Friday, August 28, 2009

Ghana To Travel To "Space": Ambition or Foolhardiness..?

I heard from source, to be specific - Cyberworld that, yesterday marked the 40th Anniversary of the NASA Moon Landing. That must be a great feat. I have my doubts though, if that thing really did happen. Did Neil Armstrong and his colleagues actually land on the moon 40 years ago?

Someway, somehow, I'm tempted to agree with a friend who thinks the whole thing is one big hoax and a carefully choreographed US prank, just to prove their superiority over the USSR. You know how these two have been engaged in superiority contest since then.

One other thing that makes the picture a lot more blurred, is the fact that 40 year ago, technology was barely developed, but that claim was slapped on the world. And yet, till date we still know very little about the moon. Today, with all the dot.com/dot.net technologies and speed of lightning, NASA is now 'planning' to return to the moon in 2030. Woooaw! What a plan! Why should it take them that long?

I wonder if I will be alive to see that day. But they did that 40 years ago with crappy & cheap technology. One would have expected that an encore of that feat be achieved earlier than 2030. Anyway, that is an entirely US headache and not something for my small head.. My take is on Ghana's fanciful thinking about space travel. Yes, you heard me right. Ghana's Fanciful SPACE TRAVEL..

Listening to News Night on Joy Fm; I heard a few arguments to the effect that Ghana should be considering a space travel. Oh yes.. You just heard it.. Only from me. Don't doubt it. I was amused and I laughed silently listening to that trash. Sorry, its more a blunder than a trash.

It is absolute wishful thinking. Travel to space to do what in the first place? Honestly, given even 50 years from today, I bet we are not and never going to get anywhere near there. As usual, let me be the only pessimist here. You can join me if you do agree. I don't expect you to agree with me though. In fact, I'd be glad if Ghana and her so-called scientist can prove me wrong for once. But sadly, I'm going to be proved right. We won't even be able to build an aircraft in the next 50 years, talk-less of a spaceship. Where is Ghana Airways, Black star Line and the rest...??
My premise is this simple. 50 years after that miserable independence (I wonder who at all advised Kwame Nkrumah and his friends to get that from the British, we would have been better off); one which we were proud to celebrate with USD$70 million, we have nothing to show. We have not yet been able to figure out how to keep hawkers off the streets of the Accra Central Business District, we don't have a stable National Education and Youth Policy.

We are always shifting blame on other people instead of looking for the right solution to our problems. We can't think of a sustainable way of providing affordable clean drinking water for even a quarter of the nation's population. I live in a community known for it affluence and all but, we still have to buy water every week since we moved there.

We still can't find enough intellect to create a good drainage system in the capital, Accra. Our major health institutions have remained largely as transit points to the grave. No wonder, when our political leaders have simple "kaka" [trans: toothache], they fly outside, of course at our expense, to get treatment. When people elsewhere are traveling to the moon, we are still struggling to reach our villages from the city.

50 years after independence, NDC and NPP activists are still fighting over who has the political right to keep the keys to public toilets in Cape Coast, Accra New-Town and Axim; and we are talking about traveling where? To the moon? Please... Spare the crap-talk.

Let's try to figure out how to clear the debris in the Korle Lagoon, take the primary school kids from under the mango trees in Garu Tempane, Yendi, Bawku and Zabuzugu-Tatale, into very good and well-equipped classroom buildings; let's work out a permanent solution to the perennial flooding in Accra; let's find a way of reducing the driving hours between Adenta to the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange and to the Central Business District.

If we are able to find our way around these little things, then we can have a clear space in our heads to spare on thoughts of a space travel. Simply put, age-old wisdom should teach us to count one before two. Let's not place the cart before the horse.

My fingers hurt so badly... Heading to ACP Canteen opposite DWA-Ghana with Fred and Joyce [colleagues from work] to find some beans & fried plantain as usual. Accraboy, how I go do am...??

Photolinks Credit: AtoKD's Blog

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

HAHAHHA
I salute you... Fantastic observation. Yes to proper education... Yes to clearing up the debris and trash, yes to proper health care, yes to clean water, yes to the youth!!!!!!!

To the moon? Oh come on... Get these things sorted and then yeah we can go to the moon or where ever...
ma kaa ma ka!!!

Ghana_Hall_of_Shame said...

Now that you got this off your chest, I bet the beans and fried plantain will taste even better.
Like you said, we should collectively focus on the day-to-day issues affecting the people. The moon will still be there when we are done solving them.

Edward Tagoe said...

As much I would want Ghana to lunch a space program because of the LONG term benefits, I still do think we are no where near gambling with the tax-payers money on this useless venture for now, especially when 50% of candidates fail simple and basic BECE

Anonymous said...

MMM yum... now I know what I am having for din din!

Anonymous said...

lol. Good piece but we can really dream. Noah built the ark when it had not rained. Maybe just maybe we wil take the lead. Kep it up.

Unknown said...

lol...Moon eh?Is that the name of a newly discovered mountain in Ghana? lol

So who's fault is it that there's debris and trash in the lagoons? Who put them there in the first place? There is something fundamentally wrong with the mindset of our people oo. I have seen gentlemen/ladies in flashy cars throwing trash out of their cars before. Drives me nuts but hmm, there's so many adults an insolent child like me can reprimand. Very fun read!

Unknown said...

@ Sankofapictures; Well, as you can see from the beginning. The heading reads, "Ambition or Foolhardiness..?".. We have a lot going on that needs serious attention but they won't concentrate on them well. Its good, you are in support of my crying out loud on the space issue.

@ Ghana_Hall_of_Shame: Trust me, the beans and friend plantain went well. Sure, I agree with you on focusing on day-to-day issues affecting the people than thinking about going to the Moon.. Thanks man.

@ Sankofapictures: just because I had beans and fried plantain, you too wanna have the same. Copy-copy.. hooo-hooo.. Lol. HOw was yours? Did you get original palm-oil and gari for it...?? I hope not. No place like home. GH sweet pass everything.. Lol

@ Maxine: Please ask again. How many people in Ghana have been able to climb the Kwahu or Afadjato Mountains...?? Mass education needs to be conducted more often so our people will learn from their ignorant acts. I don't really blame these "ladies & gentlemen" who normally throw trash on the street. They see the street as been equal to their homes and offices.. No matter how you clean a pig, he always return to the "at3tsey" [tran: mud].

@ Travis: Thanks for spread the word on Zillionsb. Will have a look at it and see how it goes..

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Unknown said...

Well the article is good one. One thing i would like to point out is that we consider African countries far behind the rest of the world. Believe me Africa is not the same is it used to be 50 years ago. They have also developed a lot. Their tourism industry is on the boom. A lot of cities have offices, bars and other urban charms. There is a fierce competition between various airlines for cheap airline tickets for Ghana and other countries of africa. obviously, it will take time but i am optimistic that the Africans will be able to make their own rocket in 2050.