SINCE 1957

SINCE 1957 A Hard Look at Education, Power, Production, and the Ghanaian Mind Some dates live in history books. Some dates live in the soul of a nation. 1957 is both. That was the year Ghana became free. That was the moment we were told our future was now in our own hands. But almost seventy years later, we must ask ourselves a hard question: What have we really done with the freedom we were given? Not just what our presidents have done. Not just what Parliament has done. Not just what political parties have done. What have we, as a people, done with our minds, our land, our talents, our resources, and our chances? What have our schools made? What have our universities made? What have our farmers made? What have our factories made? What have our engineers built? What have our scientists found? What have our software developers created? What have our businesses built? And what have our politicians built that keeps working even after they leave office? Before we ask if Ghana has developed enough, maybe we should ask a deeper question: What is the point of development if we have not developed the minds and systems to keep it going? And if education is meant to change a person's mind, then we must ask: What exactly are we educating Ghanaians for? --- The Ghanaian Child Think about the Ghanaian child. A child is born with something no government can make: curiosity. A child asks questions. Why does water flow? Why does a seed become a tree? Why does a phone light up? Why does a car move? Why does one person have more than another? Why does rain fall? The child is naturally a thinker. Naturally an explorer. Naturally an inventor. Then we send the child to school. The questions become answers. The answers become notes. The notes become exams. The exams become grades. The grades become certificates. The certificates become job applications. The applications become interviews. And sometimes the interviews become rejection. Then the graduate comes home and says: "I am looking for a job." At what point did education stop growing imagination and start shrinking ambition? At what point did we stop raising creators and start producing people who just apply for jobs? At what point did the child who once asked, "Why can't we build this?" become the adult asking, "Who can employ me?" This is not an attack on education. Education is one of the greatest gifts a country can give its people. But education must have a purpose. If education is meant to make a person think, create, understand, and act, then our education system cannot be judged only by exam results. We have to ask what the educated person can actually do. Can they think for themselves? Can they solve problems? Can they build something? Can they fix something? Can they make something? Can they grow food? Can they write software? Can they research? Can they design? Can they start a business? Can they create jobs? Can they understand the Constitution and their rights? Can they look at a problem and say: "Let me see what I can do about this." --- Three Simple Things Maybe Ghana's education system needs to be built around three simple words: THINK. MAKE. PRODUCE. First, we need thinkers. Scientists. Researchers. Engineers. Software developers. Doctors. Mathematicians. Economists. Philosophers. Architects. Inventors. Problem-solvers. People who ask questions that have never been asked before. A country that cannot think for itself will always depend on someone else to think for it. So why do we sometimes teach children that there is only one correct way to answer a question? Why are students sometimes afraid to disagree with their teachers? Why do we treat failure as shame instead of treating it as part of learning? Why do we tell young people to be creative but give them little room to try things out? Why can't a student say, "I disagree," and the teacher respond, "Then explain why"? Maybe a good classroom should not only teach children what to think. It should teach them how to think. Second, we need makers. Moulders. Carvers. Builders. Technicians. Engineers. Mechanics. Designers. Programmers. Manufacturers. Craftsmen and craftswomen. People who can take an idea and turn it into something real. A chair was once an idea. A house was once an idea. A bridge was once an idea. A computer was once an idea. A phone was once an idea. Someone had to make it. So why should a child spend fifteen or twenty years in school without seriously learning how things are made? Why is practical work treated as something for people who could not do well in academics? Why should someone who builds a machine be seen as less educated than someone who can just explain the machine? Why should a technician be looked down on when the engineer needs the technician to turn the design into something that works? We have created a strange way of measuring intelligence. We praise the person who talks about production but sometimes look down on the person who actually produces. But civilization needs both the mind and the hands. The engineer designs. The technician builds. The scientist discovers. The manufacturer produces. The farmer grows. The programmer creates. The entrepreneur organizes. All of these people are using intelligence. A country that teaches its children only how to consume finished products is teaching dependence. A country that teaches its children how things are made is teaching power. Then comes the third purpose: PRODUCTION. And here we must talk about food. Everybody eats. The president eats. The judge eats. The lawyer eats. The teacher eats. The doctor eats. The engineer eats. The banker eats. The student eats. The farmer eats. Everybody eats. So why don't we treat food production as one of the most important things in the country? Why should a young Ghanaian be proud to say, "I want to become a banker," but feel embarrassed to say, "I want to become a farmer"? Food is not just farming. Food is science. Food is technology. Food is engineering. Food is storage. Food is transportation. Food is processing. Food is packaging. Food is business. Food is export. Food is national security. If we cannot feed ourselves properly, how free are we really? --- The Ghana I Remember And this is where I remember the Ghana I came to know. I remember seeing mangoes, cashew nuts, bananas, and other fruits growing around us. There was a time when seeing fruit growing around communities was normal. You could see a mango tree and find fruit on it. You could see food growing around you. Today, I sometimes look around and ask: What happened? How did we move from seeing food growing around us to worrying about the price of ordinary fruits? How did we get to a point where buying a common orange or banana can feel expensive? How did we become so disconnected from the land that feeds us? I am not saying everything in the past was better. It was not. Life was hard in many ways. But I remember something simple: There was food around us. So what happened to our relationship with food? What happened to our farms? What happened to our fruit trees? What happened to the idea of growing something and eating it? The land is not just land. The land is food. The land is business. The land is employment. The land is wealth. The land is security. The land is life. If we stop producing and become only consumers, we make ourselves weak. We wake up and need food. We go to the market. The price has gone up. Then we complain. But perhaps we should also ask: How much food are we actually producing? How much are we processing? How much are we storing? How much are we wasting? How much land is available but not being used well? How many young people are being taught to see agriculture as a serious business? Why should we wait until food becomes expensive before we become serious about producing it? That is dangerous. We cannot eat political speeches. We cannot eat campaign promises. We cannot eat degrees. We cannot eat certificates. We need food. And food has to come from somewhere. That is why education must reconnect with production. Let children grow things. Let schools have gardens where possible. Let students learn about soil, seeds, water, farming, storage, processing, and business. Let them understand that farming is not punishment. It is production. It is science. It is technology. It is business. It is life. --- The Three Pillars Must Connect The thinker discovers. The maker builds. The producer produces. The scientist asks what is possible. The engineer asks how it can work. The maker builds it. The producer brings it to scale. The entrepreneur finds the market. That is how an economy grows. But what happens when the chain is broken? We educate engineers and still import many machines. We train software developers but depend heavily on technology created elsewhere. We grow agricultural products but lose much of their value because of poor storage, processing, and industrial development. We produce graduates and then ask: "Where are the jobs?" Maybe we are asking the wrong question. Maybe we should ask: "Where are the productive systems that should create the jobs?" A job does not appear from nowhere. Someone has to build a factory. Someone has to start a company. Someone has to create a product. Someone has to grow food. Someone has to process it. Someone has to solve a problem. So why have we made the main goal of education finding an existing job? Why aren't we teaching more people how to create value? Why aren't we teaching more people how to create jobs? Why aren't we teaching more people how to turn ideas into products? --- Questioning the Whole System And this is where we must question the whole system. Not one person. Not one government. Not one political party. The whole system. What exactly is government for? If unemployment is a problem, why are we always talking about finding jobs instead of building industries? If food is important, why isn't food production treated as a national priority? If technology is important, how much are we doing to build our own technological capacity? If a young person has a good idea, why should the system make it unnecessarily difficult for that person to turn it into a business? Regulation is important. We need rules, safety, and standards. But regulation should protect people, not destroy good ideas through unnecessary delays. The question should not always be: "How can we stop this person?" It should also be: "How can we make sure this person can operate safely and legally?" --- Questioning Parliament Now let us question Parliament. When a person becomes a Member of Parliament, what exactly changes? Are they suddenly more important than the citizen who voted for them? Why should political office create such a distance between representatives and the people they represent? When Parliament passes a law, we should ask: What problem will this law solve? Will it improve people's lives? Will it help businesses? Will it improve education? Will it protect people? A law is not successful simply because Parliament passed it. It is successful when it helps society. --- Questioning Politicians Now let us question politicians. Before you became a minister, what were you? Before you became a Member of Parliament, what were you? Before you became president, what were you? You were a citizen. So why does everything sometimes change when a citizen gets power? Why does the person who once complained about government delays sometimes become comfortable with those same delays? Why does someone who once demanded transparency sometimes become uncomfortable when citizens demand transparency from them? Why does political office sometimes look like a reward instead of a responsibility? Public office is not private property. It belongs to the people. And every politician should eventually be able to answer one simple question: "If I leave this position tomorrow, what will remain because I served?" What did you build? What did you improve? Whose life became better? What institution became stronger? What system continued working after you left? That is the kind of question public service should create. --- Are We Not Tired of Our Politics? But are we not tired of our politics? One party wins power. We have a majority and a minority. The majority says, "We are working." The minority says, "You are doing nothing." The majority defends. The minority attacks. The minority complains. The majority responds. Then another election comes. The minority becomes the majority. The majority becomes the minority. And the same thing starts again. The same accusations. The same backbiting. The same political fighting. The same blame. Charlie, are we not tired? How many years can a country spend fighting over who is right while ordinary people are still asking for better lives? The farmer wants better roads. The student wants better education. The graduate wants an opportunity. The young entrepreneur wants capital. The family wants affordable food. The patient wants better healthcare. The worker wants a better income. But instead of asking, "How do we fix these things?", we spend too much time asking, "Who is to blame?" When our party is in power, we defend almost everything. When the other party is in power, we attack almost everything. Then power changes hands, and we change our position. What kind of progress is that? If something is good, why reject it because another party introduced it? If something is bad, why defend it because our party introduced it? Why can't we simply say: "This is good. Keep it." And: "This is bad. Change it." Why must everything become NDC versus NPP? Why can't there be a Ghanaian position? Education should be bigger than political parties. Food should be bigger than political parties. Jobs should be bigger than political parties. Healthcare should be bigger than political parties. Technology should be bigger than political parties. Agriculture should be bigger than political parties. The future of our children should be bigger than political parties. Ghana should be bigger than political parties. We are spending too much energy fighting each other. And while we are fighting, time is passing. While we are arguing, other countries are building. While we are backbiting, other people are creating. While we are changing governments, other countries are changing industries. While we are debating who is responsible, somebody somewhere is asking: "What can we build next?" That should worry us. Because politics is supposed to help solve problems. It should not become the problem itself. At the end of the day, ordinary people do not eat political arguments. The student cannot pay school fees with political arguments. The farmer cannot buy fertilizer with political arguments. The unemployed graduate cannot build a future with political arguments. People need results. So perhaps we need to stop asking: "Who is winning?" And start asking: "Is Ghana winning?" --- Questioning Our Universities We must also question our universities. What is a university for? Is it only a place to get a degree? Or should it be one of the places where Ghana solves its hardest problems? If a university produces knowledge, where does that knowledge go? Into books? Into journals? Or into Ghanaian society? Where are the machines? Where are the products? Where are the companies? Where are the technologies? Where are the agricultural solutions? Where are the inventions? A final-year project should not always end as a document sitting on a shelf. What if it became a product? What if it became software? What if it became a machine? What if it became a company? What if it solved a problem in a community? That is when education begins to touch real life. --- Questioning Our Banks We must question our banks too. What happens to the young person with a good idea but no collateral? What happens to the farmer with land but no money to modernize production? What happens to the manufacturer who needs machinery? What happens to the software developer who has built something but needs support to grow it? How many good ideas have died because the person behind them could not get the right support? Maybe our financial system should not only ask: "What do you already own?" It should also ask: "What are you capable of building?" --- Questioning the Private Sector And what about the private sector? Are we simply employing people, or are we helping develop the next generation of people who can build? Are businesses working with universities? Are they investing in research? Are they helping Ghanaian suppliers grow? Are we building products, or are we becoming mainly importers and distributors? There is nothing wrong with trade. But we must ask: What are we learning to make? What are we learning to manufacture? What are we learning to improve? What are we learning to export? A country becomes stronger when it participates in more parts of the value chain. --- Questioning the Media And what about the media? What do we talk about every day? Politics. Scandals. Who said what. Who insulted whom. Who is fighting whom. Who is trending. But how much time do we spend talking about manufacturing, science, agriculture, engineering, technology, research, exports, food production, and how to build businesses? Perhaps we have become better at talking about our problems than solving them. We have become experts at commentary. But a country cannot develop through commentary alone. At some point, somebody has to build. --- Questioning Parents And what about parents? Why do we ask children: "What job will make you money?" before asking: "What problem do you want to solve?" Why do we celebrate certificates more than competence? Why should a child who wants to become a farmer be seen as less ambitious than a child who wants to become a lawyer? Why should someone who can build a machine be seen as less educated than someone who can write about the machine? Maybe we have confused education with status. Maybe we have taught our children to look for comfort before they learn to create value. Maybe that needs to change. --- Questioning Ourselves And finally, we must question ourselves. It is easy to blame government. Easy to blame politicians. Easy to blame the economy. But what about us? Do we demand accountability only when another political party is in power? Do we protect public property? Do we read? Do we understand our Constitution? Do we support local producers? Do we respect technical work? Do we mentor young people? Do we create businesses? Do we reward competence? Do we teach our children to think? Do we celebrate production? Or have we become spectators of our own country? A nation is not only its government. A nation is its people and the institutions they build. --- The Real Meaning of Independence Perhaps we have also misunderstood independence. Political independence was necessary. But political independence cannot be the final destination. What is independence if we cannot feed ourselves properly? What is independence if we cannot manufacture enough of the things we need? What is independence if our best ideas cannot become real businesses? What is independence if our brightest minds leave because they cannot find the right environment to build? What is independence if a young person's future depends on who they know? Perhaps the next stage of independence must be intellectual, productive, technological, and agricultural independence. This does not mean Ghana should stop trading with the world. No country can make everything. It means we should have enough ability to make more of what we are capable of making. We should be able to say: "We can build this here." Since 1957, millions of Ghanaian children have passed through schools. Millions have graduated. Degrees have been awarded. Governments have changed. Presidents have changed. Parliamentarians have changed. But the question remains: What are we producing? Not only what are we graduating? What are we producing? What are our schools producing? What are our universities producing? What are our farms producing? What are our factories producing? What are our laboratories producing? What are our engineers producing? What are our software developers producing? What are our entrepreneurs producing? And ultimately: What kind of person is Ghana producing? Perhaps the answer should be simple. We should produce thinkers, makers, and producers. People who can think. People who can make. People who can produce. A student should be able to leave school with more than a certificate. They should leave with ability. A university student should not only write a final-year project. They should have the opportunity to build something from it. A farmer should not simply produce raw materials. They should have access to systems that help turn those materials into valuable products. An engineer should not only design. They should have places where things can be built. A software developer should not only learn programming. They should have opportunities to create products people can use. That is the kind of education that can change a country. Think. Make. Produce. The thinker discovers. The maker builds. The producer produces. The entrepreneur organizes. The market distributes. The citizen benefits. Government creates the right conditions and protects the public interest. That is how a productive country begins to work. --- Imagine Imagine a Ghanaian school where a child learns philosophy in the morning, builds something in the afternoon, and grows something before going home. Imagine universities where final-year projects become real products, companies, discoveries, and useful solutions. Imagine farmers working directly with scientists. Imagine engineers working directly with manufacturers. Imagine software developers working directly with government. Imagine students solving real problems in their communities. Imagine a Ghana where competence matters more than connections. Imagine a Ghana where political office is treated as a responsibility, not a prize. Imagine a Ghana where a farmer is respected. Where an artisan is respected. Where a technician is respected. Where a scientist is respected. Where a software developer is respected. Where a manufacturer is respected. Where the person who creates ten jobs is respected. Where the person who feeds thousands of people is respected. Where the person who invents something is respected. Where the person who asks difficult questions is not treated as an enemy. That is the Ghana we should be trying to build. --- The Deepest Question Since 1957, we have asked many questions. Who should govern? Which party should win? Who should become president? Which minister should be appointed? Which road should be built? Which programme should be launched? But perhaps we have not asked the deepest question often enough: What kind of people must we produce if Ghana is going to become the country we say we want? If our people can only consume, the country will consume. If our people can only wait, the country will wait. If our people can only complain, the country will complain. But if our people can think, Ghana can think. If our people can make, Ghana can make. If our people can produce, Ghana can produce. If our people can question, our institutions can improve. And if our people can imagine something better and have the courage and opportunity to build it, then Ghana can change. So perhaps the question is no longer: "Why has Ghana not developed enough since 1957?" Perhaps the deeper question is: "What have we designed our education system to make the Ghanaian capable of doing?" If the answer is mainly: Pass examinations. Get certificates. Look for a job. Then we have to ask: Is that enough? Is it enough for a country with land? Is it enough for a country with millions of young minds? Is it enough for a country with universities, farmers, engineers, software developers, scientists, artisans, entrepreneurs, inventors, and thinkers? Is it enough? Or have we built a system that teaches people how to survive inside the system instead of teaching them how to improve the system? That is the question. And perhaps the unfinished work of independence is not only political. It is intellectual. It is agricultural. It is technological. It is industrial. It is institutional. And it is human. --- The Next Independence Maybe the next independence must begin with a different Ghanaian mind. A mind that refuses to believe that everything valuable must come from somewhere else. A mind that understands that a certificate is not the end of education. A mind that can think. A hand that can make. A people that can produce. A citizen who can question. A government that can be questioned. An institution that can be improved. A country that can build. Since 1957, the question has been waiting. Perhaps now it is our turn to answer. What will we think? What will we make? What will we produce? And ultimately: WHAT WILL WE LEAVE BEHIND? --- THIS IS DEBATABLE. It should be. A serious nation must be able to debate the purpose of education, the responsibility of government, the behaviour of citizens, the role of political parties, the state of our economy, and the meaning of independence. This is not the final answer. It is an invitation to debate. Challenge it. Question it. Disagree with it. Bring evidence. Improve it. Give us a better idea. But whatever we do, let us not return to silence simply because something has been done for a long time. Let us keep asking why. Because perhaps the greatest danger to Ghana is not that we have difficult problems. It is that we become so used to them that we stop believing they can change. Perhaps the greatest danger is not that food is expensive. It is that we become comfortable with depending on others to produce the food we need. Perhaps the greatest danger is not that young people are looking for jobs. It is that we accept a system that does not teach enough of them how to create value. Perhaps the greatest danger is not that politicians disagree. It is that we become so used to political fighting that we forget what politics is supposed to be for. Perhaps the greatest danger is not that Ghana has problems. It is that we stop asking questions about them. So let us ask. Why are we not producing enough? Why are we not manufacturing enough? Why are we not processing enough? Why are our young people not being prepared enough to build? Why are our schools not connected enough to production? Why are our universities not connected enough to industry? Why are our farmers not connected enough to technology? Why are our researchers not connected enough to business? Why does political power so often become more important than national progress? Why do we spend so much time fighting? Why do we defend our political parties even when they are wrong? Why do we attack the other party even when it is right? Why can't we put Ghana first? Why can't we build systems that survive political parties? Why can't we produce food at a level that makes food security a strength rather than a constant worry? Why can't we make more of what we have the ability to make? Why can't we teach a child that their hands are as valuable as their certificate? Why can't we teach them that a farmer can be a scientist, that a mechanic can be an engineer, that an artisan can be an inventor, that a programmer can be a builder, that a researcher can become an entrepreneur, and that a student can become a producer? Why can't we? Perhaps the answer is not that Ghanaians cannot. Perhaps the answer is that we have not yet built the systems that make it easier for Ghanaians to do so. That is why this is not simply an article about government. It is not simply an article about education. It is not simply an article about agriculture. It is not simply an article about politics. It is about capacity. The capacity of a people to think. The capacity to make. The capacity to produce. The capacity to question. The capacity to govern ourselves well. The capacity to build institutions that work. The capacity to create a future that is not simply inherited from somebody else. --- We Have Made Progress, But... Since 1957, Ghana has changed. We should not pretend that nothing has happened. We have educated millions. We have built institutions. We have held elections. We have created businesses. We have produced brilliant people. We have made progress in many areas. But admitting that we have made progress should not stop us from asking whether we are doing enough. The real question is not: "Has Ghana achieved anything?" The real question is: "Are we achieving what we are capable of achieving?" That is a harder question. And perhaps our greatest danger is not failure. Perhaps it is becoming comfortable with underachievement. Becoming comfortable with importing. Becoming comfortable with waiting. Becoming comfortable with bureaucracy. Becoming comfortable with political fighting. Becoming comfortable with unemployment. Becoming comfortable with poor systems. Becoming comfortable with saying: "That is how things are done." But why? Who decided? When was it decided? Why has it not changed? Who benefits from it remaining the same? Who suffers? And what would happen if we changed it? These are the questions a serious country must be willing to ask. The fact that a system has existed for many years does not automatically make it good. The fact that something has been done for decades does not mean it cannot be improved. And the fact that something has become normal does not mean we should stop asking questions. --- The Real Freedom Maybe this is the real meaning of independence. Not simply that we have our own flag. Not simply that we elect our own leaders. Not simply that we have our own Parliament. But that we have the courage to look at our own systems and say: "This can be better." That is independence too. The freedom to think. The freedom to question. The freedom to build. The freedom to produce. The freedom to improve. The freedom to imagine a different future. And the responsibility to actually work toward it. --- What Should We Want? So, when the next child enters a Ghanaian classroom, what should we want? Not simply another certificate. We should want a mind that asks questions. Hands that can build. A person who understands production. A citizen who understands their rights. A young person who sees a problem and thinks about a solution. A person who can say: "I don't have everything I need yet, but let me see what I can build with what I have." That is the mind we need. That is the education we need. That is the Ghana we need. Since 1957, the question has been waiting. Perhaps now it is our turn to answer. WHAT WILL WE BUILD? — Kofi Dee