OILY BUSINESS
You struck oil,
Now everyone wants a piece of you,
They all want in on the action
So many of them come bearing Trojan horses
Hope you’re taking lessons from Niger Delta.
We’ve not even seen a barrel of oil
Yet the squabbles and quarrels have already begun.
Who is really in control?
Have we put measures in place
For this oily parade?
Legislation
And other foundations
Move in at a trickle,
Snails playing catch up with
A frenetic oil craze.
An oily blessing
Or an oily mess?
Is this an asset
Or a liability?
Jury’s still out on that one.
Are we really prepared for this oily business?
Have we catered for the poor fishermen?
Have we taken into consideration
The wetlands and fragile ecosystems?
Are we well equipped for this oil task?
Are the towns prepared for this oil boom?
The oil necromancy,
A dream come true
Or a nightmare unfolding?
Please tuck in your shirts
And pull up your pants,
Do hold onto your hats
For this oily trip has just begun.
Measure not the work
Until the day’s out
And the labour done.
Monday, July 5, 2010
STX AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING
STX AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Wears a shroud
Forever veiled
Clouded and unclear
Clad in darkness,
In a sea of mist and haze
Mysterious confusion.
Deals done in the dark
A people left with questions
People asking how come?
Where from?
Korea?
Who is STX?
They claim to be builders,
Sure they’re builders
They just probably might be builders
But the question still remains
Why STX?
Who is STX?
Where from STX?
Anybody ever heard of them before?
Saw them on my television last weekend,
A documentary on STX.
Looked like a fast food joint commercial to me.
From South Korea you say, this STX
Really?
All the way from Asia?
Are they any good?
They must be,
We got them here all the way from
South Korea, that’s quite a distance
To travel for affordable housing.
How affordable is affordable housing?
Is it this pretty reliable housing?
How much per unit of this affordable housing?
You call it affordable,
Pretty relative, that word affordable
How affordable is affordable?
Who knows the meaning of affordable?
You’ve spoken enough confusing English
Kindly speak to Ghana in plain and simple English,
The man on the street fails understand you
Neither does the unemployed university
Graduate sitting beside him
What happened to communication?
Your brand of English is topsy-turvy.
How many units do you plan on building?
200,000 you say,
Pretty impressive, 200,000 eh?
At least you are thinking affordable,
That should count for something right?
What is this I hear about GREDA complaining?
Apparently, they feel they have been handed the
Short end of the stick.
I guess Ghanaian builders are that terrible,
GREDA and co, your nation feels you’re terrible.
All those housing units you built,
Your nation does not consider them good enough buildings,
Maybe they look like shacks or tents,
I can’t quite tell, kindly ask your nation Ghana.
What a shame, we had to go all the way to South Korea
To bring in their builders.
Ghana needed affordable houses,
Can you guess what Ghana did?
We went all the way to South Korea
Looking for affordable housing.
What makes these Koreans so impressive?
A better work ethic?
Do they manufacture burnt bricks with bare hands?
Maybe they work for 24 hours nonstop
Who knows?
Only those who brought them in can tell us.
What happened to creating jobs?
What happened to empowering the Ghanaian
To take the reigns of his nation’s destiny?
Are Ghanaian contractors only good for pothole patching,
Replacement of rotten floor boards and pulling of road side weeds?
Isn’t it way past time we developed our nation’s human resource
Other than running after those of others?
Ever wondered how come their skilled labour
Seem much better than ours?
Are they really better than ours?
What makes our builders bad?
What makes STX better?
Can we not make ours good enough?
Have we thought of making ours better?
You overlooked the local contractors,
That’s an endorsement of how terrible you feel they are.
So many questions hang in the air,
STX and affordable housing,
What makes those two synonymous?
What is the nitty-gritty of that deal?
We do not need documentaries
With spectacular camera angles
Touting the prowess of STX
We do not need STX on our television sets
All we need is the nitty-gritty of the STX
Affordable housing deal.
We keep wallowing in our mistakes
We keep parading our mistakes,
Does Ghana enjoy making mistakes?
Is the Ghanaian nation a mistake?
Please give us the nitty-gritty of the
STX Ghana affordable housing deal.
You sacrifice local labour in the name of a better Ghana,
Soon, there will be nobody in Ghana for you
To talk to about a better Ghana.
Is this the better Ghana?
Please tell us more on STX and Ghana,
We woke one more and heard of STX
The very presence of STX is an
Indictment on the character of our nation
Please do tell us more on STX and Ghana.
Wears a shroud
Forever veiled
Clouded and unclear
Clad in darkness,
In a sea of mist and haze
Mysterious confusion.
Deals done in the dark
A people left with questions
People asking how come?
Where from?
Korea?
Who is STX?
They claim to be builders,
Sure they’re builders
They just probably might be builders
But the question still remains
Why STX?
Who is STX?
Where from STX?
Anybody ever heard of them before?
Saw them on my television last weekend,
A documentary on STX.
Looked like a fast food joint commercial to me.
From South Korea you say, this STX
Really?
All the way from Asia?
Are they any good?
They must be,
We got them here all the way from
South Korea, that’s quite a distance
To travel for affordable housing.
How affordable is affordable housing?
Is it this pretty reliable housing?
How much per unit of this affordable housing?
You call it affordable,
Pretty relative, that word affordable
How affordable is affordable?
Who knows the meaning of affordable?
You’ve spoken enough confusing English
Kindly speak to Ghana in plain and simple English,
The man on the street fails understand you
Neither does the unemployed university
Graduate sitting beside him
What happened to communication?
Your brand of English is topsy-turvy.
How many units do you plan on building?
200,000 you say,
Pretty impressive, 200,000 eh?
At least you are thinking affordable,
That should count for something right?
What is this I hear about GREDA complaining?
Apparently, they feel they have been handed the
Short end of the stick.
I guess Ghanaian builders are that terrible,
GREDA and co, your nation feels you’re terrible.
All those housing units you built,
Your nation does not consider them good enough buildings,
Maybe they look like shacks or tents,
I can’t quite tell, kindly ask your nation Ghana.
What a shame, we had to go all the way to South Korea
To bring in their builders.
Ghana needed affordable houses,
Can you guess what Ghana did?
We went all the way to South Korea
Looking for affordable housing.
What makes these Koreans so impressive?
A better work ethic?
Do they manufacture burnt bricks with bare hands?
Maybe they work for 24 hours nonstop
Who knows?
Only those who brought them in can tell us.
What happened to creating jobs?
What happened to empowering the Ghanaian
To take the reigns of his nation’s destiny?
Are Ghanaian contractors only good for pothole patching,
Replacement of rotten floor boards and pulling of road side weeds?
Isn’t it way past time we developed our nation’s human resource
Other than running after those of others?
Ever wondered how come their skilled labour
Seem much better than ours?
Are they really better than ours?
What makes our builders bad?
What makes STX better?
Can we not make ours good enough?
Have we thought of making ours better?
You overlooked the local contractors,
That’s an endorsement of how terrible you feel they are.
So many questions hang in the air,
STX and affordable housing,
What makes those two synonymous?
What is the nitty-gritty of that deal?
We do not need documentaries
With spectacular camera angles
Touting the prowess of STX
We do not need STX on our television sets
All we need is the nitty-gritty of the STX
Affordable housing deal.
We keep wallowing in our mistakes
We keep parading our mistakes,
Does Ghana enjoy making mistakes?
Is the Ghanaian nation a mistake?
Please give us the nitty-gritty of the
STX Ghana affordable housing deal.
You sacrifice local labour in the name of a better Ghana,
Soon, there will be nobody in Ghana for you
To talk to about a better Ghana.
Is this the better Ghana?
Please tell us more on STX and Ghana,
We woke one more and heard of STX
The very presence of STX is an
Indictment on the character of our nation
Please do tell us more on STX and Ghana.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
INDEMNITY CLAUSE OR INFIRMITY CLAUSE?
INDEMNITY CLAUSE OR INFIRMITY CLAUSE?
Indemnity,
An insurance policy,
Exemption from penalty
Exemption from liability.
Why seek indemnity?
Is that not an admission of guilt?
If there is no wrong,
Why the need for exemption from penalty?
To whom much is given,
Much is expected.
With responsibility comes liability.
Indemnity,
An assurance,
A free pass,
An ace up one’s sleeve
A get-out-of-jail free card.
Actions
Breed consequence.
Causes and effects.
Indemnity
Endorses impunity.
Indemnity and rule of law,
That is absolute nonconformity.
Wherever impunity resides
Civil liberties are trampled upon.
People are sacrificed
On the altar of ambition.
Indemnity serves just a few,
There’s no common good.
Where’s justice in indemnity?
Indemnity,
To absolve one off responsibility
Indemnity justifies impunity.
Indemnity,
Justice denied the aggrieved
For an eternity.
Indemnity,
To declare innocence guilty.
Indemnity,
Just a fancy word for grave infirmity.
Indemnity,
An insurance policy,
Exemption from penalty
Exemption from liability.
Why seek indemnity?
Is that not an admission of guilt?
If there is no wrong,
Why the need for exemption from penalty?
To whom much is given,
Much is expected.
With responsibility comes liability.
Indemnity,
An assurance,
A free pass,
An ace up one’s sleeve
A get-out-of-jail free card.
Actions
Breed consequence.
Causes and effects.
Indemnity
Endorses impunity.
Indemnity and rule of law,
That is absolute nonconformity.
Wherever impunity resides
Civil liberties are trampled upon.
People are sacrificed
On the altar of ambition.
Indemnity serves just a few,
There’s no common good.
Where’s justice in indemnity?
Indemnity,
To absolve one off responsibility
Indemnity justifies impunity.
Indemnity,
Justice denied the aggrieved
For an eternity.
Indemnity,
To declare innocence guilty.
Indemnity,
Just a fancy word for grave infirmity.
DEFLECTING DEFLECTIONS
DEFLECTING DEFLECTIONS
It was close
Too close to call
We were still undecided.
We rolled the dice again
In the end, one pulled ahead
But only by two hair lengths.
We settled,
Better than a stalemate.
We handed you the reigns
We expected nothing short of better,
After all, you did promise us better.
Thought you’d hit the ground running,
How wrong we were.
You did hit the ground alright
But so far you’ve done no running.
You’re flailing, slowly drowning
Without even setting out to sea
We’re yet to see you break into a run.
House, in disarray
Servants, on holiday
Citizenry, saddled with grief, anguish and meager wage
Social systems, nonexistent
Policies, pretty confusing
Your explanations, more confusing
In summary, we’re all jaded, pretty tired.
Education’s no good
Free for all, way to go
Quality, pretty suspicious, that’s no good.
Students can barely read and write
They argue 4 plus 2 minus 1 is ten
Pretty costly,
These free things of yours.
Cost of utilities, sky high
Basic wage, a sham, a shame, a shambles running amok.
We labour in futility
Electrical gadgets, we now use ‘em sparingly
Potable water, still a myth today.
The economy, conflicting information
We fail understand your tail wagging brand
Of economic English.
Health Insurance, a perilous insurance
A deadly insurance
It’s cash and carry all over again.
Affordable housing, welcome the South Koreans
Road Projects, welcome the Chinese and others
Where is our nation’s human resource?
Oil industry, cloaked in secrecy
Too many unanswered questions
How can you run an industry
With so many structures out of place?
Have we learnt nothing from
Our brothers in the Niger Delta?
Have we not learnt anything from the
Oil spill in the Mexican Gulf?
Smash and grab
Tackle from behind
Heckling and squabbling for majority stake,
Who is running the show in this Oil drenched comedy?
Too many players in this oily game.
Job creation, we await Houdini figures
At best, all we’ll ever get are a few public shows
Touting figures simmering to a boil
Well cooked yet still a tough swallow.
What happened to transparency?
What happened to the voice of the people?
What happened to the common good?
Oh!!! How easily people forget
We’re still waiting on our cake
Almost two years and counting
You sure must be baking one heck of a cake.
Then again, you just might have left us out
In the sharing of the proverbial cake.
The proverbial sluggards
We despised the ant and enjoyed the harmattan
Then came the rains
With it, the floods.
People shrieked in pain
Houses washed away in runoff
Houses without roofs
Gone with the wind
People with nowhere to sleep
But they had it better,
Others had torrid tales untold.
Come the next morning,
Horrid tales did unfold.
Lives lost in floodwaters,
People distressed
Saddened and
Grieving for loved ones lost.
They looked up to you for hope
You looked into their expectant eyes
You told them an age old-tale
You did not even blink an eye.
Blame the guy who was here before me
This is all his fault, he’s the guilty party here.
He marched rubbish and garbage into waterways
He dumped rubbish into sewers and drains
He built houses on all the waterways
He did command the torrential rains.
Look upon him with disdain
He’s no saint
Just one without shame.
I see your pain
I wish you well
These floods have always plagued us
It is a part of us
It is our culture
Please do embrace the floods
And blame the one who came before me
He’s the source of all our troubles and woes.
When the road is potholed
And uncomfortable to drive on,
Please do not come to me
Go drop your grievances at the doorstep
Of my predecessor,
He’s the tyrant
He’s the despot
He’s the miscreant
He has a hand in all of these.
When you drown in taxes
And die of disease,
When you go hungry
And live in abject poverty,
Please blame the guy who came before me
He’s a very greedy and selfish man
He only came to enrich himself
And left us all impoverished and broke.
He brought ex-gratia
He gave us our share
We took those cheques through no fault of ours
The law said we were entitled to them.
If we had our own way,
We would have given back those cheques
But we cannot disobey
Legislative, Judicial and executive instruments,
Have no idea which of the above prescribed ex-gratia
But refusing that service award
Would be very wrong
Very unpatriotic and quite unacceptable.
Grieve not people
Instead, wise up
Be a strong people.
Instead of dying of hunger
Live, become an eight wonder
My brother, rumble like thunder
And bellow into the yonder.
Count the days,
The nights
The months
And the years.
Count patiently
Please wait patiently
When presented with choices,
Go on and use your head.
Do not choose based on
Colour
Ethnicity
Location
Propaganda
Paltry handouts and free things
But rather listen intently.
When in doubt, question continuously
And choose with conviction
Choose free of inhibition.
It is only you and I who can build this nation
We hold the keys to the gates of our nation
Rise and let us build this nation
We need discover that which made us
That once proud nation
The coast of gold
The star of Africa.
It was close
Too close to call
We were still undecided.
We rolled the dice again
In the end, one pulled ahead
But only by two hair lengths.
We settled,
Better than a stalemate.
We handed you the reigns
We expected nothing short of better,
After all, you did promise us better.
Thought you’d hit the ground running,
How wrong we were.
You did hit the ground alright
But so far you’ve done no running.
You’re flailing, slowly drowning
Without even setting out to sea
We’re yet to see you break into a run.
House, in disarray
Servants, on holiday
Citizenry, saddled with grief, anguish and meager wage
Social systems, nonexistent
Policies, pretty confusing
Your explanations, more confusing
In summary, we’re all jaded, pretty tired.
Education’s no good
Free for all, way to go
Quality, pretty suspicious, that’s no good.
Students can barely read and write
They argue 4 plus 2 minus 1 is ten
Pretty costly,
These free things of yours.
Cost of utilities, sky high
Basic wage, a sham, a shame, a shambles running amok.
We labour in futility
Electrical gadgets, we now use ‘em sparingly
Potable water, still a myth today.
The economy, conflicting information
We fail understand your tail wagging brand
Of economic English.
Health Insurance, a perilous insurance
A deadly insurance
It’s cash and carry all over again.
Affordable housing, welcome the South Koreans
Road Projects, welcome the Chinese and others
Where is our nation’s human resource?
Oil industry, cloaked in secrecy
Too many unanswered questions
How can you run an industry
With so many structures out of place?
Have we learnt nothing from
Our brothers in the Niger Delta?
Have we not learnt anything from the
Oil spill in the Mexican Gulf?
Smash and grab
Tackle from behind
Heckling and squabbling for majority stake,
Who is running the show in this Oil drenched comedy?
Too many players in this oily game.
Job creation, we await Houdini figures
At best, all we’ll ever get are a few public shows
Touting figures simmering to a boil
Well cooked yet still a tough swallow.
What happened to transparency?
What happened to the voice of the people?
What happened to the common good?
Oh!!! How easily people forget
We’re still waiting on our cake
Almost two years and counting
You sure must be baking one heck of a cake.
Then again, you just might have left us out
In the sharing of the proverbial cake.
The proverbial sluggards
We despised the ant and enjoyed the harmattan
Then came the rains
With it, the floods.
People shrieked in pain
Houses washed away in runoff
Houses without roofs
Gone with the wind
People with nowhere to sleep
But they had it better,
Others had torrid tales untold.
Come the next morning,
Horrid tales did unfold.
Lives lost in floodwaters,
People distressed
Saddened and
Grieving for loved ones lost.
They looked up to you for hope
You looked into their expectant eyes
You told them an age old-tale
You did not even blink an eye.
Blame the guy who was here before me
This is all his fault, he’s the guilty party here.
He marched rubbish and garbage into waterways
He dumped rubbish into sewers and drains
He built houses on all the waterways
He did command the torrential rains.
Look upon him with disdain
He’s no saint
Just one without shame.
I see your pain
I wish you well
These floods have always plagued us
It is a part of us
It is our culture
Please do embrace the floods
And blame the one who came before me
He’s the source of all our troubles and woes.
When the road is potholed
And uncomfortable to drive on,
Please do not come to me
Go drop your grievances at the doorstep
Of my predecessor,
He’s the tyrant
He’s the despot
He’s the miscreant
He has a hand in all of these.
When you drown in taxes
And die of disease,
When you go hungry
And live in abject poverty,
Please blame the guy who came before me
He’s a very greedy and selfish man
He only came to enrich himself
And left us all impoverished and broke.
He brought ex-gratia
He gave us our share
We took those cheques through no fault of ours
The law said we were entitled to them.
If we had our own way,
We would have given back those cheques
But we cannot disobey
Legislative, Judicial and executive instruments,
Have no idea which of the above prescribed ex-gratia
But refusing that service award
Would be very wrong
Very unpatriotic and quite unacceptable.
Grieve not people
Instead, wise up
Be a strong people.
Instead of dying of hunger
Live, become an eight wonder
My brother, rumble like thunder
And bellow into the yonder.
Count the days,
The nights
The months
And the years.
Count patiently
Please wait patiently
When presented with choices,
Go on and use your head.
Do not choose based on
Colour
Ethnicity
Location
Propaganda
Paltry handouts and free things
But rather listen intently.
When in doubt, question continuously
And choose with conviction
Choose free of inhibition.
It is only you and I who can build this nation
We hold the keys to the gates of our nation
Rise and let us build this nation
We need discover that which made us
That once proud nation
The coast of gold
The star of Africa.
THE PRIDE OF AFRICA
THE PRIDE OF AFRICA
You fought a good fight,
You braved the storms.
When we did not believe
You did believe.
We got scared when the going tough,
Yet you stood tall, dogged and brave.
You beat the Serbians in a 90 minute play
Sent an entire nation into raptures all day.
All did sing your praise that day
The Black Stars, a people’s most recent craze.
You stumbled on an Australian stone
At you, your nation felt like throwing stones.
You fell on a German sword
But the Lord was neither Australian nor Serbian,
On that day, He was very Ghanaian.
Red
Yellow
Green
With a black star in the middle
Those, His very colours.
You beat the U.S.A.
And awoke a sleepy nation,
The pride of Africa
Your claim to fame.
A true African star
In a group of eight.
You went past 16
You made the one-eight
You went one better,
You took a step further
You brilliantly made the quarters.
A semi-final
Oh we couldn’t wait.
You gave us so much belief
We chose the semis your least berth.
Come Friday the second of July 2010
History did beckon,
We knew you would march in
To take seats in the hall of fame.
You stretched all tendons
Overworked the muscles
Sent the brain into overtime.
Yes!!!! You did fall
Yet, you made a nation proud
You brought pride to an entire continent.
At the eleventh hour,
You did fumble
But out of our hearts you’ll never tumble.
The world did doubt you
A few of us did too.
Yet you stood atop the mountain
Waving the Ghanaian flag for all to see.
You stood tall
You made all of Africa proud.
You brought joy to Africa,
You set a continent alight
I couldn’t be more proudly African.
You painted us all in beautiful delight
You united a continent
You gave us belief.
Your laurels we look on in disbelief
Your fighting spirit has given us renewed belief.
In the black star of Africa
I do believe
I see Africa slowly rising
Like the leaves of the baobab tree.
Well done oh gallant stars
When shame threatened Africa
You did not cower and hide
Neither did you flail in despair
Rather, you refused to succumb.
When Africa called, you rose to the occasion
You never shamed us,
You showed the world how Africa fights.
In spite of all you’ve done,
The rest of the world still doubts you
Yet silently, the Black Stars of Ghana’s
What they continually mumble.
Africa never doubts
We will always rally behind you
We are more than proud of you
You’re Africa’s pride.
You played your hearts out
In that spectacular stadium.
You fought like gladiators
In ancient Rome’s coliseum.
You left your beating hearts on the pitch that day
You bled Africa for over two hours that day
Through football,
You united a continent.
You’ve given me renewed belief in African unity.
I envision a united Africa come someday,
I still dream of a United States of Africa
To this very day.
Forever gallant
Forever soldiers
Eternally heroes,
You’ll forever remain Africa’s heroes.
Reach for the stars
Unfurl your wings
Hold sway like a mighty wind.
Do not rest
Aspire to higher heights
For it is only in death
Shall Africa bid you rest.
Ayekoo Black stars of Ghana
The Pride of Africa.
You fought a good fight,
You braved the storms.
When we did not believe
You did believe.
We got scared when the going tough,
Yet you stood tall, dogged and brave.
You beat the Serbians in a 90 minute play
Sent an entire nation into raptures all day.
All did sing your praise that day
The Black Stars, a people’s most recent craze.
You stumbled on an Australian stone
At you, your nation felt like throwing stones.
You fell on a German sword
But the Lord was neither Australian nor Serbian,
On that day, He was very Ghanaian.
Red
Yellow
Green
With a black star in the middle
Those, His very colours.
You beat the U.S.A.
And awoke a sleepy nation,
The pride of Africa
Your claim to fame.
A true African star
In a group of eight.
You went past 16
You made the one-eight
You went one better,
You took a step further
You brilliantly made the quarters.
A semi-final
Oh we couldn’t wait.
You gave us so much belief
We chose the semis your least berth.
Come Friday the second of July 2010
History did beckon,
We knew you would march in
To take seats in the hall of fame.
You stretched all tendons
Overworked the muscles
Sent the brain into overtime.
Yes!!!! You did fall
Yet, you made a nation proud
You brought pride to an entire continent.
At the eleventh hour,
You did fumble
But out of our hearts you’ll never tumble.
The world did doubt you
A few of us did too.
Yet you stood atop the mountain
Waving the Ghanaian flag for all to see.
You stood tall
You made all of Africa proud.
You brought joy to Africa,
You set a continent alight
I couldn’t be more proudly African.
You painted us all in beautiful delight
You united a continent
You gave us belief.
Your laurels we look on in disbelief
Your fighting spirit has given us renewed belief.
In the black star of Africa
I do believe
I see Africa slowly rising
Like the leaves of the baobab tree.
Well done oh gallant stars
When shame threatened Africa
You did not cower and hide
Neither did you flail in despair
Rather, you refused to succumb.
When Africa called, you rose to the occasion
You never shamed us,
You showed the world how Africa fights.
In spite of all you’ve done,
The rest of the world still doubts you
Yet silently, the Black Stars of Ghana’s
What they continually mumble.
Africa never doubts
We will always rally behind you
We are more than proud of you
You’re Africa’s pride.
You played your hearts out
In that spectacular stadium.
You fought like gladiators
In ancient Rome’s coliseum.
You left your beating hearts on the pitch that day
You bled Africa for over two hours that day
Through football,
You united a continent.
You’ve given me renewed belief in African unity.
I envision a united Africa come someday,
I still dream of a United States of Africa
To this very day.
Forever gallant
Forever soldiers
Eternally heroes,
You’ll forever remain Africa’s heroes.
Reach for the stars
Unfurl your wings
Hold sway like a mighty wind.
Do not rest
Aspire to higher heights
For it is only in death
Shall Africa bid you rest.
Ayekoo Black stars of Ghana
The Pride of Africa.
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