Have you ever heard the expression, "Good fences make good neighbours"?

Yes, I know it seems a bit like an oxymoron. I mean, how can a fence that keeps neighbours apart also bring them closer together?

This curious expression was made famous by American Poet Robert Frost in his classic poem, Mending Wall, but actually, different versions have been around for hundreds of years.  Benjamin Franklin once said, "Love thy neighbour, but don't pull down your hedge", again, echoing this idea that putting up barriers between us will somehow bring us closer together.

Recent events between Ghana and our Neighbours in Cote d'Ivoire have brought that expression sharply back into my mind, and I think I've finally started to understand it a little better.

You see, the only reason why there is a maritime boundary dispute between our two peaceful, friendly countries today is because we never bothered in the past to legally establish a boundary between us.

Today, we are in the international Tribunal for the Law Of the Sea, slugging it out over oil fields and concessions and Ghana is rightfully indignant over the whole thing, because our neighbours never complained about our boundary until we found oil on our side.

Now I'm a Patriot. For me, it's always Ghana first, so I'm certainly rooting for our Attorney General and her legal team to win this thing and send our neighbours packing. But at the same time, you know me: I always see lessons to be learnt in every encounter. For instance, why did we never take the initiative to define our maritime boundaries before now? Did we never foresee such an eventuality?

In 1982, didn't Hauphouet Boigny, the Ivorian Head of state announce on National TV that Ivoirians would now "wash their hands with oil before they ate"? And did Rawlings, not send the Ghana Navy to stand guard at our maritime border to ensure that the Ivoirians did not "wash their hands" in our oil? Did this not serve as a warning to us that we needed to clarify the boundary between us to avoid any future disputes?

Good fences make good neighbours.

Today, there is a case making its way through the bureaucracy of the Supreme Court to determine where an individual's religious rights end and an educational institution's begins. This would never have been necessary if the regulations had not been clearly established and impartially implemented in the past.

Good fences make good neighbours.

Journalists across the country continue to debate the merits and demerits of Soli. Meanwhile, we have governing bodies and regulators who have stayed largely silent on this issue. Why should such an important aspect of our profession remain a matter of opinion? Should the rules not be clear for us all to know our boundaries?

Good fences make good neighbours

For me, the expression is all about establishing boundaries, and clarifying our rights so that there is no misunderstanding of what is and is not allowed. This is a key ingredient for peaceful coexistence. We need good fences to make us good neighbours.

I am personally rooting for Ghana to win this maritime boundary arbitration. We have been operating peacefully on our side of a mutually agreed fence for decades. We don't deserve to lose any of our oil concessions to any other nation. But after we win, will we learn lessons? I hope so, otherwise, this will all be for nothing.

My name is Kojo Yankson, and laws, like fences, are put up to define our boundaries. Without them, all is chaos.

GOOD MORNING, GHANAFO!