WE CREATE OUR OWN PROBLEMS LETS PREVENT THEM OR FIND A LASTING PANACEA

There is a saying that goes like “Black men with black mentality”. For once I have to admit this is not a mere say and growing up I got to know there is more to this saying. The truth of the matter is that the black people are responsible for creating their own problems.

We do things that beats our own imagination. The picture above was taken yesterday in Osu just in front of the Osu Children Library. The heap of sand and gravels have been there for a week now and nothing has been done about it. The most interesting part of it all is that there is a police station not far from the area and a lot of the officers use this same road.

I bare witness to the fact that several police officers have been using this road everyday and non of the them for once, even bothered to make enquiry as to why there is a heap of sand and gravels in the middle of a major road.

The only time we tend to find a panacea to issues like this is when there is an accident and people lose their lives. Just like we do with corruption in this country, instead of preventing it we allow it to take place and then try to find solutions. The country we live in.

These are the things drawing us back as a country and until we change our minds and mentality, we cannot move forward as a country. Every issue no matter how minor it is should be given the needed attention in order to prevent it from growing to become a major issue. We tend to ignore issues like this because we believe they pose as a minor threat to our lives until is too late.

If we want to build a better Ghana, we need to start by addressing these minor issues first because in the long run they tend to become the major issues that hinder our progress tomorrow. We can achieve our goals collectively that is the more reason why we need to share the same concerns on issues like this. We need to treat issues like this with urgency.

While taking pictures and videos on the street, I realized a lot of people were staring at me. After taking the pictures and videos, some of them approached me and surprisedly they all asked the same question, what I was going to do with the videos and pictures. I responded by saying I’m going to write an article with the pictures and videos. It was at that moment I realized almost all the people share the same concern and yet non of them was bold enough to voice it out.

I assured them I will do my very best to make sure something is done about it. It’s been a week now and nothing has been done about it, the police personnel who are responsible for our safety on the road use the same road when patrolling in the night and yet, they see nothing wrong with the fact that the heap of sand and gravel is placed right in the middle of the road.

As a country one of our major setbacks is ignorance and until we learn to deal with it we can never achieve our objectives. The truth is, we create our own problem and instead of finding lasting solutions we find excuses to cover them up. If those responsible for protecting our roads and ensuring our safety on these roads are finding excuses not to perform their duties, we as citizens have the obligation to see to it that our safety is ensured and we can only do that by putting our heads together as one people.

Sometimes the perception that we are not responsible for this or that has sent us to the level we find ourselves as a country. Let’s do well to collectively perform our duties as citizens for our own safety and shouldn’t wait for those we believe are responsible for doing them to do it for us. Ghana is our only home and nobody can make it better other than ourselves.

Those responsible for our safety and security will always find excuses it is left with us as individuals to work together to achieve a common goal. Going forward we should start paying more attention to the minor issues in this country and try to find lasting panacea to these issues.

Let’s start now. It is our civic duty to ensure our own safety.

Below is a video of the heap of sand and gravels in the middle of the road

The writer is a Freelance Journalist, A Columnist and a Student of the Ghana Institute of Journalism.