Features
Ghana becoming a developed nation — Part 3
The developed nations have one characteristic in common, which is systems. Systems are the surest way of preventing corruption, ensuring discipline in all aspects of national life. In a lay man’s term, a system can be described as a designed structure which processes what is put in, called the input, and processes it to produce a product called the output.
In developed nations, specific systems exist to address specific societal challenges and that is what has ensured that they have advanced in how their societies are run. A teacher in an advanced country sees himself or herself as a failure if a certain percentage of the students fail in the exams. That is the mindset and also the accepted norm because the rationale is that if a teacher teaches his students well, they should pass the exams he sets for them.
On the contrary, in this country, teachers are left off the hook and students are rather blamed for not being serious when they fail exams, so there is no pressure or motivation for the teacher to strive for excellence.
The mindset of any society determines the rate of development of that society. The mindset of Ghanaians must be worked on and treated as a national priority. The National Commission on Civil Education (NCCE) will have to drive this throughout the country. The Ministry of Education also will have to design or inculcate a mindset change education into their curriculum.
When a country has a mindset of cleanliness, it becomes evident on the streets. The environment is kept clean, people deliberately ensure that people do not litter the streets, and the citizens serve as enforcement agents of cleanliness. We all know that a healthy environment is necessary for healthy living.
A healthy environment impacts positively on the general health of the population by eliminating diseases like cholera etc. A clean environment also promotes tourism which impacts positively on the national economy. Hence, the mindset of a nation is very essential in its development.
A right mindset will make citizens motivated to engage in behaviours that promote national development. The developed countries have a mindset of patriotism, together with values like truth, honesty, justice etc., which are components of morality. A careful study of advanced countries which are not even majority Christian countries reveals that they practice values which are clearly stated in the Bible, for instance in Philippians 4:8.
This observation makes one wonder if indeed the majority of the people in Ghana are really Christians because if we were practicing truth and honesty etc., our country should have been rubbing shoulders with the advanced nations, given the census results that Christians are about 72 per cent of our population.
If the citizenry have an anti-corruption mindset, it would manifest in their attitude towards corrupt behaviour. They will be willing to expose it wherever they encounter it. A people with a mindset of patriotism need no motivation to do that which is right at all times.
A person with the right mindset will never consciously and deliberately destroy forest reserves and water bodies for his or her selfish gains. We need a mindset renewal for our forward march towards development in our quest to become an advanced country which we are capable of achieving if we renew our collective mindset.
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
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