Mawunyo Writes: State of discombobulation- Ghana's case

Welcome to Ghana, a country where the peace and the stability is being taken for granted. A country where wrongs are being turned into a civil right. A country where the spirit of truth is far from fetch. A country, as we have come to believe, where the citizens are unconcerned.

Come to think of it, why will a hugely resourced country like ours be dependent on under-resourced countries for financial aid? Gold, timber and bauxite, just to mention few are the resources that this country can boast of. So "I can't think madness" when everyday, we have to be worrying ourselves to understand why we go to borrow. If you tell me you do not care about this, then you have been coffered on with political glaucoma.

Walk the streets of Accra during the day. You will find a number of street lights beaming at your face. Watch carefully beside the Highways, alas, a stream of pipe born water, flowing freely. So you think you don't care about all this? You must be from another world to think so.

Come down to our public universities. Each day, government and university authorities have the displeasure to talk about which of them must foot the utility bills. The first time I heard this, I wondered what the country is being turned into. We have failed as a society, to regulate the usage of this utilities yet we are quick to push the burden on someone else. Can you imagine how judiciously these resources can be managed, should the students be required to pay for their own utilities bills?

We have been practising same methods over and over yet expecting to get a different result. What a world! Thomas Edison, who also played a major role in the invention of electric bulb, once said, he had tried to invent electric bulb using 999 ways but failed. When asked why, he simply said, that gave  him 999 ways of not producing electric bulbs, hence he must try a new method.

Wait, before I digress into other issues, the decision now rests on us individuals to think positively about this country. Imagine how this country will be if we all play responsible roles and take responsibility for our actions. Just extend your little concern to your neighbor next door. You think he or she doesn't need that advice of yours? If he or she tries to ignore you, however, let him or her know that his or her right ends at the doorsteps of someone. In fact, explain to him to understand. We are very careless of our actions in this country. 

Can you imagine someone turning on the fun in his bed room, yet sitting in the hall watching television. While watching the television, he is seen busily reading newspaper with his radio loudly on. This is a complete mismanagement of resources.

We cannot live in a society where one does what pleases him. We must regulate and be regulated. The laws are there but are not being enforced. You think it needs only a competent court of jurisdiction to do the enforcement? No! You can also enforce it. This is done by serving as a watchdog over your neighbour, correct him while he goes wrong. And be ready yourself, to accept corrections.

Interestingly our grandparents never had statutory laws, yet they were able to fairly regulate their available resources. One would say probably because they added some elements of spiritualism. It worked so perfectly that the mother of principle and procedural believes, science, could not explain. The argument is, the dark days are over so those things cannot apply. Yes, we cannot go back to those days but we can manage our behaviours. And only this, can give us the freedom that we want as a country.

The writer of this article is Richard Mawunyo Dartey, a student of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho.

Barcelona v Manchester City: Key Talking Points

credit: getty

Pep Guardiola had a night to forget on his second return to the Camp Nou. A clinical Lionel Messi hat trick put the citizens to the sword and maintained Barca’s 100% record in Europe’s premier competition. Here are the five key points in my post match commentary:

Man City at the Messi of Barca: Leo was at his quintessential best during City’s visit. The Barcelona legend scored his 37^th career hat trick and his team’s first three goals of the night. He also won a penalty-which Neymar missed- and assisted the Brazilian’s goal a few minutes later. Even though the Catalans were not at their imperious best, the diminutive Argentine took matters into his own hands: City fans will be grateful that he elected against taking the spot kick.  

Unrepentant Guardiola punished: the tactician opted for philosophy over effectiveness which saw him pick Kevin De Bruyne over Sergio Aguero to lead the line of the Blues attack. It was a ruse purposefully aimed at dominating ball possession. To the contrary, Barca were more interested in what will earn them the three points instead of a ceremonious display.

Bravo’s petulance: the Chilean is one of the very experienced champions between the sticks, and for a goalie of his standing, his decision to handle the ball outside his area could best be described as cantankerous. It is more so confusing when one gets to know that Bravo knew that his action could only lead to one thing-a sending off.

Greater Barcelona squad depth: both Alba and Pique were taken off early in the encounter due to injuries, but Barca did not have to worry much as there were Lucas Digne and Jeremy Mathieu as substitutes. Bearing in mind that Sergio Roberta, the first choice Barca right back was also on the treatment table, a victory and clean sheet (which was partly down to the efforts of Ter Stegen) is a very good sign. More importantly, Luis Enrique will not be saddled with the same problems he faced in the previous season, where his players were fatigued at the business end of the season. 

Liverpool-Manchester United: 5 Talking Points

The eagerly anticipated match ended in a stalemate in an encounter that was nicknamed #RedMonday. Here are the 5 impressions the game left on me

1. United frustrate Liverpool: at the end of the game, Liverpool only had 9 attempts, something which is incongruous to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Indeed the 2 shots by Liverpool in the first half was the club’s lowest in a home game in over a decade. All these were due to the solid defensive set up by Mourinho to limit the strengths of Liverpool
2. Referee comes through unscathed: the media was all over the FA for appointing Anthony Taylor to officiate this game, looking at his Manchester roots. However, the ref was able to perform creditably under huge pressure. Even though the Old Trafford faithfuls would feel aggrieved by certain penalisation of their players, the official’s performance was certainly devoid of any controversies.
3. Under par Pogba and Ibrahimovic: the Red Devil’s two big stars were expected to come to the party, however, things didn’t go exactly as they would have loved. Pogba was largely anonymous in the game, even in his prefer role as an attacking midfielder. Meanwhile, Ibrahimovic contrived to miss United’s best opening of the game: worked by Pogba.
4. Imperious Herrera: Ander Herrera was in a superb form on Monday evening. The Spaniard was all over the pitch with a high intensity performance. You can call him the Kante of last season. His efforts- including a season high interceptions of 11, according to opta- were rewarded with a befitting man of the match award.
5. Sturridge subdued as De Gea steals show: the Liverpool marksman could not get a shot on target during an hour of play, which eventually led to his substitution. In real fact, the former Chelsea man had only one touch in the opposition’s box. To the contrary the man Sturridge was expected to keep busy, De Gea was on top of his game with two fine saves, first a low dive to his right to deny Can and a fantastic right handed stop to deny Coutinho a wonder-winning-goal.

10 Beneficial Things Bank of Ghana's $504,000 Golden Watch Money Could Have Been Used For

The airwaves across the nation are inundated with opinions of all and sundry on the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) decision to blow $504,000 on gold watches for 72 employees as end of year benefits. 

Some people approach the subject from a utilitarian point angle, whilst others look at it from the point of legality of the methodology used in the procurement process. I side with the former group of persons, and in this post, I proffer ten very beneficial ways the fund from the central bank’s 2016 budget could have been used for. The $504,000 in question converts into GHC2,005,290 (two million and five thousand, two-hundred and ninety Ghana cedis), that is over 20billion old cedis for wrist wears.

1. Solar powered mechanised boreholes in 22 communities: the cost of constructing a solar powered mechanised borehole is GHC91,000, with the capacity to irrigate an entire community. Looking at the abundant sun energy Ghana is blessed with and the water problems being faced in a good number of regions in the nation, the solar powered water machines would certainly be of good use to Ghanaians. 
2. 6-unit classroom blocks in 20 communities: schools under trees is one of the major problems faced by the Ghana education system, and with the cost of building a 6-unit classroom block currently pegged at GHC100,000 the BoG money would have tackled the problem to a substantial degree
3. Coat 3.5km road: it roughly costs GHC600,000 to cover a 1km road with primary coater. An investment into this sector is a long term one, and addresses one of the primary problems in Ghana’s infrastructure to an extent.
4. Nationwide cholera education programme: cholera has become a perennial endemic in Ghana: one of the major ways to solve a problem of this nature is through public education. And the method has particularly been proven effective in the case of cholera. All the health directorates need is 20bn old cedis to hit the road.
5. 5 modern 24-bedroom hostel facilities: accommodation is a key challenge in our country. Constructing a 24-bedroom hostel facility for either workers or students goes for GHC500,000. 2m Ghana cedis would get us 5 of those buildings.
6. Feed Osu Children’s Home for over 4 and half years: the nation’s historic orphanage has always had resource constraints. At a feeding rate of GHC2 (which is very excellent by Ghanaian standards) per meal, the less than 200 inmates of the facility will enjoy good nourishment, 3 times a day for 4 year and 8 months with the BoG watch money
7. Sponsor 4 medical doctors to study cardiology abroad: infections of the heart, just like many other non communicable diseases are on the rise in the country. The BoG cash would have ensured that the nation is equipped with four more experts in the matters of the heart, trained in some of the world’s best institutions.
8. 170 fish ponds for farming: this particular initiative would address two main issues: food insecurity and youth unemployment. A completed and well stocked 150 * 100ft earthen pond would amount to GHC12,000-which implies 20bn old cedis would have constructed 170pcs of ponds- which means the BoG watches have denied us some good source of constant protein as well as a decent number of employment opportunities.
9. Purchase over two-hundred thousand waste containers: good sanitation is a bane in the country, with indiscriminate disposal of waste a chief culprit. GHC2m is just enough to procure over two hundred thousand pcs of medium plastic rubbish containers to be distributed in all state owned primary schools across the nation.
10. Renew NHIS registration for all nurse and teacher trainees: the BoG money is more than enough to renew the National Health Insurance Scheme registration for all students of Nuses/Midwifery’ Training Schools and Teachers’ Training Colleges across the length and breadth of the nation. 

5 Things Zidane Must Do

Zinedine Zidane is one of the popular figures, a legend in the world of football, probably not for his coaching prowess but for his success as a player. The Los Blancos coach succeeded the sloppy Benitez and went on to win the most coveted accolade in the history of club football to create a huge euphoria amongst the Madridismo and his followers. 

For the past weeks, ZZ’s tactics came in for heavy criticism as his team managed only four points from as many games in all competitions, posing a cascading conundrum over the longevity of his reign at the Spanish capital. I take you through a short expedition of the five essential factors that the Whites’ boss must adhere to in order to maintain his position the Real Madrid hot-seat.

Manage the pressure positively: in an effort to ameliorate what the press has tagged “crisis”, the boss must be able to be wield both internal and external influences escalationg from the club and the media respectively, by not allowing himself to be pushed to the breaking point. He must be firm and assertive in his day-to-day decisions aimed at getting good results to win the club’s love.

Play with an identity: Real Madrid is in no doubt one of the best and biggest clubs in the history of the beautiful game with an identify, but that is not the case in their current state due to the consistent and persistent dismissal of coaches. The style of play has even deteriorated under the auspices of Zidane. The condition provides ZZ a rare chance to convince the Real Madrid hierarchy of his quality through the means of tactical formula of high intensity but attacking football with is befitting of the status of a club like Real Madrid.

Avoid a trophyless season: despite the fact that Los Merengues are playing badly, they are still in pole position to challenge for major honours this season in all fronts- Copa del Rey, club world cup, la liga, UEFA champions league. A critical scrutiny of Real Madrid suggest that ZZ could be sacked if Real end the season without a major trophy as it was in the case of Carlo Ancelotti, after winning the UEFA champions league and Copa del Rey but failed in the following season.

Control over the dressing room: the failure to manage the dugout appropriately led to the firing of a good number of coaches in the club’s history. In recent years, the Special One, Jose Mourinho (2013), Raphael Benitez (2015) all fell prey to the threat of fallout with senior players in the squad. Zidane, with his experience as a player must do well to avoid the aforementioned fracas if he is to be successful and ultimately last long in the job

Signing and offloading players: Real Madrid, especially in the reign of current president Florentino Perez are known for signing world class and high profile players for the continuity of success which has failed to yield results on some occasions. If ZZ loves his job, then I vehemently suggest that he puts aside stubbornness and sign as well as release existing players if necessary. It is crystal clear that Real’s main Achilles heel is in the defensive midfield position. Statistically, Los Vikings conceded and dropped more points since anchorman, Casemiro has gone to the treatment table vs Villarreal. The situation could have been different if Madrid had hired the services of a defensive shield eg Mousa Sissoko as speculated in the media throughout the summer. With the pending transfer ban on the capital club, this objective might be far from reach.

If all the above measure are incorporated into the boss’ dispensation of his duties, success is not far from reach and he shall cement his job

This article is the thoughts of life time Real Madrid fan, Albert "Stranger" Dzodzegbe

Christmal Dela Christmals Mentors GESAM-UHAS

On the 2^nd of October 2016, Christmal Dela Christmals held a mentorship and career guidance session with the members of the Global Evangelical Students and Associates’ Ministry, University of Health and Allied Sciences Chapter (GESAM-UHAS) under the “Exploits of Grace 2016” programme.

Profile of Facilitator

Christmal Dela Christmals hails from Keta, Volta Region, Ghana. He started his elementary education at Anlo State School, and completed at Anloga Donorgbor Junior High School (JHS). CD Christmals’ mother is one of the five wives of Christmals’ Snr, a fisherman father who neglected his fatherhood responsibilities. 

CD Christmals had to spend his childhood with his grandmother. Nonetheless, CD Christmals did not allow his difficulties to distract him from his goals. His determination earned him admission to Keta Senior High Technical School (Ketasco), where he farmed throughout his stay in order to sustain himself. After completing Ketasco, he earned admission into University of Cape Coast where he pursued a degree in BSc Nursing. 

During his undergraduate education, the curriculum research expert recalled that he had to shift between his academic work and “galamsey teaching in Junior High Schools” in order to fend for himself. After a short stint in the working world, he continued his education in the University of Witwatersrand (Wits), South Africa- with support from his mentor, Professor Janet J. Gross. 

He came out successfully of his master’s degree programme and is currently working on his PhD in nursing education with research focus on master’s degree level nursing curriculum of topmost universities in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa. CD Christmals has worked as a nurse, lecturer and nose, ear and throat (ENT) consultant in the past.

Presentation Highlights

CD Christmals begun the presentation with his life story. He proceeded to advice the congregation on the need to build values of hard work, determination and discipline. The mentor and career coach cited himself as an example for the students, “I had saved money toward my first degree education when I was teaching, even though I was hungry, I did not ‘eat’ my savings because if I ate it, I would have eaten my degree”. 

In addition he told the students that “it is very good to be resistant because that is what you need to overcome challenges”. Furthermore, the Wits university alumnus charged the students to never allow anything to distract their focus. On the subject of hard work, CD Christmals told the audience to always work hard, especially whilst building foundation because one “cannot progress on a weak foundation”.

The event got more fascinating when CD Christmals guided the participants through the formulation of a 5-year, 10-year and 15-year goals plan. For each of the stated time category, each person was tasked to shape a plan A, plan B and plan C: this way, an individual is certain that one of the plans shall bear fruits. 

He added that it is very important for the goals to be set in a specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound manner. In furtherance, the protégé of Prof Janet Gross encouraged the students to dream as big as they desire because God is ever willing to give unto all mankind to the measure of their dreams. However, he reiterated that “dreams will not just happen like that, you have to focus and work hard”. 

The programme ended with a questions-and-answers’ segment, which CD Christmals expertly responded to. 

One of the replies that is sure to have dampened the spirits of most young ladies crushing on the young and charming scholar was when he confessed that he is “single but highly attached, with all receptors full” 

Love Is A Disease

Imagine having to wake up deep in the night and start to think of something that doesn't, in actual sense, have little or anything to do with you. All of a sudden, someone's well-being has become so important to you that, you become restless within yourself whenever a negative response is gotten from your so called partner.

Our predecessors may have seen the irony of this disease that, in most cases, they do betrothal of their offspring. Must nature be blamed for this? Psychological theories have given many interpretations to this disease- love, and at a point science became fed up with trying to understand this concept.

Interestingly, human beings have evolved from the primitive stage of looking at it as a mere societal value to a necessity. Why will someone kill his or her friend because of another person? Why will someone completely ignore his friend because he has found love? So you see why it's a menace? History hasn't been fair to us at all in this regard.

It should have properly dealt with this, or perhaps cure this life threatening disease for us, so it doesn't pose its ugly noses in our faces. At least we know that, for every four persons, one person will have a mental disorder in a life time. Why was same not done about love? Nature should have given us the instinct of not believing the false positive prospects of love.

We should have been told that once the disease is contracted one’s survival rate is altered. Alas! This is the plight of many, finding themselves as culprits of this four letter word. They go all out and do anything for the fact that they "love" someone or something.

In a case where power must come to play, the weak becomes vulnerable to this disease.

In other to fulfill the principle that the fittest must survive, the weak is hence relegated.

Imagine your partner demanding things you cannot afford. You become desperate to look for those things or risk losing him or her. You cannot do away with the fact that, precious time is wasted trying to get the attention of each other in cases where there is a default of not believing one side. 

But what makes it so fascinating is how strongly attached people can become to the extent of losing sight of the things that really need attention. What about those fond memories you've gathered in your life which rather need improvement? "I love you", "I will die for you", "I will climb the highest mountain just because of you", "don't worry, I will always be there for you" and many other paradoxical ones are the unfortunate statements that is uttered. Whether it is clearly understood is another issue. Literatures in Psychiatrist will enlighten us on how to properly use our mind for real thinking because they consider those statements having to be from the abstract world. 

Again, all those, will form the basis for the pathophysiological concept of love being a disease. It is very sad to hear people saying, because of "fear of loneliness", they needed to have love- the disease. Well, this must be true so long as you dwell in the realm of the abstract. 

In other fields, love is conceptually irrational. One cannot simply understand the philosophy of the binding force that suddenly results from the sight of a "beautiful being". Isn't this a mental disorder? Well, one must as well appreciate the fact that, whichever way it is looked at, love has greatly been misconstrued to be the most important thing to look out for. 

This is as a result of the hierarchical principal human needs proposed by Maslow. It's however a sad story to learn that the human race of today has accepted this as the gospel truth without, or with little critical analysis. 

Anyway you might have seen it, it stills stands as one of the diseases, just like AIDS, whose cure is yet to be discovered. One should therefore, carefully conceptualize this disease before falling prey to it, because it has the potential of ruining one's life forever.

This post is a feature, authored by Mawunyo "Warlord" Dartey, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho.