Monday, March 29, 2010

Is It Not Time For Akuffo Addo To Distance Himself From The Danquah Institute Altogether?

Ghanaweb Feature Article of Tuesday, 30 March 2010



Is It Not Time For Akuffo Addo To Distance Himself From The Danquah Institute Altogether?

A Rejoinder to : "Who Are These “Parliamentarian Drivers”? By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., Feature Article of Tuesday, 16 March 2010


Okoampa begins an article surreptitiously titled "Who Are These “Parliamentarian Drivers”? with a shocker: 
"I am glad that, finally, the Ivorians are beginning to assert their right of access and enjoyment of Ghana’s purportedly new-found oil wealth... It also didn’t quite make a lot of sense to me that an oil find that lay so dangerously close to Ghana’s border with Côte d’Ivoire would also have been so godlessly uncharitable as to neatly parcel itself out for the exclusive benefit and enjoyment of Ghanaians while the war-seasoned Ivorians continued to languish in penury." - "Who Are These “Parliamentarian Drivers”? By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., Feature Article of Tuesday, 16 March 2010.

Ghana’s Western neighbor Ivory Coast is reportedly laying claims to portions of the huge oil wealth in the deep waters of the Western Region.

There is no panic in Ghana! See map with Dzata oil field and Jubilee field off Cape Three Points Ghana (click to enlarge)

COMMENT:
Fellow Ghanaians, Our Ivorian brothers and sisters, Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo, and other imperialist stooges at the Danquah Institute, fellow Africans, and friends of Africa, lend me your ears! What does this really mean? Is Okoampa trying to tell us that " Because Ghanaians did not vote the NPP to "manage" the oil, Ghanaians have lost their right to their own natural resource?  That we can have that oil only when we vote the NPP into power?  Will they then take the oil profits for themselves stashed in their offshore accounts? Is this the kind of democracy he thinks the NPP is offering? Is this why "NPP is the only Ghanaian Beacon of Democracy"? (See Ghanaweb archives, Feature Article of Monday, 8 March 2010, Columnist Okoampa-Ahoofe, Kwame )

Kwame Okoampa Ahoofe Jr., has won the notoriety of making the most nonsensical utterances which border on what may be called "suicidal stupidity", in "Kwame Okoampa Is A Charlatan!", (Feature Article | Wed, 15 Oct 2008, by Ali-Masmadi JEHU-APPIAH). This is not very new in itself. What is new is that this one stands out as a monumental piece of idiocy churned out by this political vulture and his squatter-owners! If I were Nana Akuffo Addo, I would quickly distance myself from this kind of monumental nonsense, which even by Okoampa's own standards, stands out as an eloquent anti-Ghanaian diatribe against the sovereign will of the people, a furious and unmerited savage blow against the respect for democratic governance and constitutional rule of a government elected by popular mandate.

Okoampa continues: 

"What is also wickedly fascinating is the sudden fit of alarm that seems to have gripped the hitherto light-headed Ghanaians. All of an auspicious sudden, it is beginning to home-in to these soft-headed, happy-go-lucky and good-natured “Niggers” that premature gloating over a pure gift of nature may yet turn out to be too good to be true. It was also rather fitfully amusing that some Ghanaians should already begin to be angrily chary of the Ivorians; and, indeed, the irony of it all is that these “Angernistas” are largely what one may aptly term as diehard “Nkrumacrats,” the fanatical disciples of modern Ghana’s first postcolonial premier. Dear reader, by now, it ought to be obvious to you what “Sremu Sei Nana” (The King of the Savannah’s Grandson) is getting at. And, of course, it is the stark fact that where “Black Gold” is concerned, pan-Africanism is only the dream of a hopeless lunatic."

Okoampa continues by making demeaning remarks about his fellow countrymen.  To use such language indicates comtempt for Ghanaian men and women. Why would any Ghanaian who consider his country's vital interests so dispensable, still present himself as a member of a "Think Tank" and expect respect from his fellow Ghanaians? What does it mean if this man presents Nana Akufo Addo as his favourite candidate, and Akufo Addo approves of this association with him? Is Akuffo Addo telling us that the Danquah Institute "think tank" is fast becoming nothing but a nest of politically virulent and toxic ideas contempt for the Ghanaian people?

I want to appeal to all Ghanaians from across the political spectrum to denounce this deeply insulting article. I specifically call upon Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo to consider these comments serious enough and accord the same attention and time for condemnation as he did to the recent assault by his body guards against the supporters of his political opponents at the party's headquarters! This political contagion can and must be contained immediately. Okoampa must be isolated politically. We should erect a political cordon sanitaire against him, strictly and voluntarily imposed by all proud and peace-loving Ghanaians. "The only place available for the purveyors of doom and damnation of Ghanaians is political quarantine. All those found to be associated with such an idiot, do so at their own political risk and peril!

It is time for all right-thinking Ghanaians irrespective of political hue, to distance themselves from the greed driven gamblers with our future and our destiny as a nation. Okoampa has already pointed out that Nana Akuffo Addo is his main man for the 2012 elections (see: "NPP Flagbearership: My Choice for Election 2012", by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., Feature Article,  Wed, 03 Mar 2010. The question Nana Akuffo Addo needs to answer is, is Okoampa his man? I am sure it is not too much to ask of our potential future presidents< the simple question of how close  they themselves stand in relation to extraordinarily toxic opinions of their very close associates, particularly one who expresses su flagrant and self-confessing hatred for a country we call home?

I was taken aback that I forgot aboot put the author and began to wonder about what would make a fellow human being hate his own people so much that he imagines a scenario of war with what he calls "the war-seasoned Ivorians"? This is a thinly-veiled wish for a war over oil between Ghana and the Ivory Coast. I could nut my finger at the source of his anger and hatred. Out of frustration, I turned to his main US collaborator, a self-appointed voice of "Black Conservatives" who faithfully transmits nonsense from Okoampa on his blog for Americans to consume, to see if he offered any explanations to this strange behaviour. I was not disappointed. The answer was in the introductory sentence:

"Oil Reserves Have Been Discovered Offshore In Ghana. What Next? Bookerista Perspectives 
The Ivory Coast is claiming a portion of Ghana's offshore oil region. The center-right board member of the Danquah Institute (Ghana) and English professor in USA is glad that the Ivory Coast is making a claim because it undermines the Ghanaian center-left's claims of Pan-Africanism: "I am glad that, finally, the Ivorians are beginning to assert their right of access and enjoyment of Ghana's purportedly new-found oil wealth.  (Source: see: Bookerising.net, news site for black moderates and black conservatives.

Okoampa's problem with Ghana owning its own oil in peace is the presence of pan-Africanists in Ghana! What Pan-Africanism got to do with our precious oil? The objective of Pan-Africanism is to unite Africans and wean ourselves away from the neocolonialist cannons of conduct and behave as a free and independent people, consolidating our independence against imperialist sabotage such as the one he is scheming! Which normal African today can be angry with the noble intentions of great pan-Africanist leaders like Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to such an extent that this should cost Ghana's precious oil find? What is wrong with the intentions of the Pan-Africanists? Listen to Nkrumah here and judge for yourself, dear reader: 

“We in Africa who are pressing now for unity are deeply conscious of the validity of our purpose. We need the strength of our combined numbers and resources to protect ourselves from the very positive dangers of returning to colonialism in disguised forms. We need it to combat the entrenched forces dividing our continent and still holding back millions of our brothers. We need it to secure total African liberation. We need it to carry forward our construction of a socio-economic system that will support the great mass of our steadily rising population at levels of life which will compare with those in the most advanced countries” - Kwame Nkrumah, "Africa Must Unite!", 1960.

I am even sure that Okoampa himself does not expect to treat Ghanaians this way and get away with it! He has already been dismissed before by the New York branch of the NPP for similar outrageous declarations calling for war in Ghana, in the lead up to the 2008 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. He is used to being attacked for his aggressively stupid opinions even within his own party. The attempt by the Danquah Institute to bring Okoampa back from political ostracism begun by the New York branch of the NPP is a disservice to the good people of Ghana.

Ladies and gentlemen, we need a clear apology from Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., the author of these abominations! It is time Ghanaians of all walks of life put maximum pressure on Nana Akuffo Addo to come out once more to condemn the work of his notorious henchman or go down with him! I call on ordinary Ghanaians, especially the rank and file of the NPP to join me in this condemnation and show the way Akuffo Addo to follow and condemn Okoampa's ill-considered words!

For further information and follow-ups, I invite the interested reader to my blog. I tweet some of my comments on facebook and on twitter. If you agree or disagree with me, you may follow my thinking and reactions in a more comprehensive manner by coming to theodikro.blogspot.com. I keep most of my comments in one place. You may leave comments directly at:
theodikro.blogspot.com

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!
Cheers!


Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Nana-Akyea-Mensah
Twitter: /twitter.com/TheOdikro
Blogs:
   Feature Articles: nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com
   Comments:  theodikro.blogspot.com