I haven’t posted much this month, largely due to my IB finals which are now over. Thank God. They were quite rather consuming. More mentally than physically. But I must confess, these have been like the most relaxed exams I’ve ever written. I’m leaving HGIC, not for summer holidays; for good. I’m not excited, I’m not unexcited. It’s been a mad ride. Four long years. Years I wouldn’t trade anything on this earth for. No regrets. But I have to close this chapter now. Or at least in the next 2 days.

During my tumblr hiatus I went to Axim, and visited Nzulezu. It got me thinking. I’ll probably do a whole post about it later. The trip was fun, and memorable, to say the least. Hanging out with good friends at the beach, in the canoe and on the bus. inspired by boredom #InsideJoke.

I have even much more amazing news. I’m getting published. Details later. So so cool. God is faithful, I’m grateful. I’m back on tumblr with one helluva summer ahead of me.

I was rather disappointed with how AU Day went. I expected it to be all over the internet, maybe TV, but it was quieter then I thought. The AU website wasn’t even opening [I just tried again and it works]. This was all before an 8 hour trip to Axim. You can imagine, outside Accra, in the Western Region there was no trace of the existence of the African Union. Maybe too it’s just me. Maybe I didn’t look hard enough. But the fact still stands, I was sad. We don’t hear much about the AU like we do about the EU. Even Google discriminates is uninformed and brings up search results on Australia Day. Why not us? According to their site they’re re-branding the AU. I really hope it works out. I hope it makes it relevant to all 54 countries. Then we can start looking to solve our problems from within. Just a quick thought. Ask yourself, how much do you know about the AU. Apart from the fact that it’s headquarters are in Addis Ababa. And maybe that the President of Benin is current president. It says a lot, unless of course I’m just being too critical]. No I’m not. Things need to change pretty soon

PS. The title of this post is like their re-branding campaign’s tagline. 

There’s a widespread problem in this country. A problem that would take a while to fix. One that would have to take an about-turn to fix. One with both the old and the young. We don’t know how to talk. The first reason I can give is that we don’t really know anything. We are generally unaware. More like we can’t think for ourselves. Those who “know” [emphasis on the quotation marks] don’t really know. They just know stories, dates, facts, and cannot apply them to make reasonable judgments. And worst of all, we just follow the crowd. The sad thing about following the crowd is everyone is following. No one actually knows who’s leading. 
I’ve always complained about comments on Myjoyonline articles. You read through them and you wonder where on earth the commenters were educated. Taking stances not because they make sense, but because they support a particular party [maybe because they were born into a family that supports that party, or some other unreasonable reason]. And when you staunchly [to an extreme] support a party, allowing it to blind you, do you not realise that you’ll be biased, and would never accept when someone you support is in the wrong? The problem with the party politics in Ghana is that, honestly, its either black or white. Face it, the other parties just don’t count. At least not yet. And in my opinion, the two aren’t any different [or any better]. They’d rather focus on whitewashing and blackwashing themselves to get an upper hand over the other when in fact, they are one and the same. That’s why news all year has been about scandals, problems, issues here and there against this party or the other. People can’t see beyond the bias. You still hear people engage in plainly foolish arguments. And there are those who would just vote for another party just because they have crossed one off their lists. When you do that what can you expect from the party you vote for? What makes you think they’re any better?
We misunderstand. We think the politicians are the bosses. But it’s not supposed to be so. Aren’t they are our employees? Isn’t it that straightforward? A politician runs for elections, just as someone writes an application letter for a job, and we should define our targets. We have a longterm national development plan, not developed by the hungry politicians but by able professionals across different sectors in the country. With such a plan, we know what our aims and targets are. We don’t expect to see something slated to happen ten years into the future, three years into office. That way there’s a yardstick. They can’t deceive us into thinking they’re making progress. They don’t make decisions that would in the short-run make them look re-electable after four years, whilst hurting us badly in the long-run.
Sadly, it’s not so. They do whatever it takes to deceive us just because we think they’re the bosses. Remember, we make up the country. We are their employers, and they should be held responsible for everything they do. I don’t know how this would change. There’s not really a 3rd option in the race. Is the next generation just going to enter the system, join the parties, and end up being the same? The parties aren’t any good. I’m not talking “fixing roads good”, I’m talking of real change. This probably means the answer to our problems is not with any political party. It’s with the people. The system. We need to educate. So that when the facts, history, dates, names, blame, accounts of past mistakes [all politicians on radio] are stripped off, there’s still the ability to think and make reasonable arguments. Not the chew and pour politics. No. I listen to [and nowadays occasionally watch] NewsFile on Saturday mornings on Joy and you have politicians who are just there to support and defend everything to do with their parties without reasoning. Hence the occasional thoughtless comments and insults. When you haven’t got a voice [or a mind] of your own, that’s what happens. The problems is anyone just becomes a politician. The problem is that our educational systems don’t make impact. They just give them degrees to move into high places, and then leave them there to mess up. 
This thoughtless talk must end. Even if it should take a scapegoat to do so. Politics should not interfere with government. I don’t see why in Ghana the ruling government is always about the party in power. don’t you think once in power, there should be some separation from the party. President and cabinet ministers do their jobs as they are. And party officials do theirs separately. Making arrests, or setting policies wouldn’t have to be politicised. Dealing with someone, would not depend on what party he belongs to, and what people will say. The constitution should be the reference. Not the voices. Because the voices never represent the people. The votes are not the voices. The people who are out there making noise are insignificant compared to the number of electorates. Once you are in government, you are a government of Ghana. True, not everyone voted for you, but you’re still accountable to even those who didn’t vote for you.
We should wise up. If we’ve got nothing better to say, I suggest we shut up. If a politician has got nothing better to say, why is he a politician, but still, he should shut up.
Side note to the staunch supporters of political parties: Judge whatever you stand for before going with the flow. To those who think riots and “choo boi” will work, you better know that of there’s a conflict, those inciting the violence have money [and sadly influence] and would be on there next flight out, if anything happens.
Regardless of all these, it’s a great thing to be a Ghanaian, and people, please don’t mess it.
Thank you.

Note to Anon: I apologise for the delay with this post. My final IB exams are coming up; in a few days. And the past few days have been intense, but it’s here now.

Speaking of apologies, I apologise to everyone [that matters] who has been kept in the dark on matters regarding me and college. It was deliberate though; my way of shielding off your opinions [and influence]. No hard feelings. I just wanted to be sure that whatever decision I made truly reflected what I wanted.

I wouldn’t call all this a mess, but yeah, its definitely MESSY. The kind of messy that sorts itself out if you trust in God and minimise your anxiety. It’s been a helluva journey. A journey of faith, belief in God, and personal growth. Started off somewhere, now I’m here.

I applied early to Colgate University. I felt like it was all His will. I prayed, trusted, believed, hoped. And I just felt like that was it. I don’t think it was only me. I know of others who did likewise. Who had that school that felt like it was the one; the apparentlyperfect match. Feeling like that was His will. And it looked good. I didn’t get in. And I continued trusting… in fact, let me not sugarcoat this. The trusting didn’t come immediately, like some reflex action. No. That Saturday, when I opened the letter [I had no idea it was even the decision] I was confused. I was in limbo. I couldn’t see what the next four years looked like. Let me borrow Kirk Franklin’s words. I couldn’t see when the pain was a part of the plan. If you’ve been through thid college application mess before you’ll probably find this state familiar. That moment [not so awkward] when you have no idea what your future looks like. I managed to get over it soon enough. But I didn’t want to do one of those “I didn’t get in but I’m grateful to God” posts. Even though that’s exactly how I felt. Grateful. But I didn’t know what for. Coming out publicly to say  so felt a bit empty [maybe even hypocritical] because I myself really hadn’t understood what was happening.

In my silence [living as if nothing had happened], I watched my faith transform. I realised getting bounced by a college is not the end of the world [If it were there’d be a lot more Harold Campings. Or?]. if this were the road of life’s journey, it wouldn’t pass for a road block, or even a speed ramp. Maybe I’ll call it a pothole. God always has a plan, and I don’t know how He does it but it always falls into place. Now settled, and decided, I can unfeelingly recount what happened. I had imagined myself getting into Colgate. Just so you know they have this celebration every Friday the 13^th [Colgate Day]. And my birthday fell on one. How cool it would have been. But that was my will. Imagine He didn’t let His will prevail, I would never have recognized the amazingness of what I have now. God’s will was for me to apply, not get in, get stronger. That’s the sequence. It sounds like the clichéd blessing in disguise. A lot of people may wonder what happened to God’s plan. It’s still there and it’s definitely better than ours. Patiently watch it unfold and you’ll marvel.

“I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

In my becoming stronger I’ve realised how different we all are. What would bring someone success would not necessarily bring mine. That’s why I really like the last two lines of Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken. I’ve already mentioned that here before. I’m taking the road less taken. Not because of a lack of options. No, not at all. Out of choice. It’s not a popular choice among a lot of people. It’s usually a last resort. For me, it’s my reach.

God willing I’ll be in Ghana for the next four years having my undergraduate education at Ashesi University College. I’ll miss my friends. So much. But there’s Skype. Skype works. I really like the school. I was there last week. The atmosphere, architecture, students, president, opportunities… I see a opportunities there for me. My father has always told me its not about where you go, but what you do, and who you are.

Hopefully this blog would be running for the next four years. I invite you to witness my maturation. So long as God dey, no shaking. One last favour; keep me in your prayers. Not just me but everyone you know heading off for college. Wherever it is.

Cheers!