The truth about change is that it can happen unplanned.
It can sometimes even when planned be drastic, with
unpredictable and unpalatable consequences.
Just change for change’s sake can be frightening.
We have seen this change in the past.
Change that had promised revolution and brought chaos
and death; that killed ideas in its path.
God had nothing to do with this type of human folly.
However, unfortunately, the word "change" has a lure; a
fascinating facet that attracts the ignorant at the moment.
Like the wildebeest, he looks at stampeding as an
opportunity for change.
But we shall soon get to the story of the wildebeest.
Change has become fanciful in Ghana because President Obama
campaigned on the theme of "change". And since his
recent electoral victory in the US, the word has become a
fanciful, powerful tool, dominating all messages with its
strong resonance in hearts and minds.
But change for what? For Obama in America, at least,
there was the racism aspect of things. He would be the
first Black president in US history, thereby fulfilling a
huge amount of historical change.
This fact of historic symbolism in Obama’s change is absent in this
election in Ghana. Here, the cry for change is empty
of such meaning.
It only has the loud knell of a loud campaign slogan.
To bring a meaningful change, Nana Addo or Atta-Mills must bring
precise agendas on why they are running for the presidency.
And voters must learn to demand these agendas before
going to the polls on December 28.
Asking questions is human. The wildebeest has no such
attribute, and thus cannot avoid unpalatable consequences
from his act of change.
Change in the wildebeest kingdom means stampede. If the beast
next door farts, gets frightened by the noise and takes off,
a whole host of wildebeest is likely to follow, creating a
stampede that usually ends in several deaths.
They will run over cliffs to crash in ravines and die.
All that was heard would be the noise from the rear
end of one beast.
We don’t need this type of change in our politics.
But don’t blame the wildebeest. It would be acting according to its
beastly nature.
It follows its instincts, eating grass.
And seeks greener pastures.
Then accidents like the described stampedes happen.
The wildebeest is unlikely to plan for the future.
Nor does it understand that the patches of brown
shrubs in his environment can be improved with some
continuous seeding. Most of all, it is incapable of
threading the common good through the entire social fabric
of its community. But it can stampede.
For the wildebeest, the stampede is called "change."
Thankfully, the Ghanaian is not a wildebeest.
Past bitter experiences will demand that he goes to
the pending election with his eyes open. The promise of “change” in the past has ended up
altering our circumstances for the worse.
But all is not lost in the natural world.
Those who want to act as the wildebeest do. The
hyenas in our midst who could have died from starvation, do
welcome the wildebeest stampede.
Some politicians regard elections as the hyena would a
wildebeest "stampede."
The rush for change is their opportunity to prey on
our ignorance.
Change for good is a powerful phenomenon in nature. But
desirable outcomes must depend on sensible change.
In challenging circumstances such as ours, this must
be a primary demand.
The sad part is the “change,” in the current electoral process
is not defined, therefore, meaningless. But when it is
offered by a party that recently had 19 years of continuous
rule and failed to deliver then it will be appropriate to
ask that party to first sell that idea to the wildebeest.
E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher
www.ghanadot.com, Washington,
DC, December 25, 2008
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