Features
When Ghana turned into ancient village of Umuofia!
Umuofia is an ancient village located west of the city of Onitsha, a market town in the Anambra State in Southern Nigeria on the east bank of the Niger River.
In Chinua Achebe’s popular and widely read novel, “Things Fall Apart”, the village of Umuofia is a setting for the story and the community of characters. He decided to use events in Umuofia to illustrate his book. Achebe in his writings, suggested that many things that were true of Umuofia, were true throughout the villages of precolonial Nigeria. Umuofia can, therefore, be seen as a representative of the tribal societies that have not yet been altered by colonialism.
UMUOFIA AS REFERRED TO IN ‘THINGS FALL APART’ NOVEL
Within “Things Fall Apart”, this view of life in Umuofia as reflecting larger patterns is shared both by Okonkwo, the novel’s protagonist and the British Commissioner, who decides to use events in Umuofia to illustrate his book about the process of colonialism.
Indeed, the recent Watchnight church services across the country to usher in the year 2022, were graced with some funny and interesting developments from some of our pastors and prophets with doom prophecies and predictions about fellow humans, group of persons and the country at large in spite of the strong warning from the police hierarchy to them to refrain from the act or face the full rigours of the law. Some of these pastors defied the warning and made predictions of death of fellow humans without any proof whatsoever.
POLICE WARNING TO DOOM PROPHETS AND PASTORS
It is recalled that few days before the end of the year, the Ghana Police Service gave a strong warning to these so-called doom pastors, prophets and men of God that it would go after them, arrest and prosecute such offenders. That, according to the police hierarchy,was a move to stamp out that annual ritual during such period of the year when the country is in festive mood. The police indicated its resolve to deal with such waywardness that has become annual ritual of the end of year Watchnight church services and New Year resolutions.
A statement from the Ghana Police Service warned that under Ghanaian law, it was a crime for a person to publish or reproduce a statement, rumour or report which was likely to cause fear and alarm to the public to disturb the public peace whereas that person had no evidence to prove that the statement, rumour or report was true. It is also a crime for a person, by means of electronic communication service, to knowingly send a communication that is false or misleading and likely to prejudice the efficiency of life saving service or to endanger the safety of any person. The police emphasised that while they were not against such prophecies and had time and again acknowledged the public’s right to religion, freedom of worship and free speech, those rights were subjected to laws and those found flouting the law would be dealt with accordingly.
FLAGRANT DISREGARD OF POLICE WARNING
Strangely, some of these so-called doom pastors called the police warning a bluff and went ahead to make frivolous and deadly predictions and prophecies during their Watchnight church services and got away with it without being arrested.
The funnier prediction or prophecy came from that popular and controversial Ghanaian Prophet, Founder and Leader of the Prophetic Hill Chapel, Prophet Nigel Gaisie, who either for fear of being arrested or for some obvious reasons, used the village of Umuofia in the Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” novel to make his predictions and prophecies over what is bound to happen in Ghana this year. He likened Ghana to Umuofia and predicted the death of certain prominent personalities including a First Lady. Adopting an evasive style for his prophecies this year, Prophet Gaisie, aligned his prophecies with various countries geographically including a certain Umuofia and Uganda. Strikingly, there were similarities in his prophecies about Umuofia and Ghana.
PROPHET GAISIE’S DIRECT REFERENCE TO GHANA
Looking and evaluating critically the names of individuals, towns, institutions and activities of political parties, one can simply adduce that Prophet Gaisie, was directly referring to Ghana in his details about Umuofia. “I saw a heavy cloud of darkness covering the Head of State of Umuofia. Let’s take this prophecy very serious. I saw that his deputy is using ways to trigger his quick passing. I saw in the realm of the spirit that the shoe of a big man is being worn by the deputy. I saw in a nation of Umuofia that something that has happened there is about to re-occur,” he stated in one of his prophecies.
For the benefit of those who don’t know this controversial prophet, let me enlighten my readers and patrons with a brief background of Nigel Gaisie. This man, we are told, was born and raised in Ghana. He is one of the richest prophets in Ghana at the moment with a lot of properties, including mansions and plush vehicles. We are told that Prophet Gaisie is estimated to have a net worth of 10 billion dollars. He is married to a Ghanaian lady with two children. The behaviour of Prophet Gaisie in this instance can be regarded abuse of the law and must be condemned.
THE FEAR AND PANIC BEHAVIOUR OF OUR PASTORS AND PROPHETS
It is a fact that some of these so-called pastors with their own small churches are bent on causing fear and panic in this country through their actions and inactions. The way some of them are conducting themselves leaves much to be desired. Sometimes, it baffles to think of how they acquired their lincences to operate in this country. They use all kinds of occult and devilish means to dupe unsuspecting followers, promising them things they are not capable of doing.
CHASING THE RECALCITRANT PASTORS AND PROPHETS
The Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, which regulates the activities of these churches must be up to the task of monitoring the activities of these mushroom churches which are playing on the ignorance of the people and feeding fat on them by using sugar-coated religious messages to outwit their followers. Much as this country agrees to freedom of worship and association as enshrined in our 1992 Constitution, we must also make sure that churches whose activities and actions tend to undermine national security thereby creating fear and panic among the citizenry are proscribed.
This is the time for the Ghana Police Service under the able leadership of the energetic, young and hardworking Inspector-General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, to move into action, arrest and prosecute these doom and selfish pastors, prophets and other so-called men of God who are bent on causing fear and panic in our dear nation.
This year must be full of action and nothing should stop us from moving the country to greater heights.
Contact email/WhatsApp of author:
0277753946/0248933366
By Charles Neequaye
Features
Tears of Ghanaman, home and abroad
The typical native of Sikaman is by nature a hospitable creature, a social animal with a big heart, a soul full of the milk of earthly goodness, and a spirit too loving for its own comfort.
Ghanaman hosts a foreign pal and he spends a fortune to make him very happy and comfortable-good food, clean booze, excellent accommodation and a woman for the night.
Sometimes the pal leaves without saying a “thank you but Ghanaman is not offended. He’d host another idiot even more splendidly. His nature is warm, his spirit benevolent. That is the typical Ghanaian and no wonder that many African-Americans say, “If you haven’t visited Ghana. Then you’ve not come to Africa.
You can even enter the country without a passport and a visa and you’ll be welcomed with a pot of palm wine.
If Ghanaman wants to go abroad, especially to an European country or the United States, it is often after an ordeal.
He has to doze in a queue at dawn at the embassy for days and if he is lucky to get through to being interviewed, he is confronted by someone who claims he or she has the power of discerning truth from lie.
In short Ghanaman must undergo a lie-detector test and has to answer questions that are either nonsensical or have no relevance to the trip at hand. When Joseph Kwame Korkorti wanted a visa to an European country, the attache studied Korkorti’s nose for a while and pronounced judgment.
“The way I see you, you won’t return to Ghana if I allow you to go. Korkorti nearly dislocated her jaw; Kwasiasem akwaakwa. In any case what had Korkorti’s nose got to do with the trip?
If Ghanaman, after several attempts, manages to get the visa and lands in the whiteman’s land, he is seen as another monkey uptown, a new arrival of a degenerate ape coming to invade civilized society. He is sneered at, mocked at and avoided like a plague. Some landlords abroad will not hire their rooms to blacks because they feel their presence in itself is bad business.
When a Sikaman publisher landed overseas and was riding in a public bus, an urchin who had the impudence and notoriety of a dead cockroach told his colleagues he was sure the black man had a tail which he was hiding in his pair of trousers. He didn’t end there. He said he was in fact going to pull out the tail for everyone to see.
True to his word he went and put his hand into the backside of the bewildered publisher, intent on grabbing his imaginary tail and pulling it out. It took a lot of patience on the part of the publisher to avert murder. He practically pinned the white miscreant on the floor by the neck and only let go when others intervene. Next time too…
The way we treat our foreign guests in comparison with the way they treat us is polar contrasting-two disparate extremes, one totally incomparable to the other. They hound us for immigration papers, deport us for overstaying and skinheads either target homes to perpetrate mayhem or attack black immigrants to gratify their racial madness
When these same people come here we accept them even more hospitably than our own kin. They enter without visas, overstay, impregnate our women and run away.
About half of foreigners in this country do not have valid resident permits and was not a bother until recently when fire was put under the buttocks of the Immigration Service
In fact, until recently I never knew Sikaman had an Immigration Service. The problem is that although their staff look resplendent in their green outfit, you never really see them anywhere. You’d think they are hidden from the public eye.
The first time I saw a group of them walking somewhere, I nearly mistook them for some sixth-form going to the library. Their ladies are pretty though.
So after all, Sikaman has an Immigration Service which I hear is now alert 24 hours a day tracking down illegal aliens and making sure they bound the exit via Kotoka International. A pat on their shoulder.
I am glad the Interior Ministry has also realised that the country has been too slack about who goes out or comes into Sikaman.
Now the Ministry has warned foreigners not to take the country’s commitment to its obligations under the various conditions as a sign of weakness or a source for the abuse of her hospitality.
“Ghana will not tolerate any such abuse,” Nii Okaija Adamafio, the Interior Minister said, baring his teeth and twitching his little moustache. He was inaugurating the Ghana Refugee and Immigration Service Boards.
He said some foreigners come in as tourists, investors, consultants, skilled workers or refugees. Others come as ‘charlatans, adventurers or plain criminals. “
Yes, there are many criminals among them. Our courts have tried a good number of them for fraud and misconduct.
It is time we welcome only those who would come and invest or tour and go back peacefully and not those whose criminal intentions are well-hidden but get exposed in due course of time.
This article was first published on Saturday March 14, 1998
Join our WhatsApp Channel now!
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
Features
Decisions have consequences
In this world, it is always important to recognise that every action or decision taken, has consequences.
It can result in something good or bad, depending on the quality of the decision, that is, the factors that were taken into account in the decision making.
The problem with a bad decision is that, in some instances, there is no opportunity to correct the result even though you have regretted the decision, which resulted in the unpleasant outcome.
This is what a friend of mine refers to as having regretted an unregretable regret. After church last Sunday, I was watching a programme on TV and a young lady was sharing with the host, how a bad decision she took, had affected her life immensely and adversely.
She narrated how she met a Caucasian and she got married to him. The white man arranged for her to join him after the marriage and processes were initiated for her to join her husband in UK. It took a while for the requisite documentation to be procured and during this period, she took a decision that has haunted her till date.
According to her narration, she met a man, a Ghanaian, who she started dating, even though she was a married woman.
After a while her documents were ready and so she left to join her husband abroad without breaking off the unholy relationship with the man from Ghana.
After she got to UK, this man from Ghana, kept pressuring her to leave the white man and return to him in Ghana. The white man at some point became a bit suspicious and asked about who she has been talking on the phone with for long spells, and she lied to him that it was her cousin.
Then comes the shocker. After the man from Ghana had sweet talked her continuously for a while, she decided to leave her husband and return to Ghana after only three weeks abroad.
She said, she asked the guy to swear to her that he would take care of both her and her mother and the guy swore to take good care of her and her mother as well as rent a 3-bedroom flat for her. She then took the decision to leave her husband and return to Ghana.
She told her mum that she was returning to Ghana to marry the guy in Ghana. According to her, her mother vigorously disagreed with her decision and wept.
She further added that her mum told her brother and they told her that they were going to tell her husband about her intentions.
According to her, she threatened that if they called her husband to inform him, then she would commit suicide, an idea given to her by the boyfriend in Ghana.
Her mum and brother afraid of what she might do, agreed not to tell her husband. She then told her husband that she was returning to Ghana to attend her Grandmother’s funeral.
The husband could not understand why she wanted to go back to Ghana after only three weeks stay so she had to lie that in their tradition, grandchildren are required to be present when the grandmother dies and is to be buried.
She returned to Ghana; the flat turns into a chamber and hall accommodation, the promise to take care of her mother does not materialise and generally she ends up furnishing the accommodation herself. All the promises given her by her boyfriend, turned out to be just mere words.
A phone the husband gave her, she left behind in UK out of guilty conscience knowing she was never coming back to UK.
Through that phone and social media, the husband found out about his boyfriend and that was the end of her marriage.
Meanwhile, things have gone awry here in Ghana and she had regretted and at a point in her narration, was trying desperately to hold back tears. Decisions indeed have consequences.
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
Join our WhatsApp Channel now!
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
