ONE VIRTUOUS MAN WORTH MILLIONS

Warm greetings from my humble chalet faraway in the North, Pavuu - Lawra, to be precise.

Permit me to start this message with some African Proverbs;

1. That, "until the lion has his own historians, the tales of hunting will always glorify the hunter". But until we, the people of North, write our own stories and write them very strongly and get to praise our own for, even the infinitesimal achievements chalked, some outsiders will always bask in the avoidable indignation of us.

2. That, "it is when long drought visits a community with its attendant famine,  that all farmers and everyone feel the importance of the farmer hero". Simply say, it's only when an austere predicament strikes in a community that we get to know and feel a caring person in the community. 

3. "When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk". The positives of a virtuous man if even obscure, will make the blind man leaps with joy. 

4. And so, my wise grandpa of blessed memory once counselled me and my siblings to always pay obeisance and homage to heroes or heroines that are colossal assets with enormous social clout and with positive influence on society, because that it is only a twerped blind man who wants his corps to go beyond any scientific light rays search before he walks with his back in a turbulent river with both legs in test of the river's depth. And today, i come by way with this message to eulogise one of our own while he is still enjoying life here on earth and not when he's passed. 

5. So, on the 13 August 2021, a very calamitous disaster, unfortunately befell our beloved Region (Upper West).  On that fateful day, there was a torrential downpour the previous night which led to so many destruction, i.e. flooding, uprooting of tens of hundreds of people's homes, and the sweeping away of major bridges connecting tens of towns and communities to our capital town, Wa. In some communities, children couldn't access education any longer, sick people couldn't be transported to the ultramodern highly sophisticated Wa Regional Hospital for healthcare, farmers couldn't transport their farm produces to the capital (Wa) for trade and vehicular movements from the Southern Part to Nadoli-Kaleo, Jirapa, Dafiama, Babile, Lawra and to our neighboring Burkina Faso came to a halt.

6. The whole Region was completely devastated and at a lost. Indigenes within and without the region was crying to duty bearers to come to their rescue as urgently as they can to forestall and restore lives and property from further damages.

7. Some of us within that period went to bed with a lot of questions in brownian motion giving us hefty brain punches resulting into brain concussion and the most deplitating effect was the unresolving insomnia irrespective of the most powerful and effective orthodox pills one abused to soar up his/her melatonin levels to get a doze off for at least a minute.

8. Our BPs and pyraxia were rising every minute against any medical prowess intervention because lives were seriously at stake and some of us were very hesitant and skeptical about those major bridges being worked on in the shortest possible time to, at least, guarantee vehicular movements taking into cognisance of how things work in this our insane polity.

9. So, until almost noon of the event day that some of us heard a roar. This roar was not loud among we the criers but it was so reassuring, potent and soothing. This reassuring and palm calming roar came from no lesser a person than our very own, The Very Venerable Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament,  my Snr Dad, Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, son of the soil (Upper West) and Ghana's number 3.

10. To quote The Very Venerable Rt. Hon. Speaker, (Ghana's 3rd in command), that, " I have already drawn the attention of the Minister for Roads and Highways to the disaster and urged him to take action NOW (emphasis mine) to forestall an immeasurable cost of lives and property. I will follow up DAILY (emphasis mine again) on this matter".

Now, tell me, what's more reassuring and soothing than this statement, so those of us very privileged to have received this potent yet reassuring statement were agog and jumped up high in defiance of the law of gravity (that's, refusing to come down) punching the atmosphere in high euphoria and ecstasy.

11. And true to Snr Dad, Rt. Hon. Speaker's words of assurance and his unrelenting and unceasing stand to follow up on this issue daily, in less than 48hours, the Minister for Roads and Highways flew with engineers from Accra to Wa to  personally have an eye see and first hand information and in less than a week, the constructors were on site. Who says man not dey?! Man dey indeed!!.

12. Just two or so days ago, (exactly a month), i was watching news (Citi TV) where reports were rife about the works ongoing on the road with the kind of speed of light, there and then, I very much appreciated my sagacious grandpa and his wise and parable talks he used to engage me with.

13. Upper Westerners, Almighty God (Allah) has blessed us with such a huge asset or treasure, which we all must be extremely proud of and give thanks to the almighty God. We all must make it a responsibility to rise up irrespective of our differences to protect and project this huge treasure (Snr Dad, Rt Hon. Speaker) so that in "famine" cases like this, he will always be at our rescue.

14. The political party, NDC, was and is still erupted with joy, pride and proudness the very day the NDC's 137MPs stood on the "do or die" affair principle against all odds and hurricanes to get Snr Dad, Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin elected as Ghana's Speaker, but we the people of Upper West, should be more than proud because we are extremely blessed to have had such an elder experienced intellectual storehouse heavyweight and a national asset in one person - Snr Dad, Rt Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, son of Upper West.

15. Well, you are at liberty to hold any divergent views that it is Nana Addo's govt that's working with such supersonic speed (no grudges, for that's democracy) but what you must know is this, certain forces/powers are non-negotiable and inresistible. If the Nana Addo govt is always so quick in tackling problems, why haven't they worked on the wooden bridge in the Ashanti Region [helly-belly of the NPP]-(Oforikrom Anloga-Susuakyi) which have, unfortunately, claimed 53year old woman ( madam Akosua Dufie) when the stream was flooded leading to the wooden bridge breakdown? Don't forget same Minister for Roads and Highways visited same place and made a promise and it's over 3 months now since June. I brought in this for you (Upper West Person) to know and appreciate what God has blessed us with. If you are an Upper West Indigene, and you aren't proud and happy of having got such a towering man being number 3 and in such disasters, he comes in swiftly and handy, then I don't know what then will have made you proud as an Upper West Person.

16. Snr Dad, Rt. Hon. Speaker, deserves our idolization and he more than deserves a gold plated statute sentry to our Regional Capital,Wa. Let's continue to protect and pray for him in all his endeavors.

17. Viva the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Son of the Upper West, and PROUD. Thank you for your behind the scenes works for Upper West and Ghana as a whole.

Loads of love, Rt. Hon. Speaker.

Gracias!

 Erickson~(059-1021199)

Pray for God's mercy.