Wednesday, January 22, 2020. Madina market. Amidst the mildly chaotic throng, the sweltering heat, the warm, dust-laced air and the discordant blend of a thousand sounds, a young man did not only catch my attention; he earned my respect. He was dressed in a lemon-green sleeveless top over black truck trousers. For effect, he wore a square academic cap (graduate cap) and a pair of large, extraterrestrial-looking eyeglasses. It was his purposeful choice of fashion accessories that caught my eye. His branding hit the impulse-buying nerve which had laid dormant in me for several years and I ordered a coconut from him. I had no appetite for the white meat, so I drank the water, handed the pod back to him as I initiated a conversation. Like pebbles securely lodged in a stream, we remained rooted to the same spot as the never-stemming tide of people scurried past us. Among the many who were attracted to him, many were bemused. Still, other passersby wore the expression of numbness as though under heavy facial anesthesia.
My initial fascination was because of how the young entrepreneur had branded himself. However, I quickly discovered that complementing the brand representation was something more endearing – the sunbeams of joy he exuded – with which he plied his humble trade amidst the flowing human and vehicular streams. I could tell, beyond the obvious facial clues that he was at peace with himself and that he understood the service he was rendering as an enterprise beyond simple commerce. I have not a tincture of doubt that with perseverance, focus and vision, this young man will go places. As in the vulnerable acorn seed lies the might of the oak tree, so does greatness often come clothed in ordinariness. “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings not mean men” – Proverbs 22:29. If this text is God-inspired, and the Inspirer is no respecter of persons, then the unalterable truth in it applies to all men in equal measure – to this ordinary-looking young man of modest means as much as it does a blue-blooded nobleman in the Jubilee House.
But the ill-willed bearer of the vessel of cold, bitter water will appear where the flame of inspiration is ignited. And so it was that in the few minutes of my interaction with the young self-starter, somebody mockingly remarked in the Twi language as he walked past us: “Adɛn oyɛ graduate na ɔton kube?”- Is he a graduate selling coconut? An example of the demoralising, superficial judgements now commonplace in our society. What did it matter whether or not this budding entrepreneur was a university graduate?
Ours is a sunblest land. But many a soul is often bereft of sunlight. The soul-nourishing golden sunbeams are often veiled by dismissiveness, pessimism, cynicism and defeatism. We have become a people more prone to scorn than we are to praise. We belittle humble strivings when we could help shield the feeble flame of effort. We empty the ashtray of sterile hopelessness on fertile fields of promise – casting hot ashes upon tender sprouts – snuffing life out of that which held the potential of greatness.
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And while it may require a man to draw on every hidden reserve of courage to start a modest deed, it may not require much to dispirit him. A quick quizzical look could be that back-breaking straw. An off-the-cuff jest, made in a fleeting moment of excitement could be as deadly as a dagger to the jugular vein. Mockery is a dissipater of willpower. Without eternal vigilance on self, it is easy for egotistic tendencies to attend our transactions with those we may consciously or unconsciously perceive as less fortunate than ourselves.
Yet, from the days of bygone antiquity, Ubuntu has been the bedrock of our Mpuntu. Whether through the spoken word, music or dance – whether in official or sundry circles, we were a people who weathered many of life’s vicissitudes by being one another’s keeper. But along the journey, many have veered off the good path. Today, in our so-called civilised state, we are putting up taller structures in our cities and hurriedly pulling down the columns, beams and foundations upon which rests the essence of lasting human progress – Love. Many would silently rejoice seeing a brother’s heads bowed, a sister’s shoulders drooped in forlorn, the next man’s dream crushed, a friend’s hands thrown up in surrender. The quick-tongued passerby-commentator was a fellow young man who, like many of our youth, was probably unemployed. But right before his eyes, he failed to see his teacher, his inspirer. This attitude is self-defeating. It does nothing to serve our collective good. We must change the narrative. We must repent, make restitution, reform. The political establishment will not do it for us. It will not feature as the item of least significance on a manifesto. We must do it for us. Speak a word in season. In your silence, radiate Love. See the sunny side.
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Laud E. Nyampong Freeman.
The writer is a Communications, PR and Marketing Consultant with close to two decades of professional experience across several industries. He may be contacted on Tel: (GH) 0268811122 and Email: laudfreeman@gmail.com
