When a country exiles her own people

The subject of brain drain has been a long-standing debate among Ghanaians (and Africans generally).

We’re usually quick to condemn people who leave countries in Africa to live in the Americas, Europe/UK and Asia. We question their love for their countries. But, hey, man, wait a minute! There are so many unanswered questions.

Since I came to the UK (about one year, eight months now), almost all Ghanaians I have interacted with have expressed the desire to return home and settle. But they always ask series of questions about how life will be like if they return home. They have very little hope in making a ‘good’ living in Ghana.

Imagine a graduate from a University in the UK returning to Ghana and finding no job. How frustrating that is! How do you expect people who have experienced life overseas to come back and live in Ghana without having jobs? We live in a country where for about three or four years now (correct me if I’m wrong) the government has placed an embargo on employment.

Have we ever thought of how the young Ghanaian graduates who complete our universities every year in Ghana survive? Imagine paying huge sums of money to acquire education and yet not finding a job after school.

The simple reason being that the Government does not have the financial wherewithal to hire new workers, yet there is so much work in Ghana – schools without teachers, universities without lecturers, so much filth that needs clearing and cleaning, a.s.o.

The irony and sadness is that while the youth cannot find jobs, they see their leaders living in affluence, with profligate spending. How do we expect the youth to stay in such a country?

Imagine the massive corruption and thievery in Ghana. Wasn’t Mark Twain right? ‘We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office’. Our leaders steal from us left, right, centre in wanton dissipation of the public purse. Ghanaian laws respect politicians and big thieves. Compare this to countries where laws are no respecter of persons.

Consider a country where to access services, you need to pay a bribe to the one who is, in fact, paid to provide that service. Compare that to places like the UK, Europe and the Americas where you enter an office to demand a service and the first thing you hear is, ‘Hi, welcome. My name is so and so. How may I help you?’

And then you’re served joyfully. In Ghana, you go to offices and those paid to serve you behave as though they were doing you a favour. If you insist that you won’t offer any bribes, you’re the bad one – you may not even be served and there is no one to report to in order to have justice.

Ponder a situation where even if you have money to invest in Ghana, you need to go round offices to pay bribes to be able to register and operate a company. Have we forgotten the bribes people pay at the ports to clear their imported goods? Sometimes, we import goods and when they get to the ports, port officials steal them.

I know a friend who has vowed never to import any car to Ghana because import duties of cars in our ports are often more than costs of purchase and importation combined, meanwhile, we do not manufacture cars in Ghana. I am, in fact, a victim of this callousness at the port. How sensible is that? These are some of the frustrations people are going through to make a life for themselves in Ghana. Otherwise, they are willing and they desire to come back home.

I have spoken with some PhD holders, who are willing to come and teach in Ghanaian universities, but sometimes they are unsure whether they’ll get appointments without the usual frustrations people go through in Ghana, and have access to facilities to teach and do research as compared to what they have overseas.

A PhD holder tells me of his frustration at trying to get a lectureship appointment in Ghana, and had to finally give up and return to the UK. I can mention names but for privacy and ethical reasons, I don’t want to. They’re willing to come home.

Recently, I spent hours speaking with a friend on the phone here in the UK. He had called me to enquire about how he could get some business to run in Ghana, as he was thinking about going back to settle in Ghana. I told him to speak with people in Ghana who had business background, as I did not have business acumen. But we discussed few things: we spoke about electricity, water, roads, a.s.o.

Reflect over the state of electricity supply in Ghana. In a country where there is almost always a power outage to the detriment of the growth of businesses, how do we expect people who have travelled to countries where they never experience power outages to return and live in Ghana?

Our government cannot offer the youth employment, yet the private sector is in crisis as a result of erratic power supply. You have to do something, Mr. Politician.

How about access to water? In Ghana, if you are not lucky to live in a place close to a ‘big’ man’s house, you may never even dream of getting water to flow through your taps. People walk miles to get water, which is even sometimes unwholesome. Compare to living in a country where there is never a second when you do not have water running through your taps. You have to do something, Mr. Politician.

Just picture the state of our roads in Ghana. Are they not death traps? It takes between four and five hours, for instance, to travel the about 250km Accra-Kumasi road (the main business route in Ghana), coupled with attacks by armed robbers. The road is not motorable; in fact, it’s deadly. How do you convince people who live in the Americas, Europe and the UK to come back home and set up businesses given such poor road networks? We have driven our own people away.

Think of a country where the moment you board a bus or a car to travel you feel as though you have already signed your death warrant. Think of the frequent road accidents. While on board a vehicle, you begin to pray that God takes you home safely because you feel you’ll be involved in an accident. It’s not uncommon for a Ghanaian to breathe a sigh of relief when he alights from a car, and remark, ‘Thank God for travelling mercies’.

A Ghanaian friend of mine in the UK tells me of how he used to pray before he set off on every journey while in Ghana, but how he never does when he boards a bus or a car in the UK. He knows it’s comparatively about ninety-nine percent safer to travel on the roads in the UK. Why? Because, unlike in Ghana, the traffic laws and regulations in the UK work.

I can confidently say that most Ghanaians living overseas desire and are willing to come back home, for they are not happy living abroad. Living abroad means chasing money; chasing money means little happiness.

Life overseas is all about chasing money, feeling that you need to do something for your family back home in Ghana. Ghanaians love their families; they want to be with them.

Living abroad is solitary and lonely; Ghanaians do not like it. They do not command as much respect as they do in Ghana; Ghanaians love to be respected.

Have you ever experienced a situation where, for any crime or anything bad that happens, you are the first to be suspected? Have you ever experienced disdain based on the mere fact that you don’t belong where you are?

Such is the life of the Ghanaian (and African) living in the Americas, Europe/the UK and Asia. Oh, how glorious and joyful it is for a Ghanaian to live with family and friends in Ghana, in Africa, in wealth, in dignity, in respect and in magnanimity. I put it to you that Ghanaians abroad want to come home. Do something now, Mr. Politician.

Unfortunately, our torchbearers have lost their way and so do the people. They have killed the spirit and soul of the Ghanaian. Our leaders’ actions and inactions, our leaders’ corruption, bribery and thievery, our leaders’ dishonesty, our leaders’ exploitation, their sleaze, their venality and their debasement of the dignity of the Ghanaian have driven the children of Ghana away. Ghanaians, especially the youth, leave Ghana (and Africa) because life chances for them are slim and bleak. This is the dissatisfaction driving Ghanaians into economic exile.

When I analyse things, when I examine events, when I think about happenings in Ghana, I lament, I grieve, I cry, I bewail, I bemoan and I mourn in my heart.

But, hey, wait a minute! One thing encourages me – the mere expression of the desire by the many with whom I have interacted to go back home. I believe we will get there, except that it will be a very long journey to victory. It may not be during my time, it may not be in your time, but I’m playing my part towards that end, so play your part. Until then, let us, in unison, sing:

Onward Ghanaian youth Onward children of Ghana Marching off to develop our nation Onward African youth Onward children of Africa Marching off to develop our continent. We’ll be strong in our resolve We’ll be bold in our resolution We’ll be resolute in our course: To fight the corrupt To kill corruption To reclaim our land of wealth To create wealth for our people. We’ll be renewed In flesh and in body In spirit and in soul To break the jinx. God save our country and continent!