We may not have everything as a people, but we have what others envy. All of our people are not well-off, yet we’re not beggars in our own land.

The things that unite and bind us as a people are all embodied in one word, culture. Our dressing, language, arts, food and moral principles. These are the manifestations of our strength as Ghanaians.

And while it’s possible to dispose-off anything within a given society, that isn't the case with culture. It’s the glue that unites our society, despite the sharp differences. If culture is the glue, then morality is the air that completes the unity project. We shouldn't throw away our moral principles.

We abhor public exposure of one’s nakedness. We don’t sanction illicit sexual behaviors from both sex. We do not countenance irresponsible sexual relationship between students under 18 years. Married men and women who have affairs outside their marriage are condemned. Same sex marriage is an abomination in Ghana.

Our society frowns upon the above listed acts and many others.

18-year-old Rashida Black Beauty at Jigwe Awards

So when we sat unconcerned for organisers of Jigwe Awards to celebrate acts that strip us of our dignity, we're unknowingly losing our moral conscience as a society.

I wasn’t amused when I saw a video of an 18-year-old student on Facebook raining invectives on his supposed boyfriend for jilting her. The girl who identified herself as Rashida Black Beauty called her former boyfriend, Kushman all sorts of names for daring to put up with another lady by name Abigail. She boasted about her sexual prowess. She claimed she schooled Kushman about sex positions.

The video went viral because somehow Ghanaians have given up the moral battle. The taste for immorality knows no bound. No one cares if our moral compass is lost. The crave for mediocrity is at its peak in the country. Is this what we're celebrating? A Junior High School student who's not bothered about her studies, but rather her boyfriend's decision to court another girl. We've lost it.

I was disturbed when Rashida's video on social media was adjudged the Viral Video of the Year 2016, shooting her to what some Ghanaians have described as stardom. She's celebrated and has become the talk of town.

Where did we go wrong as a people?

Rashida's former boyfriend, Kushman with new girlfriend, Abigail

What moral lessons are we leaving behind? How do we expect to be remembered? Do we want the next generation to misjudge us?

I find the decision of the Awards Committee offensive, disingenious and detrimental to the values we believe in as Ghanaians. We don’t celebrate mediocrity, yet the award given Rashida did just that.

When we encouraged media houses, prior to the year 2003, to flood our television screens with telenovelas with actresses who were almost naked, we least imagined the effects they had on our society. The Accapoco Bay, Esmerada, Juana La Virgin and the most recent ones are demoralizing our society.

We’re fast losing our dignity. Today, it’s acceptable for a female celebrity to put on a dress that is transparent exposing the nipples of her breast. They will tell you it's wardrobe malfunctioning, the license behind indecent dressing in our society.

It is normal for married women to harbor lovers outside their marriage and acceptable for married men to have girlfriends who could pass for their daughters.

Our moral principles are in tatters.

We allowed telenovelas to chip away the major part of our morality. I hope we won’t allow Jigwe Awards and its collaborators to upend our society.

Our society encourages respect, love, faithfulness, loyalty and decency. We don’t entertain women who expose vital parts of their bodies. However, we seem to be losing the battle.

First Ghanaian President, Kwame Nkrumah at the inauguration of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana in 1962 said:

“We were still regarded as representing the infancy of mankind. Our highly sophisticated culture was said to be simple and paralyzed by inertia, and we had to be encumbered with tutelage.”

We need to condemn the Jigwe Awards for a mediocre work done which can put our society in jeopardy. I won’t be surprised if in 2017 they award same sex partners for kissing in a video.

Ghanaians need help in the same measure Rashida needs help. She has to be told what is right and the acceptable behavior expected of her. She doesn't need an award to honor her folly.

We need our morals back.

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Disclaimer:

Views expressed here are the Author's and do not represent the position of Management of Multimedia Group Limited.

The writer, Austin Brakopowers is a journalist with Joy 99.7 FM and could be reached via Brakomen@outlook.com or www.brakopowers.com