Can't resist --- let's talk about M&P!

This is an excerpt of an article that was published in full in the Daily Graphic, so enjoy this bit, and if you want the full version, just let me know. Enjoy ... ...

After running around yesterday aah, I was so worn out. When I got home, I was too tired to eat. I picked sleep over food. Can you believe that? Absolutely unbelievable! Hmm. Even if I were to be spoon-fed, I’d need someone else to do the chewing and swallowing for me. Was soo tired. That’s what journeys around Makola looking for “Neat” this and “Neat” that will do to you. That’s one of the companies I would love to support in my Buy-Made-in-Ghana campaign. Their food is great, and the packaging is good – a truly refreshing change from all the shoddy packaging and ; ‘finishes’ of locally produced goods. I love Neat Hausa Koko and other Neat products – they do a truly good job, and once I started hooking myself up with my hausa koko breakfasts, I was truly hooked. Not usually a breakfast person, but if it’s hausa koko or rice water, I’m game. Love it. For whatever reason though, it’s been tough to find Neat products in ‘kentry’ besides Neat fufu. What’s up with that? I’ve actually taken their number down and plan to call and find out why I don’t see more hausa koko on the market.

Talking about hausa koko and our manufacturing and processing industry … I bought a brand of hausa koko I’m not familiar with … wanna try it, and as I examined the box, I noticed the directions for preparation. The directions say “Mix 6 spoonful of powder in 10 spoonful of water. Add mixture to ¾ cup of boiling water in a pot. Stir and cook for a minute.” Ei! My aunt is a nutritionist, who will flip when she sees something like this. 6 spoonful? Cook for a minute? Literally? … so I can get my stomach doing ‘Kak Dee’ journeys all over the place? Walahi! And yet they got the Ghana Standards Board to approve the labeling. So this one who you go blame? … the company wey e write am or the GSB who no see say the ting no be correct? I’m yet to try it, and if I like it, I’ll approach the company and tell them what I think of their packaging – the box mpo is some weak card stock that is bent all over the place, and the colours and graphics are all but attractive. Well, the market woman who sold it swore that after Neat, this is next in line, and since I don’t have any other choice, I’ll try it and see.

... ... ...

Okay … so back to our manufacturing and processing … I personally think that is our most ‘responsible’ way forward as a nation.

... ...

Prioritizing M&P means the state needs to get involved, the private financial institutions also need to get involved, our academic institutions need to get involved etc etc... While the state gives tax breaks and other incentives to manufacturers etc, the financial institutions support them with long-term, industrial-scale loans, our educational institutions loose their myopia and look beyond the status-quo subjects that we teach and begin to educate botanists, researchers in the use of rubber, food scientists, zoologists, occupational health and safety specialists, agric researchers etc etc… It means people who study civil, chemical, mechanical engineering etc can put their knowledge to use.

... ... ...

Creative educational strategies and creative learning oooh, creative learning! Look at how much we spend on sports for example. This is a sports nation. We will join international tournaments, renovate stadia, sponsor sporting events, travel for sports, get DsTV so we can watch Arsenal and ManU, etc etc… Look at how much attention we pay to sports – soccer, boxing, golf etc in this kentry... where are the sports administration and sports management programs in our universities? You see, people will tell you we have bread and butter issues to worry about, so let’s train doctors and nurses. Yes, I hear that, BUT, whether we like it or not, we do have a thriving sports industry, so why not train coaches, managers, analysts etc, so that we don’t have to import foreigners to do that? Creative learning means the training of cartographers, meteorologists, archaeologists, nutritionists, etc etc. You know, this is an area of educational reform I want to personally pursue. I’m sitting here getting too aggressively involved in my writing – keyboard is begging for mercy, so lemme slow down to a halt.

... ... ...

M & P is the calcifying factor that will lay the foundation for us to grow. Without it, we’ll be chasing butterflies in our dreams.

... ... ...

In fact, I could go on and on, and on, ‘cos there’s much more I’d like to say, but dissertation business is calling, so I have to yank myself off this bandwagon for now, painful as that is. I hope you get the point I’ve made here. This was supposed to be a very quick blog entry, but you see … topics like these get me all excited. I’ll continue later and boss you about how our potholes are not just becoming more widespread, but are just growing deeper and deeper! Ei! Craters paa in the middle of our roads oh. Hmm.

Problems or no problems, I loove dis crazy kentry, I tell you. (I’ve added ‘kentry’ to my dictionary, so get used to it). Enjoy what’s left of the week. Next time I’ll boss you all about the things that put a smile on my face …. Stay tuned … … once we get started, you never know where we’ll end up. There's much more where this came from … …