Mr President, council of state, all protocols observed. I want to start by giving a brief background of myself as a son celebrating his birthday with his mother GHANA. I was born on the same day and month just like my mother in a hospital named after a Ga man Tetteh Quarshie. I was born to an Ewe father and merged Fanti and Akuapem mother. I schooled being thought by a wide spectrum of teachers hailing from the different kinds of tribes in Ghana. I made friends with students, some who have become almost family members yet not in the same tribe I come from. Amazingly, I have found myself in countless occasions where our different tribes never played a role in our unanimous decision to make things work just for the interest of our mother, GHAHA. I found myself in the stadium to support my country where all of us were standing in the stadium stands cheering our players some of us had no relations with, I was part of a long queue to put my thumb on a printed sheet just to elect someone I believed could make my mother proud and functional for many hours without considering which family or tribe that person came from. I have trusted transport services in this country that I didnt have to consider the tribe of the driver nor the pilot to convey me to my destinations. Been to classic hotels and restaurant in this country that I never minded where the manager came from nor the background of the receptionist. What am I trying to say? I am saying that the only legal document that covers us as citizens is not documented ultimately in which tribe we come from but the country we were born into. We are Ghanaians and that is what gives us away when we leave the shores of Ghana to another country. My fellow citizens of Ghana, I humbly want to say, I am not speaking as a politician and I honestly dont intend to be one as I speak, neither am I speaking as a motivational or inspirational speaker trying you massage you with talks but I am speaking fundamentally as a son of the soil whose goal is to see this country move from where it was and is to another phase with a simple message I have committed my life to; RENEW THE MIND. When ever I wake up every morning on my birthday and I hear the sound bite from the day our first president Kwame Nkrumah made on the eve of independence GHANA MY BELOVED COUNTRY IS FREE FOREVER, it sends a lot of questions down my mind that is the Ghanaian truly free and independent? As I read birthday messages from people, I ask myself, are they truly independent and free? If we are truly independent, we will as a country not owe so much to foreign countries who have the audacity to tell us to alter our moral values to suit them so they can continue to make donations to us, our musicians will not compromise their values to write lyrics undeserving of them just to meet a so called international standard when there are so much issues to address using that same musical platforms. Whenever i sing the national anthem, the very first line always stares at me. God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong. I want to talk only about this line of the anthem. There is no further blessing God has for us differently from what he gave when he founded Ghana. He has blessed us with all that we need. Secondly, strength and greatness in not in the nation and its geographical location but in the people that make the nation. We have everything we need to make Ghana work. People say our problem is Leadership. I agree with them but my problem is in what sector? If I respect the leadership of that station driver who drops me 100meters away from my junction to a legal bus station and take the pain to walk back to my house without insulting him, that to me speaks a lot of our respect for the average Ghanaian. Leadership is respecting the security man at the entrance to that office saying office hours is over, going back home and coming back earlier at another time without insulting him. He is also under instructions. Leadership to me is found in the gutters of the Accra as well as the flagstaff house. When ever we see rubbers in the gutters of our street, it means someone doesnt respect his role to play as a leader on the street because his mindset is represented by one rubbish he left on the street flying around and expecting zoomlion to come it. Leadership is not in long speeches like mine and standing before a bouquet of microphones telling the world the history of our country and assuring us what you will do. Simply put, its not executed on paper but on the streets. I can write a whole encyclopedia on the woes and problems of Ghana but here is the most important part. We must Provide a fundamental solution to all our crises. Paul said something in my constitution (BIBLE), he said in section Romans, sub section 12, article 1 clause 2 (Roman 12:1-2), if we want to see transformation, then we need to do something to ourselves and not the system we want to see the transformation in. He stated we continuously renew our minds. Systems are created by the mind that make them and so is maintenance. I believe in Ghana, I believe Ghana isnt dead and there is hope. As far as some of us havent checked out as ambassadors back to where we originally came from, we will continue to make impact with the gifts and influence we have positively so that one day that 5 year old boy who has a dream and vision would not be scared of pursuing it because the system and the environment has be recreated to accommodate progress. Help me sing the national anthem as a birthday song to my mother Ghana and myself as a son and to all its citizens who celebrate this day with us. Thank you. RENEW YOUR MIND dALE qUIST The #MindSurgeon MINDSET NETWORKS mindsetnetworks.org
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 13:15:04 +0000
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