Our problems as a nation do not seem to be going away.
Corruption, indiscipline, greed, hatred, tribalism, crime, poor planning, under-development, as well as health and educational problems among others continue to plague us.
As individuals, it is obvious that we are no worse in character than those in countries, which have developed.
There are Ghanaians excelling in various countries of the world and matching up with the best brains globally in all fields of endeavour.
We cannot also accept that we are a cursed people whose efforts will not see the blessings of God.
What seems to be the problem is that we forget that the factors that lead to personal success are different from those that lead to national success.
This world is founded on laws and principles, to which we are all subject, irrespective of colour, creed, gender or nationality.
The laws of nature apply to everyone equally. Without applying oneself to knowledge and conducting one’s affairs in conformity with the dictates of nature, stagnation, death and destruction are the result.
We cannot dominate the earth or prosper our nation without knowing how it functions, understanding it and planning how to survive in it.
Every nation is different in terms of climate, people, natural endowments, etc.
Every nation must therefore understand the peculiarities of how these factors interrelate to influence the progress or otherwise of that particular nation.
This means that, though knowledge about what has led to prosperity for other nations is out there, every country takes a peculiarly different path to progress.
The greatest resource that any nation possesses is its people, but indeed the greatest obstacle to any nation’s progress can be its people.
It takes a leader with understanding to carve out a customized path to success for a nation founded on the peculiarity of its people; and then to align the people to his plans in ways that bring about progress.
As a country, Ghana has enjoyed relative peace over its lifetime, but we do not seem to have made good use of the peace we have had to foster the level of progress we should have.
The corruption, indiscipline, greed, hatred, tribalism, crime, poor planning, etc. that prevail in this country, are perpetrated by people.
We seem to feel entitled to our freedom to do as we please, as long as we do not get caught, but we still expect that our dear nation would develop.
Building a country is just like building a house.
All the workers; architects, masons, plumbers, carpenters, painters, etc. work towards completing the house.
When they fail to play their roles but rather choose to please themselves by engaging in other activities that have nothing to do with the building, or by pilfering the building materials, the building cannot be completed.
We cannot, as a people keep pursuing our selfish interests and expect that the nation would be built.
Development of a nation is a different activity from the development of our personal economies.
National development cannot be a side effect or fall-out of development of our personal economies.
There can be no developing of Ghana without a change of the Ghanaian mentality.
We cannot continue to pretend that Ghanaians harbor mindsets that are conducive to the pace of development that we require to catch up with the rest of the world.
The starting point of any serious developmental agenda ought to be how to address the Ghanaian’s mindset and attitude.
Party manifestos continue to target different approaches to development without addressing the germane issue of how to carry the people along.
The nation’s leaders want to lead but do not care that they have no followers.
The effect is that we have leaders but there is no leadership happening.
The fact that we voted for leaders does not mean that we follow them. Indeed, very few Ghanaians wake up in the morning and step out that they are going out there to work for the president’s plans to succeed.
We instead approach the day with a mindset to work to better our personal lives.
Ghana will not progress when almost all of us are doing something else apart from working on the plan the leaders of the nation have set out for her to develop.
It is time for those seeking power to stop deluding themselves that they have a plan to turn the fortunes of this nation round, which plan does not entail the conscious involvement and enrolment of the commitment of the majority of the people.
What we see now is that, as leaders are thinking or pretending that they are building the nation, the majority of Ghanaians, are either pulling it down or minding their own businesses.
It is not possible to build a nation all by yourself.
If the people are not ready, find out why and get them to believe in your plans and inspire them to abandon their personal agenda knowing that you as their leader can be trusted.
Failing this, the Ghanaian will build you substandard roads, smuggle your subsidized fertilizer out of the country, refuse to collect your taxes and in return line his own pocket with bribe money, inflate the price of everything he buys for the nation and turn around and go for the difference.
Ghanaman will build in waterways, dump refuse in the gutter, tell all his children and relatives that you hate the members of their tribe, and cut down your street signs and sell them as scrap.
The list of things Ghanaians do to build their personal economies to the detriment of this nation are endless.
Ghanaians are no angels and governments carrying on their developmental agenda as though they are is a major reason why this nation is not succeeding.
Until governments tackle the problem of attitudes of Ghanaians by making sure that wrong doing is detected and consistently punished by law, their electoral fortunes would continue to suffer on the back of Ghana’s continuous stagnation.
If governments come into power with the promise to do it alone, Ghanaians will expect just that.
A word to the wise is enough.