed into the realm of the decidedly political, I am quite certain that Ms. Nelson would also have gotten a mention from the President, especially since she is also widely known to share bona fides with Mr. Dumelo. At least we understand the foregoing to have been the case in the pre-Dumsor era. Ms. Nelson would be better off focusing on her talent and artistry, and whatever financial resources she may be reaping from it, than getting a mere passing mention from a leader who seems to have gunned for and voraciously grabbed for the Presidency long before he had clearly figured out what being President of the august Republic of Ghana was primarily about.
Then also, has Ms. Nelson really sat down to seriously ponder, via the Golden Rule, how she personally would have felt and reacted, if a public admirer of hers were to be labeled an “ass kisser”? Well, I have always known that many great artistes and entertainers can be very vain and frivolous when it comes to deep and critical thinking. But in this instance, I strongly believe that Ms. Nelson needs some emotional and psychological maturing to do. Prior to this spat with Mr. Mahama, Ms. Nelson had already cut an unsavory image and reputation for herself as one who was too abrasive and petulant for her own good. On the Dumsor question, though, she decently acquitted herself as a formidable civil rights activist force to reckon with on the Ghanaian sociopolitical and cultural horizon.
