BORED ROOM

She sat by the table, her legs stretched out and her feet out of her shoes. Once in a while, she unconsciously lifted them up in an attempt to place them on the table- a bad habit she had acquired in college. Fortunately, there were seven other people in the room to remind her she was not alone. This reminder ensured her legs stayed where they were.

Six members of the committee, including herself sat around the huge table that stood right in the middle of the conference room. The seventh member, the chairman, was busy giving a long, incomprehensive speech. He stood at the extreme end of the room with a marker in hand, facing the white board that was a few inches behind him. His well-tailored black suit provided a sharp contrast to the white blinds that covered the glass window behind him. He spoke haltingly and had a certain hesitation about him that cast a slow spell on everyone. Occasionally, he stopped to wipe the beads of sweat that dripped from his baldhead onto his stern face.

The time was 1:35 pm and the rays from the burning African sun were competing with the old air conditioner in the room. The rays were winning without much effort as one of the younger committee members at the far end of the table had already started loosening his tie.

Right across him, Amanda, one of her colleagues was fanning her face not only to keep cool, but also to lessen the musk of black polished leather emanating from the chairs. Even though the acrid smell was familiar with that room, it was worse today because the heat accentuated it with every passing minute.

She had been sitting there for about forty-five minutes and nothing had changed. The chairman was still talking and even though it was clear he was headed nowhere, he went on and on. Here he was now inviting contributions on an issue that was not even on the agenda.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, the floor is now open…’ he said, looking intently into everybody’s face.  

‘Floor is open for what?’ she whispered to Aba, the front office executive who was sitting beside her. Aba merely shrugged and leaned back in her chair. She looked round, no one stirred so she did the same; she leaned back in her chair and looked up. Little beads of sweat began to form on her forehead; she dabbed them gently with her handkerchief and remained in the same position. Her wandering eyes came to settle on the notepad she had put on the conference table in front of her. Somehow she had forgotten it was there. She leaned forward and grabbed it; as she did so, one of her male colleagues turned to look at her. Their eyes met briefly and she forced a smile.

She opened her notepad; maybe she could try writing something to keep her focused for a while. But a desperate attempt to write proved daunting, she knew she just wasn’t ready so she leaned back again and raised her eyes. The big ceiling above her met her gaze and she began to observe it carefully. It was white all round and the wooden frames that had been fixed under the cement covering looked very exotic. The designs were definitely not African, she thought. They looked Italian, she concluded. That impressed her. Unfortunately, the near-rusty ceiling fans did a great disservice to the majestic ceiling.  It was like patching a brand new dress with a tattered cloth. The blades of the ceiling fan were rotating rather speedily above her and they made an occasional squeak. Looking at them for long made her feel dizzy. She already started imagining how the thin metallic hooks holding them up could break loose from the ceiling and fall on her, slicing her to a thousand pieces. She shuddered at the thought and started thinking about changing her sitting position. 

But then, she hadn’t felt that way until now. The fans had always been there. From the start of the meeting until then, their blades were rotating and making that occasional squeaky sound that now terrified her. Why didn’t she feel that way from the beginning, why didn’t it cross her mind that they could actually come crashing down on her? Maybe her sudden concentration on those lofty spinning devices was the cause of her anxiety. She looked round and decided she would not change her sitting position. She was right; as soon as she dropped the thought, her anxiety ceased.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She felt a little uneasy; she removed her overcoat slowly and disengaged the first button on her shirt. The meeting was still going on; she could not believe it. How she wished it were all over. She felt desperate and frustrated. She wanted to jump out of her skin but she couldn’t. She wanted to lie down but she couldn’t bring herself to do that. Everything was dragging slowly around her and she felt giddy. She looked at her watch; it was as if the minute hand had gone to sleep and the second hand was painfully slow. What was happening to her? She wondered. Was she having a nightmare or was it really happening? She yawned loudly and as she did this, she looked round shyly; she wanted to check if anyone was looking. Nobody looked her way so she stretched and moaned; her heavy eyes closing in the event. She leaned back again and began to doze…

Soon she was gone but not for long. Aba nudged her back into reality sending a sharp pain through her. She opened her eyes to find everyone staring at her; ‘Do you care to share your dream with us Sompa?’ the Chairman asked... 

A CONTINENT ON THE MOVE

Described as the ‘Dark Continent’ by the media, Africa has always been in the news as a continent of poverty, corruption, political instability and a safe haven for every parasite, virus, bacteria and all kinds of health hazards. It has been said by critics that, some of these pieces of information on Africa are hyped and most often blown out of proportion. They have even questioned why the ‘good side’ of Africa has not been given much media attention. Is there a conspiracy to paint the Dark Continent even darker than it already is?

According to a very recent UN report, life in Zimbabwe, a country in the southern part of Africa is the shortest! This report states that, neither men nor women in Zimbabwe are expected to live up to forty years! In addition, this same country has the highest inflation rate in the world according to the Guinness Book of records. That’s not all. The top ten countries with the lowest life expectancy rates in the world are all found on the continent of Africa. It seems correct to say that, Africa is the continent with the most problems dating back to the colonial era to the present. This continent has been oppressed, looted of resources, looked down upon and marginalised for centuries. The odds from all indications are against her. Is there a future for Africa in view of recent events coupled with the attitudes exhibited by her leaders?

The political life of Africa is synonymous with the word, ‘instability’. Military interventions have characterised the political scene in Africa for so many years and sad to say, they still do. A greater number of the countries on the continent have either experienced coup d’états or have had civilian rulers who have amended the constitution over and over again to enable them remain in power a little bit longer. Some of these leaders also managed to declare themselves presidents for life and did away with democracy. Interestingly, some military rulers gradually metamorphosed into civilian rulers because the thought of relinquishing power to the civilians haunted their imaginations and terrified them; they could not think of forfeiting the ‘pleasures’ of being in power to life as ordinary citizens. So on the ‘throne’ they remained until they died or were toppled. Such has been the political situation on continent.

In the mid 60s down to the early 90s, it was a common thing to hear about the seizure of power by the military any moment on your radio set. It would begin with a sudden interruption of radio programming, a medley of patriotic songs would follow and then a sudden harsh announcement that would signify the official take-over by the military. The leaders were mostly junior ranking officers who would cite corruption and mismanagement as the reason for their intervention. They would in turn stay in power for a long time leaving the worst corruption records.

A classic example is President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda. Over twenty years ago when he came into power through a military junta, he cited leaders who stayed too long in power as one of Africa’s major problems. Nineteen years later, he thanked members of the Ugandan parliament for voting to scrap term limits that would have ended his presidency. He is even on record as saying: “…that (presidential term limits) provision was not wise at all, because the problems Africa face are not time-bound…”In the 1970s and 80s, many African countries were being run either as one-party dictatorships, or by military governments. Countries such as Nigeria, Mali, Uganda, Ghana, Ethiopia, Togo, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Niger and Chad are examples. Some of these military heads have either stepped aside or melted into civilians and contested elections. 

Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso, Mathieu Kerekou of Benin, Yahaya Jammeh of the Gambia, Lansana Conteh of Guinea and Jerry John Rawlings of Ghana can be cited. I dare say that many an African leader has not come to terms with free speech, equal rights and the rule of law. To them, these are ideals that cannot work in these parts of the world. It is surprising to note that, Africa’s great leaders who fought tirelessly to wrest power from the colonialists saw the need for freedom. They argued that, the African must be given the right to rule and make decisions for himself. In a way, they saw the need to give equality a chance; they wanted democracy. But sadly, the ‘pleasures’ that accompanied life at the top got into them. So they woke up one day and decided that no one was as wise as they were; they concluded that, they had to rule until their dying day. Thus they stifled all opposing voices and placed an embargo on the formation of political groupings. But in those days, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania showed a deeper commitment to the rule of law when he stepped down from power after completing his term of office.  

The likes of Nyerere have been very few in contrast to the likes of Nkrumah (who declared himself President for life) but the trend is changing! Indeed the old order is gradually giving way to the emergence of a new crop of leaders. John Kufuor of Ghana, Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, Festus Mogae of Botswana and a host of other African leaders can be said to be championing the cause of democracy and the rule of law and this has made military uniforms and long strings of military accolades, very rare at Presidential summits. Also, with the West African Regional body, ECOWAS, stating emphatically that it would no longer tolerate military coups, the AU showing signs of disapproval regarding military juntas, such interventions are becoming very rare on the continent. Even the Comoros are now quiet. At one point in 2001, three coups were recorded in two months! In one instance, one coup-maker was in power for just a single day! There are still hot spots in parts of West Africa and the Great Lakes region and very recently, Chad and Mauritania. But there is every reason to believe that sustained and delicate attempts at peace on the part of the ECOWAS and the AU combined with pressure from the UN and other western aid agencies will be able to keep the army out of the political arena for a very long time.

The issue of women in African politics is a refreshing trend worth noting. At least three women have held Vice Presidential positions in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Burundi; one has been Prime Minister in Mozambique and another, Prime Minister in Sao Tome and Principe. In Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has broken through what used to be a man’s wall to become the first female elected President of an African country. These emerging trends are a sure sign that there is a current wave of change blowing across the continent. With a gradual shift to multi-party democracy, respect for the rule of law and Ellen Johnson-a mother who has already started incubating the yet-to-be hatched prowess of a new Liberia, I strongly believe we will wake up one day to the dawn of a new Africa.

L'AFRIQUE NOIRE

They say we are dark

Still others refer to us as black

They say our hopes are dashed

Our inner strength, feeble and quashed

We were only good for their plantations

And from us they fed and enriched nations

Yet they did not regard our ability to reason

Our minds to them, belonged to prison

They broke all forms of resistance

Offering no form of assistance

Our mothers cried for lost lives

Our fathers could not overcome with knives

We were reduced to beasts of burden

Our eyes tired and heavy laden

We trembled under the yoke of oppression

And fumbled with sounds devoid of expression

Yet our dreams live on

The present and future battles will be won

From the tracks of Olympia

To the ideals of the land of utopia

We will arise and shine

We will no longer whine and pine

The brightness of the sun will comfort us

And nothing can stop us

Emmanuel Amankwah (20-08-2008)

ADVERTISING QUOTES

"Kodak sells film, but they don't advertise film. They advertise memories"
(Theodore Parker)

"If you can't turn yourself into your customer, you probably shouldn't be in the ad writing business at all"
(Leo Burnett)

"The most powerful element in advertising is the truth"
(William Bernbach)

"Creative without strategy is called 'ART'. Creative with strategy is called 'ADVERTISING'"
(Jef Richards)

"Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you're doing, but nobody else does."
(Stuart H. Britt)

FATHER FORGETS

After over 10 years, i have gone back to reading Dale Carnegie's 'How To Win Friends and Influence People'. I couldn't help but fall in love once again with W. Livingston Learned's 'Father Forgets'; it is an absolutely brilliant piece-i think everyone should read it. So, here you are. This is as appeared in the Reader's Digest...

Listen, son: I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.

These are the things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.
At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, “Goodbye, Daddy!” and I frowned, and said in reply, “Hold your shoulders back!”

Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the road I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before your boyfriends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!
Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. “What is it you want?” I snapped.

You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs. Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me? The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding;this was my reward to you for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.
And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of yours was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed!

It is a feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: “He is nothing but a boy, a little boy!”
I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother’s arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much.

The Count of Monte Cristo

Chateu D'if! your walls, your dung filled floors, your gloomy surroundings, your hopeless enclaves and your terrible wardens! Two nights in your bossom and one is sure to loose his senses! You captured and imprisoned for three years and a decade! How cruel? how inhuman? In the end, a priest and a mantra: GOD WILL GIVE ME JUSTICE overcame. Now tell me, where lies your power? where lies your grip?

Monsieur Morrell is a very fine gentleman and an excellent portrait of the exemplary employer.

Edmund's determination carries him through hardships that pay off in the end. He's resolute, the kind whose kindness is larger than life. He survived betrayal, he survived the bitterness and envy of failures like Danglar and Fernand. He survived the Chateu D'if!

Fernand is driven by selfish desires and the love for a woman who could never be his to betray and kill the soul of a beloved friend. He is the kind who will kill for selfish interests regardless of the consequences.

GOD WILL GIVE ME JUSTICE!

A tutor among tutors!

Dangle, dangle Danglar!

'...where is he? where is Edmund?...'

This particular phrase captures for me, the depth of love this lady had for Edmund.

Thinking creatively

An idea is nothing more or less than a new combination of old elements
- Webb Young

An idea is delicate, it can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man’s brow.
- Charles Brower

We cannot open ourselves to new insights without endangering the security of our prior assumptions. We cannot propose new ideas without risking disapproval or rejection.
- Robert Grudin

leadership quotes for today

H. Ross Perot:

Inventories can be managed, but people must be led.

Henrik Ibsen:

A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.

Herbert B. Swope:

I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure: which is: Try to please everybody.

Isaac Newton:

If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants.

James Callaghan:

A leader must have the courage to act against an expert's advice.

James Kouzes and Barry Posner:

There's nothing more demoralizing than a leader who can't clearly articulate why we're doing what we're doing.

leadership quotes for today

Dwight D. Eisenhower:

You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.

Edwin H. Friedman

Leadership can be thought of as a capacity to define oneself to others in a way that clarifies and expands a vision of the future.

Elizabeth Dole:

What you always do before you make a decision is consult. The best public policy is made when you are listening to people who are going to be impacted. Then, once policy is determined, you call on them to help you sell it.

Eric Hoffer:

In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.

THIS LIFE

The road on which we trod
Is no easy a road
The fight which we must fight
Is no easy a fight
The successes we must chalk
Are no easy a thing to talk

At the end of the road however
We see hope that will not waver
Hope flowing from God almighty like streams
Like light from the maker, it beams
On this hope, our feet is established
On this hope, we will emerge accomplished

01-11-03

love fulfilled

Love fulfilled
I’ve spent my life looking for you
Finding you wasn’t easy a thing
Years of thoughts and questions
Moments of sighs and breathlessness
Have now turned into wonder and amazement
For a moment, I feel I’m not me
I have released the long dreaded
I have looked hard at what I call love
And dared to open my mouth
But love smiled at me, winked and beckoned me nigh
My heart is gladdened, my soul throbs with excitement
Welcome my love, welcome into a longing heart
I love you.

September, 2007

EVERYDAY

EVERYDAY
(Ode to Stethoscope)

Everyday, my thoughts spin round and round and settle on you
Everyday, thoughts of you give me a tingle and a stir
Everyday, I wish I were near you
Everyday, I keep loving you
Everyday, my love keeps growing for you
Everyday, I wish I could speak to you
Everyday, the first dial on my phone reveals your name
Everyday, I talk to God about you
Everyday, I wonder if you love me
Everyday, I wish you were in my arms
Everyday, I wish you knew how I feel
Everyday, I wish I could make you know how I feel
Everyday, I want to celebrate your good qualities
Everyday, I thank God for you
Everyday, you feel far from me
Everyday, I long for you
Everyday, I ask, ‘will you long for me?’
Everyday, I become a little bit afraid
Everyday, I feel you will not want me!

emmanuel amankwah (08-02-06)