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One of my friends interrupted and said it was happening because our country did not have a solution to the problem of our economy. But I disagree – because I believe that if we do the necessary things in the necessary way, we will surely overcome this difficult phase of our economic journey. We must strive to change what we have been doing for so long and want to take a new path. We will then see that the results are different.
I think that when we can give up the Western lifestyle – the way of life we inherited and adopted over time as a result of colonization – we will be more than a milestone and free ourselves of this economic link.
Ghanaians think and act on a global scale without recognizing who they are. In the meantime, the adage tells us to think globally but to act locally. We despise ourselves and are who we are, but we salute who and what others are. We seem deliberately to ignore how our culture is our economy. While it is true that culture is the way of life of a people, we should not hesitate to embrace and redeem our culture.
From the Feed Yourself operation to the age of structural adjustment programs – speaking of domestication and now, of Ghana beyond aid – our goal was to strengthen and stabilize Ghana's economy. Unfortunately, we do it with foreign standards and systems, without due regard for the way we live and organize our lives.
It is not surprising that our story has not changed. We continue to circle around the same orbit when there are other more specific ideas that we can consider, no matter how difficult they seem to be.
Colonization "insidious"
Our lifestyles as Ghanaians are supposed to induce Aboriginal businesses to generate jobs and incomes for Aboriginal people. However, our case is the opposite. Our lifestyles rather favor other savings at our expense.
It is time for us to realize that our identity as a people is at the heart of the development we seek, because no outsider has the development at heart of Ghana more than the Ghanaians. We can live our culture and be admired by other cultures. Nobody will accept us if we do not accept ourselves. No one will try to speak our language, eat our food, wear our clothes, listen to our music and the rest of what we have as a people if we do not take these things into account.
Ghanaian folklore has suffered from its colonial experience. Of course, the colonial experience has shaped our culture. We no longer appreciate the authentic culture that defines us. But we can never be more British or American than the British and the Americans. No matter how far we go, we are always who we are: the Ghanaians.
To quote Wole Soyinka, the great Nigerian playwright, poet and essayist, about the "discourse on colonization, power structures and social hierarchies": "Colonization is insidious because it invades much more than political chambers and goes beyond celebrations of independence. Its effects shape language, education, religion, artistic sensibilities and the increasingly popular culture. "
Free your mind
We can not deny that our experience of colonization has had such effects on our development even after independence. Almost everything we have done since independence betrays foreign traits and symbolism. This situation has raised many questions as to whether we are truly independent.
Politically, we are independent – but we are still enslaved when it comes to living our lives as Ghanaians. We run after foreign goods and services at the expense of Made in Ghana products. We have the perception that foreign goods and services are superior to those we produce here.
This is the norm 62 years after our independence. And it's not like we did not try to do something for ourselves. Indeed, Ghanaian entrepreneurs are still trying to make headway in supporting import-substitution industries. Yet, with the persistent perception that Ghanaian goods and services are of inferior quality, we remain a country dependent on imports. The "Ghana Beyond Aid" and "One District, One Factory" policies, whatever the good intentions they foreshadow, will become a mirage if we do not change our taste for foreign consumption.
President Akufo-Addo recently pointed out that "if you buy things abroad, you create jobs outside of Ghana that you can create inside this country while being much more competitive on the things we produce. We can arrive at this trajectory where we were able to free ourselves from the hooks of colonization. It will be consciously living according to the values of our own cultural beliefs.
Reader, I have never accepted Dr. Nkrumah's perception of the need, at the time of independence, to change the national currency of the pound into cedi, but of the acceptance of the adoption of English as a language of Ghana. Did he think it would help us fight imperialism?
When we achieved independence, we failed to subtract the socio-cultural component of our beloved nation from its foreign psychological influences, even though it would have been easier to achieve at the time. Even now, it is not impossible: but it will be a challenge. This only requires the commitment to do so as we strive to take the first step.
In this regard, I would like to congratulate the National Council of Folklore and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture for their noble initiative of creating folklore clubs in selected schools. At a minimum, these efforts will inspire the young Ghanaian to understand, adopt and appreciate their identity and ultimately lead to the kind of development we seek. A concerted effort must be made in this program to achieve the results we claim to seek.
Through education, Ghanaians will become acquainted with who they are and the essence of Ghanaians' way of life. This will allow Ghana to choose Ghana over others. We will then have a brand that will allow us to take care of all aspects of our lives.
Speak in languages
We must resist the phenomenon that foreigners use Ghana as a market hub for their products and services – they export and import almost everything in the country, while we claim to have anti-dumping laws to combat the excesses of this country. respect.
Yes, the economy is the main reason why the relationship between our cedi and the dollar has become bad; but the distant cause is the neglect of Ghanaian folklore. Let us live and do everything in Ghanaian way. This will help redress the misfortunes of the cedi. Who thought that media practice in Ghana was possible using local languages? Today, the proliferation of media using our local languages is a strong sign that we can use Ghanaian philosophies to defend the course of our development.
Ghanaian folklore is not inferior to that of the West. We, too, have something good to present to the world. We can not continue to be admirers of foreign culture at the expense of ours. The time has come to change this story.
Let us work together, as Ghanaians, to change the history of our dollar-cedi relationship by embracing and accepting ourselves for who we are and what we represent in the world, rather than contributing to the glory of the West at our economic cost. We should stop relying on ad hoc measures to save the CDD whenever it is in distress, build relationships to support it, and turn to more cautious, long-term and permanent methods by living according to our own standards. means, in the Ghanaian way, according to Ghana folklore.
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