Since the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, social media have been awash with praises, quotations and testimonies of the respected former prime minister of Singapore who ruled from 1959 to 1990. The late president of Singapore was highly regarded as the architect of modern Singapore’s prosperity. Even more intriguing are his distant apologists whose only inspiration are from the testimonies and memoirs of how LKY transformed Singapore from a small port city into a wealthy global fulcrum. Some of the testimonies about him are quite vivid such that one is inclined to think that the writers lived with him in the same house and even shared the same breakfast table with him.

In moments like this, trust the people of my motherland, Ghana to really do what they do best; engage in a lot of talk, eulogize and do the best they can in making all sort of inapt comparisons to some of the continent’s autocrats and a conjecture as to what the state of affairs should have been, all things being equal.

But being a fisherman, the events after Lee’s demise and the preceding ones have reminded me of the inscriptions on my first Canoe ; ‘THIS TOO SHALL PASS’. The inscriptions on the canoe go beyond mere words. As a starter to the fishing business, lessons from inscriptions egged me on in difficult moments that propelled me to paddle harder when the storms of life took a swipe at me.

From the look of things and the trajectory of past events of people who contributed immensely to develop their respective countries, all the lamentations and the praise-singing  will end like the inscription on my first canoe, ‘THIS TOO SHALL PASS’.

I know Ghanaians talk and they even talk more when people die. The outpouring of emotions, sentiments and lamentations make you know that they are Ghanaians. But beyond the talk and the praise-syndrome, are there any lessons that can trigger our zeal to make things change and work in the country?

People tout Lee Kuan Yew as a visionary thinker, ‘a goal-getter’ and a transformational leader, who was widely, regarded as one of the most influential political figures in Asia. Apart from him being credited for his oratory prowess that was simply captivating for which he commanded the attention of those around him, he contributed immensely and significantly to Singapore’s growth though I need to add that much of the development of Singapore in the early years had to also be attributed to a team of people who worked with him to achieve what the world is talking about.

So why was Lee Kuan Yew very well respected by many a Singaporean and around the globe? What did he do differently to trigger all these lamentations?

Well, I can tell you he led Singapore and a group of like-minded individuals through their tumultuous early years of nationhood, including a difficult merger with Malaysia and subsequent independence in 1965. The successes the world talks about now came at a very huge price which Ghanaian leaders have avoided. Today, in Ghana, the desire of many is to get into politics (the surest way of getting rich quick).

Pause for a minute, cast your mind back and look at the people we call politicians you started with.  Politicians who were struggling to put up a pig sty and struggling to buy bicycles  yesterday  have now built mansions  and are cruising in vehicles within a short period – something  that will take  the entire working life of ten(10) civil servants to build and  buy.

So I have been thinking, can Ghana even boast of a transformational leader? What really has been transformed in Ghana anyway? Of the many discussions triggered by the death of LEE KUAN YEW on social media, one that was strikingly striking was a post from a friend of mine who used to buy fish from me whenever he visited his hometown here at OGUAA. His post, among other things sought to impugn that Ghanaians are impatient and wouldn’t sacrifice the way Singaporeans sacrificed and supported LEE to achieve what is being talked about now.

So I asked, why should Ghanaians exercise that kind of ‘purposeless’ sacrifice when others on the seat are busily milking the state dry by creating, looting and sharing? I further asked, are Ghanaians really daft to watch you do all these and give you a briefing space, let alone sacrifice?

 On the other score, I think Ghanaians deserve what we are getting! Like Eneke, the bird, in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, once the hunters have learnt to shoot without missing, the birds have also learnt to fly without perching. This is sine qua non to our situation in Ghana- since the politicians know that  we are susceptible to lies and deception, they have also learnt to give us a thousand- fold of the deceit and lies.

So will LEE’s lessons and achievements pass without Ghanaian leaders taking a cue from it by giving  the Ghanaian a better bet in exchange for  the taxes they pay? Will this too pass like the inscriptions on the side of my first Canoe?

You this reader are a leader in your own right! What have you done to change the circumstances and happenings in your workplace? What have you transformed where you are? Do not quickly point to the direction of the politicians because you are also a leader.

Lest I forget, the kitchen is becoming hotter and hotter, an indication that I need to get my net and my outboard motor and head back to the sea- not going with my first canoe though. But remember, Ghana needs men and women who cannot be bought; whose word is their bond; who put character above wealth; who possess opinions and a strong will; who are larger than their vocations; who will make no compromise with wrong;  and whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires.

The writer, Richard Kwadwo Nyarko, is a multimedia journalist. His email is quajo2009@gmail.com. Tweet @quajo2009.