President – Hondred Percent

January 9, 2017

Plagiarism-REALLY?

The first weekend of the year for Ghanaians was enthusiastically hyperbolic from a political standpoint. The new President’s inauguration speech sparked a bonfire of comments as a result of plagiarized quotes from former American Presidents speeches.
I am just impressed that many Ghanaians know the other word for “copy”.
Saturday 7th January 2017 was a bright day of hope for all who had supported the New Patrotic Party (NPP) towards victory in the recent presidential elections. Nana Akufo-Addo was inaugurated as President of Ghana amidst Ghanaians and guests from far and wide.
Unknown to many Ghanaians, the eve of the Presidential inauguration saw the creation of the National Plagiarism Council (NPC) as well.
(Imagine an evil laugh here)
The NPC, eager to get to work and showcase their relevance in society, took it upon themselves to scrutinize the Presidents inauguration speech.
The inauguration was a photographers dream. The venue was dazzled with decor and fashion that at a point, I was confused as to whether it was an inauguration ceremony or fashion week.
In the same vein the NPC also did not play with their plagiarism game and were adamant in making a statement to rival the social media tidal waves of fashion and even Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings snub of MP Oko Vanderpuye.
From a technical view point, parts of the speech were plagiarized. We are however talking about two sentences that were not major points.
Are we over exaggerating an error of two sentences?
Yes, Oui, Yebo, and any other way of saying yes.
Are you kidding me? We make it sound as if the President stole gold when all he stole was a cookie from his own mother’s kitchen.
Those blowing this error out of proportion should get off their high horses. I am however not surprised with this reaction as Police and security personnel in Ghana sometimes over exaggerate minor offences and react as if they are dealing with repeat criminals. From the look of the comments on social media, I guess that behavior cuts across to other professions as well.
I would however like to thank all who pointed out the error and also point out that though unacceptable; it’s not a big deal and will do little to dent the hope the nation has in the current administration.
I just hope this attitude towards scrutiny will be applied to all things in Ghana. By this I am referring to corruption, professionalism in public offices and moral issues.
Lets all remember that we make mistakes. Lets learn from them and try not to judge others. You never know but with roles reversed, we may do even worse than those we are judging.
Lets keep it One HONDRED and remember to work together as Ghanaians to make Ghana a better place for all.

December 5, 2016

Toaso or Change – which is LOUDER?

Two days more to election and I can’t find my Voters ID. I better increase my search efforts because I really want to vote this year.
Though I applaud all political parties in the final run towards the presidency, I am not sure what the the rest are doing in the race.
By rest I mean all political parties aside NDC (National Democratic Congress) and NPP (New Patrotic Party). Sorry guys (the rest) but my vote goes to one of these two parties. That’s not to say that the two parties are the best but the odds are in their favour. It is between these two that the battle will be won so I want to aid in the decision process.
Speaking of aiding, last Thursday I had the opportunity to drive through 37, The Olusegun Obasanjo road, the highway leading to Pokuase, parts of Dome and Haatso. I was surprised to see billboards and various adverts of NDC splashed all over town.
I must say that I am impressed with the marketing campaign used in the adverts. It is very clear and concise. When I compare this to what the opposition is doing I can’t help but feel that the competition is one sided.

I understand Accra is just a portion of Ghana and I also understand that other marketing efforts other than visual adverts are being employed. Despite this, in certain parts of Accra, it seems that NDC is better informing its voters and aspiring voters on who to vote for better than the NPP.
I had a debate about this with someone and they kept going on about whether the claims made in the adverts were valid. The question is how many people ask the validity question these days. Even in this Information Age when false news is propagated on social media how many people, educated or uneducated alike bother to verify?
Even if I were to ignore the above the thing is I get the agenda that NDC is pushing. NDC via their adverts are saying that they have developed Ghana to a point, they have provided infrastructure and jobs to many sectors and want the nation to allow them to continue and thus the slogan, “JM Toaso, Toaso”.

In addition to that, it has been indicated in majority of the adverts the position of the NDC presidential candidate. As of Thursday I now know that NDC is third on the presidential ballot sheet. It has been drummed into my head every where I turned whether I liked it or not.
Compared to NPP the only thing I am hearing is the word “Change” and in that department it seems as if “Toaso” is louder. As of today I am not even sure of which position NPP is on the ballot sheet.
Will all this make a difference?
Maybe. It’s difficult to tell. For me what I have seen is only in sections of Accra. It doesn’t speak of what is happening in other regions and towns.
If however the capital is anything to go by, I can assume that the marketing campaigns are similar in other regions. Maybe NPP concentrates more in other regions. Maybe other marketing strategies are being employed.
What do I know? I am not a political scientist, just your average observer. From what I observe, NDC has done a better job advertising in the sections of Accra I have visited. It will be interesting to correlate the results in these areas with the adverts to see the impact.
Maybe it’s a money thing. Maybe others want to follow suit but the funds are just not available. If that were the issue I would hope that in the future a budget of adverts be raised and controlled by the EC (Electoral Commission).
Here all political parties that qualified to run for the presidency will be allocated the same budget to be used for adverts. The parties would bid for advertising lspaces through advertising agencies and the EC would control this to ensure that every party is given a fair shot at communicating to the people.
Such a utopian idea, maybe one day my wish will come true. Either way, let’s go out in our numbers to exercise our vote.
Keep the peace and keep it One Hondred!

November 11, 2016

Are You A Winner Or A Loser?

Just because you win doesn’t mean you are a winner.
In life one gets faced with competition. Whether it’s sports, debates, fighting for that cute guy or girl or to become the President of a country, there is a competition that ensues that chews opponents and subjects them to the beauty and ugliness of battle and spits out a victor.
However just because you win doesn’t mean you are a winner. Same goes for those who lose.
In my poem “The Pursuit of Happiness” the concluding lines say this:
“You are not born to be a winner
You are not born to be a loser
If you think about it carefully
You are born to be a chooser
If you end up being a loser, it’s because you chose not to win
And that my friends is my definition of sin”
Winning is more than coming in first, aquiring the most votes and picking that trophy. It’s a choice, a state of mind and a life style.
Winners choose to enter competitions to grow and evolve their skill set. They do it ultimately because it makes them better. If they win that’s an achievement, an accolade to showcase their success.
Coming in second, third or at the bottom for that matter doesn’t mean you are a loser. It could mean so many things. It could mean you need to get better in a certain area, need better strategy, you need to start from scratch, health is getting in the way, whatever it means you wouldn’t have known if you hadn’t participated in the challenge.
That’s knowledge. Knowledge about yourself and your abilities that could be capitalized on to bring victory. You only learn this by pushing yourself into competitions.
The only time you become a loser is when you choose not to learn anything from the battle. The value gained from this is far greater than being called the winner. If you won that’s awesome but if you won and didn’t learn from it then that’s sad. Equally sad is losing and not learning a thing from the loss. That’s the ultimate loser mentality. That lack of knowledge is detrimental.

For Lack of Knowledge My People Perish. Hosea 4:6 — Hosea 4:6

Your desire to become a better person is why you push yourself. You do it because you believe in yourself and your abilities. You do it because you feel the cause or reason for you fighting is worthwhile. As long as you believe in that fight, go hard and make it count.
Hillary Clinton in her speech after the recent American elections touched on the point of fighting for what you believe in.
“And to the young people in particular, I hope you will hear this. I have, as Tim said, spent my entire adult life fighting for what I believe in. I’ve had successes and I’ve had setbacks, sometimes really painful ones. Many of you are at the beginning of your professional, public, and political careers.
You will have successes and setbacks, too. This loss hurts, but please, never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it. Nothing has made me prouder than to be your champion.”
That’s a winner mentality. Keep your head up no matter what comes. There will be pain and there will be joy. In both cases always remember to be a winner.
A winner mentality is a decision. A decision to become better. As long as you are becoming better you are winning. Win at your own pace and be sure your goals for pushing yourself are worthwhile.
A true winner understands that winning is not everything.
As a Christian I know Jesus had to die in order to win my soul. I became a Christian not by doing something glorious but by acknowledging that I was losing and that I needed help. I was losing before I started winning. Sometimes I lose but I don’t allow it to set me back. I am loading my perfection and due to that I can relate to others who I believe go through challenges and setbacks.
We are all champions in the making. You just have to go out there and grab what’s yours.
Stay winning and keep it One HONDRED!☝️

November 9, 2016

Trump-Anything Is Possible

Never say never.
Who would have thought that Donald Trump would make it this far? Definitely not me. His character and statements are a scary glimpse of a future with him as president.
Is he the right president for the United States? That’s not for me to say.
As I strap my sons diaper on him after cleaning up green funk, I can’t help but see the solution starring at me in the face.

Education is the key. Each one of us was a blank canvas filled with concepts by our parents and environments. From our religion and perceptions we were moulded. Parents have a lot of control on the process and it’s their responsibility to ensure that their children turn out right.
But what does that mean?
Does it mean I must raise them Christian? Must I teach them how to bully they’re way out of things? Teach them how to not respect others? What does “right” mean exactly?
I stare at my son wondering if my ideals of peace, love and respect will help him succeed in the future. He knows no better as I change his diaper but appreciates the comfort that the change provides. Am I helping him succeed or fail? I believe in those values (peace,love and respect) but will the world accept him for believing the same?
It’s come clear to me that the concept of education in our institutions has to change. Simultaneous equations, calculus and subject verb agreement don’t teach people humanity and love. There is seldom a discussion or a lesson on humanity, race and equality. Subjects which many grow learning little about and subject others to their ideals which sometimes go as far as killing and discriminating against others.
A look into the last five years on earth has shown that we are doing something wrong. Discrimination and war have risen to unimaginable heights with little done to minimize its effects. A presidential candidate believes climate change is a hoax and people actually believe him? What world have I brought my son into?
As a Christian, I will love and raise him to do good. I will need to supplement this with other teachings and concepts. Most importantly I need him to understand that perceptions can be very deceiving. This year’s election is a perfect example.
Trump was a candidate that the world mocked. Today he is the President of the USA.
That’s admirable no matter how you look at it. It’s inspiring to know that even though the odds are against you, you can rise and be victorious. I like to believe that can happen to my son. The moral of the story is inspiring. The process of how he got there however is a story for another day.
It’s obvious that a lot more people in America see things Trump’s way than Hillary’s. What does this mean for Blacks, Hispanics and others like them? Does this mean white supremacists and chauvinists will rule? I am not sure but the way things are going now, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
As you keep it One HONDRED, what are your thoughts on Trump as president?

October 10, 2016

My New Hope In Politics-Kojo Oppong Nkrumah

When it comes to local TV, I am not so interested in tuning in. It has nothing to do with patriotism but more to do with quality content.
If I catch any, it’s because I stumble upon it by chance. Technology enables me to view the quality I desire from other sources. Yet I must say, that I am surprised that on more than one occasion, I have been caught paying attention to GH One’s “The Lounge” hosted by Kwaku Sakyi-Addo.
Last night, I did more than pay attention. From the moment I tuned in I was glued to the discussion till the end.
The guest on the show was Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, runner for the parliamentary candidature of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Ofoase-Ayirebi constituency.
(I was expecting Kojo to be drinking Kalyppo but I guess they were not sponsoring the show so water had to do.)
Kojo is not someone I would make out in crowd. When he took over from Komla Dumor on Joy FM, I was not in the country and upon my return he was off air as the host. Nevertheless, the confidence and eloquence displayed during the discussion, was one that won me over.
This is a politician, that in my view has a plan and the country’s best interests at heart.
What I admired about him was his determination. What he is doing in his constituency is no easy task. Going down to villages, speaking with the people regardless of the audience, is an arduous task.
It was clear that his goal was to bring about positive change regardless of the political party that instigated it. I don’t know many politicians will willingly follow suit and be willing to argue progressively to do what is best for Ghana.
His comment on the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) ruling of the Mahama gift saga, which was that he had infringed on his own gift policy, was bold and understanding of the political environment.
“Call a spade a spade”, he said. He further added that due to the fact that it was an election year, it was understandable why CHRAJ took this stance but that he expected more from the body.
Kojo during the interview went ahead to state that he was prepared to give up 25% of his salary should he become MP, as seed money to set up an Education Trust Fund to better the educational situation in the area. The area is currently faced with infrastructure and human resource challenges that make provision of education problematic.
He also told Kwaku, that he hopes to use part of the MP’s Common Fund to employ a doctor for the district and provide a mobile clinic to enable healthcare to be provided to those in even hard to reach areas. This is all while a plan to set up a district hospital is in the works.
As an artist with a mission on encouraging all to aspire for greatness, I identify with Kojo’s dreams and ideals. The interview gave me hope in Ghana’s political future. He is striving to provide his people the best and holds himself responsible and committed to the task. I wish him the best and look forward to seeing how he performs this year.
If I am keeping it “One Hondred”, I am not sure who I am voting for but if I was in Mr.Nkrumah’s constituency I would have voted for him in support of his vision and to encourage aspiring politicians regardless of party to walk in his footsteps.
More grease to your elbows Mr. Nkrumah. Keep it One Hondred!