54 years ago today/this time, Ghana was the Gold Coast, and the most poignant and warmest

of memories included visions of fireworks in a night sky above some Polo Grounds in the heart
of Accra; in the middle of which stood a man with not just the most prominent forehead in
our nation’s memory, but the most prominent position in the country, and the most
prominent plans ever seen by this little nation.

On that day, our name became Ghana, our position became first ever colonized African
country to attain independence, our role became mentor/role model to the rest of the
continent, and our fate became a challenging one. All of this almost overnight … if you could
call those last few years of swift changes that, compared to the decades of colonization
before.
The young protégé of the British empire was suddenly a student of the school of hard knocks
a.k.a (also known as) life.

This young protégé quickly had to learn and find his way, and she became the pioneer of a
great African movement which swept ferociously over the continent; self-government by the
people, of the people.
Today, this young protégé, Ghana itself, is 54 years old.
She is a full grown woman with experiences, attributes, millions of children, challenging
responsibilities, and most importantly, dreams to be realized. She is mother to many, and
harbours refugees of all kinds from all corners of the world, African and non-African, and she
is kind to all who are ready to work and share in her dream for progress. She is Mother Ghana,
and she punishes just as aptly as she rewards.

Which Ghanaian does not hold her unique blend of big-dreamer, hard worker, survivor-
provider, hospitable yet scrutinizing, optimist yet practical?
We are still of the old Ghana of dignity, strength, and charisma that ruled the ancient spaces
of sub-Saharan Africa; we are still sons of the proud Gold Coast that fought for its self-
government. And we are gracefully poised on the edge of a new phase … to be the beating
heart of Africa – leading the way in peace, democracy, pan-africanism, and vision.

As a nation, we have been blessed with much, and the latest of these has been our oil
(petroleum). Delicious oil wells called Jubilee, ready to spew forth 12,000 and more barrels
of oil per day … a comparatively modest bounty, but still a lot to be grateful for, as a small,
humble nation.

It will bring in a bulk of revenue which, when well-applied in relevant sectors of industry and
public life, and when well-applied over stipulated years via appropriate channels, will do a
world of good for the people.

Note that emphasis is on the people, not the nation.

For is it crucial that we all appreciate that a nation is made up of the people – its people,
and without people, there is no nation. A nation cannot exist devoid of its citizens, and
neither can it grow nor progress if its citizens are not gaining access to growth and
development and the opportunities thereof.

This oil must be the lamp that lights the way; the flag of hope that waves in the distance,
saying “come, come, come … you can make it.”; the resource which this 54-year old nation
will place in diversified investments and leave as inheritance for her children upon the
passing away of her generation, leaving the next. This oil must be that thread of change
which makes such a difference that throughout the annals of history, it is forever mentioned
and upheld as that moment of difference that saved, restored, or enhanced the fate of a
nation once staggering along life’s dreary road.

Simply, the oil must make a difference. A memorable, positive, and infinite difference.

This is important, when much has been taken for granted in nations close to us, and not only
environments have been destroyed, ecologies wrecked irreparably, livelihoods lost, and
ethnic groups torn apart, but citizens kill and have been killed in oil-caused conflicts, destroy
their own nation’s equipments, and stagnate development and progress which had been
painstakingly achieved.
In all these things, it is the people which suffer; and remember, the people suffering means
the nation suffering, for I repeat, there is no such thing as a nation without a people. And
worse, it is the most innocent of them who suffer the most.
Oil is both blessing and curse, but for as long as man has existed, the choices of life have
always been left to man’s design, and this still continues to be so. Oil will be to a people,
what they choose it to be.

This choice of the people will have to reverberate through their leaders, and this brings us to
the point of emphasis – it is important for the leaders and representatives of the people to
echo the sentiments of their people. The choice of the leaders must be the echo of their
people, and the choices of the leaders per the oil must echo choices that preserve life, unity,
progress, and safety of the people and the future generations!

Never in the course of this motherland’s history, must it be recorded that brother took up gun
against brother, and sister hissed evil against sister because of misunderstanding over oil.
Never must it be said that the oil blinded their sight and confounded their thinking till all
they saw and said was nothing but malice – the malice brought on by greed and untruth.

We have much to be grateful for, and we have withstood much throughout the course of
these 54 years … but never has any of this nation’s turmoils been as terrible as those raging in
countries neighbouring us. We are still growing, and every generation brings with it, its own
hopes, fears, ambitions, and challenges.
We must do so well, the job of parenting this nation, that in a few more decades, when
grandmother Ghana sits old and shaky in her rocking chair, she would have about her feet,
the crowning glory of every grandparent – adoring and worshipping grandchildren, all wanting
to grow up and be like Grandma.

We do not just have minerals and resources, we have a responsibility … to be responsible.

We do not just have a glorious history, we have a future, with our own children and their
children in turn within it. We have to be responsible.
We do not just have a nation of good people and large bounty of blessings, we have people
who look up for counsel and guidance, and leaders therefore have a lot of trials and
challenges to show the best way possible. We must be responsible.

Long live Ghana! And here’s to 100 more sets of 54 years! Long live our Motherland Ghana!!