The" Cult of Action People."

E. Ablorh-Odjidja

May 31, 2015

Nii Adziri Sackey still hasn't told us how a returnee could break the glass ceiling at home, or how he did so himself, if he were ever a returnee. He offers no complaints. Except against what I wrote. So, I thought I should continue with the discourse on "Curtailing the excuses."

I suspect Nii Adziri Sackey is, with all due respect, part of our problem; the kind of people belonging to the "Cult of Action" only club.

His idea of Nkrumah as an example forgets that it was Nkrumah who said, "What is called for as a first step is a body of connected Thought which will determine the general nature of our Action." Reason being," Nkrumah said, "Practice without thought is blind."

No wonder Nii Adziri Sackey gets lost in his assumptions for our society.

Every idea has its level of absurdity. Nii Adziri reaches that point with his view on the education of doctors and government investment.

To state that government invested in doctors so the doctors must return to pay back, misstates the role of government in education and the ideal or philosophy that should guide that purpose.

Let me explain.

Government has the social responsibility to offer educational opportunities to all the people. But where is the evidence that if the government paid the bill you would end up as a successful, high salary earning professional?

Just check the roadside for the dog chain sellers and wonder where the government's investment went for this people!

Also, neophyte doctors who end up in America don't work in hospitals without additional training - usually hefty, costly and long lasting.

The result the neophyte doctors get is a robust skill set; more than what they had before they left Ghana.

Even so, the average Ghanaian doctor, domiciled abroad, sends remittances from abroad to families in the country; a total amount that ends up being far in excess of the money spent to educate him.

The labor that produces these remittances is done outside, devoid of Ghana's input or embellishments and end up as a complete and total windfall for Ghana's GDP.

As silly as this populist, cynical view is out there, that Diaspora professionals don't "pay their fair share," as a return on the investment the country made in them, it still rankles and must be fought back.

So, let's kill the perception this view engenders, which act by the way can only be done through policy (Thought, not blind action).

First, present the doctors and other professionals that presumably "received highly subsidised education from kindergarten to" professional level colleges, with the bill on graduation - to be paid in kind or cash.

That done and paid for would it satisfy the baying and be considered the end of their indebtedness?  No, if we should recall the pertaining baseless view that these professionals "don't pay their fair share."  But the invoice statement should provide a starting point.

Second, educate our public to regard our professionals overseas as "brains on lease," while at the same time creating the environment that will make them want to return.

"Those who stay and establish themselves in their fields are not going to voluntarily relinquish their gains to colleagues who return years later,” Nii Adziri Sackey says. 

Granted, so why the complaint?  These "established professionals" want to stay within the comfort zone at home, but their unfortunate colleagues must remain toiling outside.

The local professionals have no patience to create room for returning colleagues.  But are they doing the ultimate required to keep any help from coming in and if so, why is Ghana so bereft of expertise in many fields known on the local level?

Many professionals would want to return; not to rob people of job opportunities, or push people out of the yeoman's job they are already doing, but in order to create and expand the opportunities within various sectors of the economy in the country.

But Nii Adziri Sackey says that "Nobody is going to give up his or her privileges just because someone else could do a better job."

That's a dangerous thought - the "Obia nye obia" syndrome, which in turn promotes the "deadwood" entitlement mentality.

Imagine how that works.

If Nii Adziri were the head of the Physics Department at Legon and a Ghanaian Einstein showed up for employment, he would keep him out, regardless of the fact that the latter "could do a better job" or add more to the worth of the department.

Thankfully, the same Nii Adziri would not be the striker on the Black Star team, in a position where an Asamoah Djan would be more useful. Should that happen, he would instantly be booed off the field.  And Ghanaians would be thankful.

My job, as a writer and a social commentator, would be to call out now, that comparatively, a Nii Adziri Sackey could be a deadwood in the striker's position.

He is not a striker.  He is a doctor.  But even in the medical field in Ghana, there could be room for more specialist help.

But some would dismiss my effort as mere talk as Nii Adziri did after reading "Curtailing the excuses".  They want action, while dismissing "thought first" as an actionable option.

And again, I am reminded of the level of absurdity some comparisons can reach when he offers the example of Nkrumah's return to Ghana or the Gold Coast.

Nkrumah was for "thought first," then action after.  He left Ghana or the Gold Coast with an ideal in mind and returned for action with that ideal still in mind.

As good an example as Nkrumah was, if there were some "wise guys" around at that time, who objected successfully to his return, he could have been prevented from coming back home. 

Nkrumah wasn't your ordinary guy. The historical circumstances that produced him were different. Many believe he was a man of destiny.  But as proven, men of destiny could also be frustrated by men of action with with little or no thought.

But the circumstances and the largeness of the spirit for nation building that existed then must be allowed to return and not something we allow "established professionals" at home to reject.

For obvious reasons, all I can realistically be is the proverbial small cog in a large wheel.  The same for all outside.  But for the wheel to work efficiently, the cog must be allowed to assemble on the wheel and not be knocked off by the "Cult of Action" people.

Nii Adziri is adamant that my effort is mere talk. As a man of action, he is telling me "even governments have been changed by civil action in other parts of the world."

Apparently, Nii Adziri is not aware of the historical trend in Ghana. Men of action (and without Thought) have produced several coups and destroyed our republic.  He must not lump Nkrumah with this "Cult of Action People."

Common sense tells me that one should be nervous when a citizen deploys action without thought, because the result would often amount to no good. 

When "established professionals" fear the return of a colleague, who by reputation and experience, has the skill set gained outside the country to aid our development processes, we must recognize these fellows as acting in selfish self-interest.

I suspect Nii Adziri is not a philosopher, neither is he an economist.  He only has angst to ask writers who say "Come home to do what?"

He assumes that the remittances are used "to fund buildings that are not completed, purchase of large impractical old cars or lavish parties and funerals."

He misses this point: whether the projects commissioned by the remittances are uncompleted or useless is not the issue. The money got in and it was put to work.

Hard earned income abroad, strong currencies (about $1.8 bn in 2012 alone) are brought into the economy - that is starving for foreign currency to buy tooth picks, pay fraudulent default judgment bills or commission chairs for Parliament from China.

Nii Adziri should be grateful that the remittances got in.  Interestingly, part of the remittances is brought in by ordinary artisans, the taxi drivers and the blue-collar workers overseas, who can properly be classified as economic refugees - the very people the "established" system has already abused and driven out!

Trust me, the above people are not your Einsteins! 

But, if the Nkrumah's advise is useful, then many in the Diaspora are already trying.  They are active with their remittances in the national interest; modestly, not blindly, but with "Thought."  How to make this nation work is the purpose or the mission

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E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher www.ghanadot.com, Washington, DC, May 31, 2015.

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