I was once feeding two dogs by throwing the food into the air for them to catch. After about five rounds, I realized one of the dogs which unfortunately was the male one could not catch any of the food. (Ironic you think?)

It looked on sheepishly, frustratingly and helplessly as the female dog (I hate to use the word bitch) outsmarted it and ate all the food I threw to them (Maybe it was out of love. What a 'mumu love' that could be). It is not as though it wasn't hungry. It indeed was.

At first, I thought it was just taking things easy until I place some of the food directly to it as it quickly and hungrily ate the food.

What has the timidity of the Ghanaian got to do with a foolish dog you might want to ask? Read on!

A lot of the time, most of us take things too easily and acquiescently that our rights are trampled upon on a daily basis. Our culture has taught us not to question the intelligence and authority of the elderly. I beg to differ.

Typical scenarios where the cowardice of the Ghanaian is manifested include boarding 'troskies' at the stations where some people think they are wiser than the rest and they can just bypass the queue and nobody says anything.  You go to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and Passport Office and so-called 'big men' bypass those who have been there for hours and nobody dares speak against or challenge that. Politicians come to repeat promises to us in our constituencies and no one is ready to question or challenge them as to what happened to similar promises in the past.

Is it apathy or minding your own business?

I believe it is sheer timidity. As humans and especially as Ghanaians, we love to keep things as they are and may not want to create a scene for fear of being labeled 'too known'. We simply love the status quo and abhor change.

This phenomenon can be partly attributed to our culture of not questioning the intelligence or authority of the elderly. You don't expect me to accept the fact that 23+9=122 or the country next to USA is USB just because an elderly person says so.

With the power of the internet and luxury of time, the youth is able to read and research on things Professors teachers, parents, pastors, bosses etc. might not have the time to do. Yet you are expected to accept compliantly what these people say without questioning. It is high time some of these cultural values are placed in perspective.

The typical Ghanaian is afraid to express a contrary opinion in the boardrooms, lecture halls, churches and workplaces and would keep quiet in the name of 'peace'. That's cowardice.

It's no wonder that most Ghanaians lack public speaking skills.  Does it surprise you when a Member of Parliament says 'trees under schools' when he meant to say 'schools under trees'?
It is high time we learnt to speak our minds and damn the consequences in the boardrooms, our lecture halls, churches, village meetings, workplaces etc.

In a high-tempo and competitive world like ours, constructive dissent and contrary opinion should be encouraged rather than subverted. It is these contrary opinions and alternative solutions that are needed to create the change and innovation that is so much needed in our homes, communities, businesses, institutions of higher learning and more importantly at the national level to move our nation forward.

Until we fight for what is right, mediocrity and self-interest of a few would continue to usurp our quest for progress as individuals and as a nation.

I have learnt to speak my mind and damn the consequences.

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Caleb Abinana Ntiamoah
University of Ghana Business School
(Level 300)
Abinana110@gmail.com
+233549944255/+233500400484