TALKING DRUM: When Lawrence Tetteh sung ‘Obiara Nnyɛ Obiara’

Dr. Lawrence Tetteh & Ebony Reigns

One thing was apparently clear among many of her fans and the general public that thronged the forecourt of the State House― they wanted to verify if, indeed, their one time celebrity was really dead and gone for good.

Of a truth, Priscilla Opoku-Kwarteng who was famed and known in showbiz as Ebony Reigns was gone. The bespectacled corpse of the dancehall diva, draped in a white flowing gown with a touch of her Maame Hwɛ video looks of a scarf, laid still in a transparent glass enclosure.

Ebony Reigns in her Maame Hwɛ looks

Family members, friends, sympathizers and music lovers filed past the late songstress drowned in tears. The once vibrant young talent could not utter a word. That is how cruel death is when it lays its icy hands on one!

The tributes and speeches that poured in at the funeral were all very touchy. However, I must admit it was the sermon of Dr. Lawrence Tetteh, founder of World Miracle Outreach, which got me reflecting on what life really has for us as humans and how we must constantly remind ourselves that there is a God.

The preacher had said that his sermon was not directed at or for Ebony. He repeatedly reminded the thousands of mourners gathered at the forecourt of the State House and the million others who watched proceedings on television that one must seek God first above all things.

Indeed, Dr. Lawrence Tetteh had made use of many anecdotes and songs to buttress his point. His singing of Barima Sidney’s Obiara Nnyɛ Obiara, to wit, no individual is a cut above his fellow human, got me immersed in sober reflection.

The musician performs

“Ebony whose voice sounded better than that of birds is dead and gone? Former President John Evans Atta Mills who had an oversight of the whole nation was also gone for good? What about acclaimed mathematical physicist Professor Francis Kofi Ampenyi Allotey; a whole library gone!” I reflected.

Undoubtedly, many were also buried the very day Ebony was laid to rest. The world, perhaps, did not hear of their death and burial because they did not have the fame, influence and money like others. Nonetheless, at the end of the day, they all ended up shoved into the belly of mother earth. Indeed, Dr. Lawrence Tetteh was right; Obiara Nnyɛ Obiara!

We are all cut at par, no matter how gifted others may be. We are all equal in the sight of the Lord no matter how rich some are than others.

Back in my days in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo region, I heard of musicians I never thought could meet… not to mention becoming a close friend. Then, in my first year at the Ghana Institute of Journalism, a lecturer gave us an assignment. My group was tasked to have a chat with a musician asking him/her about the assertion that musicians abuse drugs to perform well on stage.

We got in touch with Barima Sidney, arranged a day to meet him for an interview and that day came to pass. I have since 2012 been a very close friend of his. Years into our friendship, I realized he just did not sing Obiara Nnyɛ Obiara. He meant every bit of it.

No matter who you are, Barima Sidney finds room in his heart to accommodate you like a brother or sister. Today, before he releases a song he would send it to me to pass judgment on it. “Solo, listen to this single [song] to see if we are good to go,” he would send me a message.

Barima Sidney

I can say same about many other public figures’ good inter-personal relationship including FlowKing Stone. The question, therefore, is, why do other people at times feel bossy and better than others?

Ebony I never met or saw in person. However, one could tell from afar she was such a lively young girl; a musician sadly demonized by self-canonized saints who even passed judgment on her, right after her February 9, 2018 tragedy that she will go to hell. He who will go to heaven or hell is not in the hands of men… but God.

We are all not above criticism, hence, those who reprimanded her by drawing her attention to tone down on her apparel for her show business were not far from right. But for a fellow human being to proclaim outright hell on another, ‘I can’t think far!’ At least, students of the Bible know that a man condemned by the world was saved by Jesus Christ on the cross.

Dr. Lawrence Tetteh at Ebony’s funeral cautioned the world that watched and listened to him that his sermon was not for the girl who could no longer hear humans speak. It was directed at us; you and me. That, we must strive and find space in our hearts and serve the living God and as well as respect one another while we have breath.

Ebony was laid to rest at the Osu Cemetery in Accra. This cemetery has an inscription that reminds that the living shall one day return.

Sleep well, Nana Hemaa; the girl I dearly cherished from afar. May the Rock of Ages give us endurance to hold on to our faith and be humble.

The writer is a broadcast journalist with Media General (3FM/TV3). Views expressed here are solely his and do not, in anyway, reflect his organisation’s editorial policy.

Email: nehusthan4@yahoo.com

Twitter: @Aniwaba

TALKING DRUM: The exam Nana Addo & his Minister failed!

President Akufo Addo

He was my classmate back at St. James Primary and JHS in Sunyani. For him, the fever that often characterized an impending examination was never his headache.

Thomas (not real name) always had a simple strategy. He went to the exams room with his prepared answers; his own answers. He did not care whether these “already-made” answers stood the probability of meeting the requirements of the unknown questions. His academic performance? Your guess is as good as mine!

Interestingly, this strategy that never saw my friend smile upon seeing his results has been adopted by many of our political leaders. Finding the simplest way of tackling filth in our country has become so hectic a task as civilians escaping war in Syria.

Former President John Dramani Mahama tried battling filth in our cities by introducing the National Sanitation Day (NSD). As I have written about earlier, the Mahama administration did Ghanaians a great disservice with the NSD. Why should you indirectly tell us to litter indiscriminately throughout the month and then use only the first Saturday of the following month to clean?

As of now, we still have not found the antidote to filth in our society. Can you imagine?

As it stands, President Akufo Addo and his Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Kofi Adda, have still not devised a strategy to tackle Accra’s filth and that of Ghana at large. Is getting our societies clean a hurdle too big for us? It is a very simple task, if you ask me!

Writing under the heading “The simplest question I would have asked Prez Akufo Addo” in June 2017, I reached out to the President by offering concrete ways of getting his dream of Accra becoming the cleanest city in Africa realized. Did he read? What about Mr. Kofi Adda?

“Mr. President, can you enforce a by-law that will get people who litter indiscriminately to pay a fine? Can you let people be responsible for their irresponsible behaviour?” I wrote in the said article. I still stand by this as the only way to see our dream materialized.

Mr. Kofi Adda, speaking in Kumasi in the Ashanti region recently, mentioned that chips are being installed on dustbins and other waste collection equipment in the country to track the disposal of waste. More so, he reiterated government’s efforts in getting huge sums of Ghana Cedis owned by waste collection agencies cleared.

The Sanitation Minister commended the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) registering all tricycles that are involved in waste collection in Kumasi. Indeed, the KMA’s approach is much commendable unlike Mr. Adda’s.

Making use of technology in every aspect of human’s endeavor is great. Mr. Kofi Adda’s chip-in-dustbins cannot be described as good considering our current situation. By all indications, Ghana does not need that approach yet in tackling filth. The greater portion of our attention should be on getting citizens and residents to stop littering. Imposing heavy fines on defaulters should be an order. When we have no waste generated, there will be no need to have chips installed in dustbins.

One question keeps lingering on my mind on government’s attempt at paying monies it owes the collection agencies. Would it ever happen that after we have paid these monies to waste collectors, our streets and communities will be free of filth? If you answered no, you are right.

There will be still heaps of garbage at Kaneshie, Lapaz, Adabraka, Madina, Teshie, Nungua, Mallam, and at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange among other places. The other nine regions would also have their own share of the mountains of garbage. Why? We have decided not to look at the source of filth; waste generation.

I was once asked if I had a personal score to settle with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) simply because I overly criticize it. The truth is that this body is not fulfilling its mandate, thus, my backlash. AMA’s Sanitation Office is situated at Kaneshie yet Kaneshie is one of the filthiest places in the Greater Accra region. Incompetence is the hallmark of the AMA.

Uncollected waste after it was scooped from the gutter at Bubiashie- Accra. Photo/Pious Addofo

Again, in my June 2017 article, I humbly advised President Akufo Addo on his dream of cleaning Accra. “Mr. President […] if you really have your promise of seeing Accra become a clean city at heart, please, let the AMA stay away from this,” I hinted.

Mr. President, I watched on television how some ministries here in Accra were cleaning their surroundings on Friday morning, March 16 2018. Reports indicated that you had instructed them. I did not get the import of the said news item so well but, Sir, did you really issue that order? Is it going to be every Friday affair? Why should adults who know right from wrong litter their work place?

If we want a clean city, we must begin to rigorously enforce sanitation by-laws. People must go to jail for littering anything. People must be given brooms to sweep from Danquah Circle to the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange, Lapaz to Mallam Junction and Madina to 37 to serve as deterrent to others.

According to Straitstimes.com, “authorities [in Singapore] meted out more than 31,000 fines last year [2016], a seven-year high. The figure was also more than thrice the 8,195 tickets issued in 2012.” Few people find themselves prosecuted on sanitation charges here in Ghana and the time to fill the courts is now.

Mr. President, it appears that you and your Sanitation Minister have woefully failed the examination you sat on getting us a clean city. Like my friend, Thomas, you have submitted ‘answers’ that are really not answers. The good thing, however, is that there is more room for improvement. There is the chance for a re-sit!

The writer is a broadcast journalist with 3FM 92.7. Views expressed here solely remain his and do not, in anyway, reflect his organisation’s editorial policy.

Email: nehusthan4@yahoo.com

Twitter: @Aniwaba