THE SECOND COMING OF ANAS AREMEYAW ANAS

The man, Anas Aremeyaw Anas. (Picture sourced externally)

One word that hits my mind any time the name, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, comes up is enigma. The young man is simply mysterious, puzzling and difficult to figure out.

That he still plies his trade actively and yet most Ghanaians, till date, cannot put a face to the name is the most mystifying. He is such an artful and elusive character.

He must have planned his career so well to have come this far in terms of exploits and achievements while still going faceless. His is an uncommon spirit, a spirit so “stubborn” and daring.

Fact is, Anas is not the first to have ventured in journalism, or better still, investigative/subterfuge journalism, but he is certainly a pacesetter and perhaps the first to have taken it to this dizzying height- one that will remain the point of reference for a very long time to come.

There is however no illusion about how dangerous a career like his can be. Aside the inherent hazards of losing his precious life in the act and endangering those of his family, he is having to live an uncomfortable life in perpetuity, looking over his shoulders every minute and second.

Many are the careers he’s ruined and reduced to rubble through his investigative manoeuvre – in the interest of mother Ghana/humanity, as many would say – and numerous are the people who are seething with a vengeful anger for the huge embarrassment and anguish he’s caused them. 

At this point, he’s already put himself in harm’s way and can only remain anonymous for good otherwise the least act of indiscretion and he is a “grave man”. What a sacrifice for mother Ghana/humanity !

But hey, Anas is not alone, we don’t even know which of these young men parading in the customized mask he really is. He seems to be working with a team who are fast mastering the art.

"Baby Anas", extreme right, spotting his investigative mask

Some more youngsters are also burning with aspirations to step into his kind of shoes. A couple of days ago, social media went live with pictures of this faceless 3-year-old kid who seems poised to also go down the road less traveled.

She was bold enough to choose investigative journalism as a career and she dressed in the likeness of her role model, Anas, to mark a career day in her school. She became an instant (social media) celebrity; that is what creativity can do sometimes. It must be her parents’ idea because she appears too young to own and be credited with this ingenuity/creativity; she has become a “star”, the darling “Baby Anas”, nonetheless.

When Anas met "Baby Anas"

Anas is even reported to have paid her a courtesy call - that’s heartwarming. I hope he (Anas) takes special interest in her professional grooming to make sure this dream of becoming a journalist - a valiant investigative journalist,for that matter- is realized. That will be a good way to prepare the ground for his “second coming”, in a different human form.

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