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A cancer to Ghana’s development

What has happened to Ghana? It’s easier for a pupil to give a vivid history of Kim Kardashian than recite the national anthem in the local language, as Pulse lifestyle editor Portia Arthur laments.

 

Growing up, my family used to host whites twice a year, for years. I remember once they settled, they would change into our local cloth and slipper.

These exchange programme students were eager to learn the local language, learn how to prepare the local dishes, eat the local dishes, dance to local tunes and do other chores like the Ghanaian youth.

As the typical Ghanaian cultural values fades, modernization has enveloped us, reducing the number of foreigners who visit our country due to its historical background.

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Education, a key pillar to nation building is in woes. Due to technological advancement, students are failing examinations drastically.

Students are glued to the television watching soap operas instead of learning or watching educative programs like ‘Agoroo’. Evidently, there are fewer children programmes on TVs.

It’s easier for a pupil to give a vivid history of Kim Kardashian than recite the national anthem in the local language.

It feels like the pressure to show off and be on social media has increased the number of thefts and pickpocketing of electrical gadgets at workplaces, commercial centres and most surprising, churches.

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It is very pathetic and shameful for the President to constantly plead with Ghanaians to patronage made in Ghana goods with particular reference to cloths (Friday wear) to support the local textile industry gain recognition outside.

What is our pride if we are not proud of our own handiworks? We have neglected our own neatly crafted print for skimpy ‘broni wawu’ clothes.

Some local textile companies have closed down due to low patronage, directly adding to the unemployment numbers in the country.

Rural urban migration is on the rise because migrants want to escape the ‘colo hardship living’ to live in modern Ghana, - precisely Accra where they presume life is easy, affordable and peaceful.

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But they get here, find jobs are scarce, and life is hard. Many end up living in slums, or on the streets.

Invariably, this rural urban migration has affected the agricultural sector which is the major backbone of this country. Despite the staggering incentives and remuneration offered by the government to attract youth to cocoa farming, the sector keeps recording low figures.

If drastic measures are not taken, it will come to a time the government will have to substitute chocolate with another product for Valentine’s Day celebration.

Thousands of people who have been employed in the cocoa sector will be laid off.

Read more:Woes of a citizen

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Music, they say is supposed to inspire, teach and make an impact in the listener’s life. Turn on your radio set and what kind of music do you hear?

I recall after listening to one of those songs, you would learn one proverb, name of one animal, and town among others.

It came to me as no surprise when the ‘Beasts of No Nation’ movie and its leading characters gained international recognitions, making records that most pioneer actors have failed to achieve.

I can only deduce that the world has missed the true Ghanaian culture and heritage and hence has embraced this pictorial representation of our cultural we have ignored with open arms.

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Older folks are always struggling with the youth at bus stations. Reminiscing, I almost insulted a man who used his elbow to hit a heavily pregnant woman at American House bus stop, Accra. Youth are engaged in rituals, ‘sakawa’ and other unholistic activities.

No doubt there are no jobs in Ghana but sacrificing a human being to get rich overnight is abhorrent.

Conclusively this modernization cancer is bleeding to all sectors of our motherland, Ghana.

How can our nation be great and strong when we are not working to uphold it?

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