HAS THE “TERROR” BEEN TAMED BY DEATH, an eulogy to a disciplined disciplinarian

A close-up shot, stolen of Mr. Offence, three days before his passing 

He was a terror; Every student dreaded crossing his path on a wrong note because of his “No Nonsense” approach to beating the “bull” out of naughty, sluggish and mischievous students. At least that was how we perceived him then.

Lazy students could afford to drag their daft and blunt heads into any other class but once it was his period, Dangme, even dull and dead heads rose to life (responded to stimuli), one time- who born dog?
 

He was popularly called “Mr Offence” and that was because, he considered every major transgression on the part of a student as an OFFENCE that attracted his punishment and would not spare the rod at all. His official name, Mr. Sackitey was soon to give way to his “guy name”, Mr. Offence.
 

This man hardly caned students on the butt, no way. He had his typical flogging style of facing you (the culprit) and vertically launching his pair of long canes across your left shoulder further down your back onto the upper part of the butt. Three to six of those electrifying strokes were sure to exorcise you of your “stupidity” and childhood sorcery.
 

One more thing- Mr. Offence had “juju”. He employed pure psychology to apprehend or narrow down on perpetrators of petty crimes committed in class even in his absence. Anytime he entered the class and realized something fishy went on, he looked directly into our faces, watched our demeanours and picked the talkative/criminals often with precision. 

And guess what, because he came from a royal home, it was not difficult at all for us to credit him with “a third eye” and the power to see beyond the naked human eye. Indeed, we couldn’t escape that conclusion because the man was simply a "magician"- he knew who did what even in his absence.
 

Our 1996 year group

But one thing was clear, even at that age, we could clearly distinguish the serious teachers from those who were merely hanging around for their monthly salary. We knew those who really had our interest at heart and were justifiably flogging us to fall in the line. Mr. Offense was one of those passionate teachers who knew exactly what they were about. His techniques and teaching methodology worked. He kept that safe distance from students in order to command the needed respect. While students hardly recorded grade 1 in the other subjects, Mr. Offence often had a flood of ones (1s) year after year because your blunt head simply would not come out of his class alive. 

That’s why literally everyone one of his pupils (from Odumase Presby JSS and later Forman Memorial and Nuaso Presby JHS) could read and write Dangme effortlessly like "drinking early morning koko and agawu/akala".
 

Three days before his passing, I met him at the Agormanya Roman Catholic Parish Hall at a programme organized for the elderly. I approached and introduced myself to him as one of his boys; that was how he gave me that task which took me to his residence later that day for a long one-on-one chat.
 

We had nearly an hour of hearty chat during which he walked me through most of the tricks and tactics he used on us. The chat was an informal one and we punctuated it with loud outbursts, leaving his children and grandchildren amazed at the fun we were having.
 

It was soon time to leave and I did, with the promise that I was going to rally my mates to come pay him a visit. What I didn’t realize was that the “old man was crafting his exit strategy then; he passed on peacefully in his sleep just three days after our encounter.
 

I should have told him in the face that IT’S AN OFFENCE TO DIE but I didn't have that “forethought”; he sneaked out before I could pick any signal. But one thing is refreshing, he left a parting message to ALL WHO ONCE SAT IN HIS CLASS (a recording of which is still on my phone).
 

As our Dangme teacher and having said it in Dangme, I am leaving his message (to his students) same as he uttered them. He said:
“Mau n3 ye bua
N3 wa na nimli ngua hi fuu ng3 ny3 kp3ti
Ny3 lua ny3
Noko noko be n3 e kle k3 je sisi
Se he lua mi, he lua mi
K3k3 k3 ben3 a k3 nu) o he ), k3k3 o pine
Ts3 Mau n3 ye bua ny3”
 

I dare say, it was an awesome privilege sitting in his class and having the opportunity to “meet him on his way to eternity”- three days before his passing.

Nobody encountered Mr. Offence and remained same; indeed he was a disciplined disciplinarian.  

What we are and will be are largely the result of his effort- RIP Mr. Offence
God be with you till we meet again.

Henking is a journalist (an activist writer) and a blogger and can be reached via klonobi2007@gmail.com. You can follow him on twitter with the handle @henkingklonobi. Don't hesitate to leave the writer a feedback on the story

HOW THE TELECOM CSR WAR BENEFITED ODUMASE-KROBO, MY “VILLAGE”

Zain built Odumase Presby JHS (Top left) and MTN built the rest. Watch the video via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA

I have observed some very positive developments in my “village” and find it interesting writing about. Competition is tough in the telecom sector and this, nobody can dispute; the fight even appears keener in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) space where these companies are literally stampeding one another to catch the public’s eyes and prove their supremacy.

One after the other, all the major players in the sector have rolled out mind-blowing campaigns and initiatives to prove their responsiveness to societal needs. We have seen them make swift interventions in the lives of many individuals. Several communities across the country have also benefitted immeasurably from this competition (or generosity, better put). Of these, none (I know) benefited more than my hometown, Odumase-Krobo.  

Within a space of 34 months, MTN Ghana went and splashed a “whopping sum of money” in excess of GHC 530,000 in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region alone, building for my people 3 huge and very important facilities that have since pushed the development of the area a notch higher. In September 2012, the Yellow Yellow telecom giant built and furnished an ICT center at Kpong valued at US$100,000.00 and followed in rapid succession with the construction of a six unit (storey) classroom block for the Kodjonya (Millennium) Presby Junior High School, estimated to cost GHC 229,982.00

The MTN ICT center at Kpong, in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality

A six unit (storey) classroom block for Kodjonya Millenium JHS, Odumase-Korbo, also sponsored by MTN

As if that was not enough to prove itself a responsible corporate citizen, the company sponsored the construction of another edifice, an Accident and Emergency Center for the Atua Government Hospital also in the same municipality- a project that was valued at GHC 200, 000.00. In all, MTN spent not less than 5 billion OLD Ghana cedis (GHC 5, 299, 820) in helping to raise the standard of living of my people.

An MTN sponsored Accident and Emergency center for the Atua Gov. Hospital, Odumase-Korbo

That is really a commendable act and I can’t help but praise the company for this huge intervention. But come to think of it, is this not the work of competition? Why would MTN want to lump together all three facilities in Lower Manya without actually considering the adjourning districts and municipalities which are similarly in need of these amenities? What made Odumase-Krobo the MOST STRATEGIC location to consider? There certainly must be some considerations and I want to believe that Odumase-Krobo was chosen because that’s where Zain (or if you like Airtel’s) praise was/is “loudest”.

From my small corner where I sit now, I see MTN’s move motivated largely by what Zain earlier did in the same community- characterised by massive PR activities- which won the company the heart of many Ghanaians and Krobos in particular.

The boss player (MTN) must be out there on a conscious move to display the depth of its pocket, stamp its superiority over the others in terms of financial clout and ultimately neutralize the WOW feeling Zain has left behind.

In May 2009, Zain, then a new entrant in the Ghanaian telecom industry, followed one of my stories in the Daily Graphic newspaper (published in the back age of the May 7, 2009, edition) which painted the plight of the teachers and pupils of the Odumase Presby JHS in their decaying 1888-built classroom block. The story reported the worsening condition of the school building which had never seen any major renovation since its establishment over 121 year ago. Also captured in the story was that preventable disaster (rainstorm) that hit the school which threw off the rafters and roof of the building, painfully and irreversibly snuffing life out of a class six pupil, Bernard Narteh and injuring several others.  http://thekroboquill.blogspot.com/2014/10/danger-odumase-presby-school-collapsing.html

The state of the Odumase Presby JHS before Zain's intervention. Watch the video via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA

Cutting long story short, Zain literally rushed to Odumase-Krobo on seeing the story and razed to the ground that monster of a classroom block threatening the lives of teachers and students, and built in its place- in real record time- a modern six unit classroom block with several other facilities that hitherto were non extent.

The Odumase Presby JHS block, revived and refreshed by Zain. Watch the video via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA

In a matter of 3 months the school was restored to shape, assuming an enviable position among the comity of schools not only in the community or municipality but the whole of Eastern Region. It could instantly boast a 30-seater computer lab with internet access, a fully furnished library that could also seat 40 students, electricity, water harvesting and storage facility and lots of other additions that made it a modern educational center. And guess what, all this happened during vacation; the pupils walked out of their colonial “mud house” and by the time they returned, a new school block of no mean standard sprung up like mushroom at the same spot.

THe school's new computer lab. Watch the video via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA

If there was any project aside the Touching Lives TV reality show that earned Zain the enviable reputation as responsible company, it was the reconstruction of this school. Truth is that by the time the company was living the shores of Ghana (metamorphosing into what it is today, Airtel) it was still young though but it assumed a leading position in the arena of CSR, literally dictating the CSR tune and setting the pace for the others to follow.

Could this be the same tune MTN danced to? Then Tigo, Glo, Vodafone (and may be Expresso) please let me see you on floor so my people could benefit the more. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA

CREDIT: Worked on the pictures together with Hilary Saki Klonene Kodji and Stephen Tetteh Kormoh

OPEN LETTER TO HON ISAAC T. AGBO, MCE OF LOWER MANYA KROBO ……Echoes from Odumase Presby School

MCE for Lower Manya Krobo, Hon. Isaac Tetteh Agbo, 

The wall which was never cmpleted

Dear Hon. Agbo,

When on Wednesday August 12, 2009 Zain handed over the new Odumase Presby Junior High School block for use, you proudly graced the occasion in the presence of your boss, Hon. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, then the Eastern Regional Minister who expectedly wowed the crowd with some promises, one of which was the walling of the entire school compound as a guard from the flood that runs down the mountain onto the compound and, of course, as security for the heap of flashy equipment the school was blessed with by the telecom giant.

Not too long after that event, we saw you take the good step of giving practical effect to the promise- which until then appeared a mere political talk- by erecting a wall north of the compound toward the Zimmerman Presby Cemetery.

The wall under construction

In fact, Zimmermann Presby Church even simplified your work by already raising a huge wall which separated the chapel from the then shameful, dangerous and “colonial piggery” of a classroom block which collapsed to give way to the new one we see today.

South of the compound toward Salosi also saw a Jericho type of wall constructed from the coffers of the same Church, when in fact those resources could have been channeled into first putting back the school into shape- but hey !!! That is my church for you, scale of preference turned upside down (Hard fact, isn’t it?).

In effect, you were left with only two of the four-sided compound to wall to claim the bouquets of glory and what would have passed as your invaluable contribution to your alma mater.

We the past and present students salute you for at least starting the project, being one of us and we pride ourselves in your current status and what the future seems to hold for you, but in case you have not visited the school/site in a long time, the contractor you assigned the job has ran away after deliberately setting a trap that nearly caught a game when part of the wall fell flat on reopening day (Jan 8, 2013) to welcome students back to the dangerous ground.

Without any external force, a section of the wall came down with a blast enough to “faint” the faint-hearted even from a distance but the school was spared another casualty and pre-mature death because students were indoors, otherwise you can be sure we would have been heading for the cemetery again with a body/ies of innocent school children (whose only crime was their desire to get educated) if they were on break- which they do twice daily, even today, they will.

The rest of the blood-thirsty monster of a defense wall is loosely standing with gaping gaps supposed to be filled with “iron-rodded” pillars to hold it firm.

Hon. the good work you have started is washing down the drain; if you care to know, when on that fateful reopening day (Tuesday Jan 8, 2013), a calamity nearly visited the school, myriad of accusing fingers started pointing in your direction for importing onto campus a monster with jaws wide open to hound the pupils.

If there is something you can quickly do to finish the work, please do it without delay- in fact this is the time- because with the onset of the rain, the scary and dreadful memories of the disaster that led to the demise in 2008 of that 12 year old class six pupil- Bernard Narteh- and the subsequent reconstruction of the school have been raked again, and even worsened by the sight of your falling wall.

Students and passers-by are in constant fear with your name always on their lips.

Yours sincerely

SGND

Henking Klono-Bi Adjase-Kodjo

(An old boy)

Published: Feb 4, 2013, Myjoyonline.com

(http://opinion.myjoyonline.com/pages/pressrelease/201302/100916.php)

And part of the weak wall collapsed

  

Bit by bit, the entire wall fell to the ground

Why ???

HENKING ADJASE-KODJO IS THE GJA JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

The writer, Manasseh Awuni Azure (A Ghanaian Journalist)

On Saturday August 21, 2010, the boy from Bongo will have yet another opportunity to cure the remnants of his childhood kwashiorkor and immunize his future children against the protein deficiency disease.

Yes, if kwashiorkor grabs you and you survive to tell your story, you’ll agree with me that poverty is concrete noun, and not an abstract noun as your English teacher told you. And if someone sends you Antoa to curse you and says, “Let him die”, it is not as painful as when he says, “Let him be poor.” But thank God, those days are gone and your boy can now dine with the big men, and Saturday is another such occasion!

The venue will be the Banquet Hall of the State House, where Ghana’s most noble and ignoble men will converge to award Stars of the Order of the Volta and Stars of Order of the Vulture. The Ghana Journalists’ Association (GJA) awards are here and it will be interesting to see the men who buy ink in barrels gather to take stock of themselves and honour outstanding performances. There will be more than enough to quaff and munch and yours truly has started fasting for the day. This will be my third consecutive GJA Awards Night since, by God’s abounding grace, I moved from the peninsular district of Kete-Krachi to Accra, thanks to the Ghana Institute of Journalism. I’m in the process of becoming a member of the GJA and next year, hey, I’ll ride a donkey from here to Bongo if, or rather when, I pick one or more of the award next year.

After the northern journalists’ awards recently, I wrote a news commentary extolling the virtues of some journalists from the savanna regions who have over the years made northerners proud. I named names such as George Sydney Abugri and Anas Aremeyaw Anas among others, and a few minutes after the news commentary was aired on GBC Radio, one of the veterans in GBC Radio Newsroom saw me and called me. He looked very serious and I wondered whether I had defamed someone in the commentary.

“Do you know of Razak El-Alawa?” he asked me when I followed him to the newsroom. I scratched my head and my mind travelled many centuries back. I had actually not met the man before, and apart from a few articles I had read in the Daily Graphic with that byline, how was a 1985-born supposed to know about him? But fortunately I remembered while sipping a bottle of alvaro at the previous GJA awards night, I saw that name repeat itself twice in the colourful brochure that carried a full list of Ghanaian journalists’ hall of fame. The man is the only three-time winner of that award, followed by Kwaku Sakyi Addo and…

“So why did you not add his name. As for George Sydney Abugri, Anas Aremeyaw Anas and those you mentioned in the commentary, when did they come? If you like, sit down and I can give you names of northern Journalists … ”

I told him that I knew Anas was from Bimbilla and Afroman Sydney Abugri was from Bawku but had no faintest idea which part of the planet Alhaji Razak was hatched. And what about the name Razak? Well, we cannot conclude that because Albert Abongo is the MP for Bongo, Kanda Bongo Man is also from Bongo.

“I should have researched further,” I admitted and that ended the argument. The man in question is not a northerner, but ask me his interest and I’ll tell you that he is proud of journalism of his days and cannot afford to hear “amateur journalists” taking credit leaving his diligent companions of yesteryears. And I must admit that it is at such occasions as the GJA awards that one meets the great writers our history.

This year’s GJA awards promises to be great. Recently I heard the GJA President, Mr. Ransford Tetteh, saying he was happy about the keen interest shown in the awards. This, to him, has confirmed that the men and women behind the keyboards and microphones have developed faith in the GJA. It is good when the competition is patronized. But I think Mr. Tetteh and his men should concern themselves with the quality of the entries and not just the quantity. They say this year has the greatest number of entries.

The Ghana Institute of Journalism’s library may not be more spacious than a big lotto kiosk, but it is home to some of the best books on journalism and communication one can ever find on Odomankoma’s planet.

And one of such books I paid a penalty for returning it late is the Best Newspaper Writing published by the Poynter Institute of the USA. The book is published annually and it contains the winning and shortlisted stories of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) annual media awards. When I compare those stories to newspaper stories that win awards here, I feel we’re still many miles away from modernity.

A few newspaper writings such as our columnists (the Alomeles, Akordors, Abugris, and the Kwaku Sakyi-Addos are men of their own classes) and stories of Anas and a few can match the best anywhere. But we still have a long way to go in print journalism.

The electronic media seem to be doing better. Joy FM and Citi FM are Great. Unique FM’s Perspectives and Radio Ghana’s Ghana Today are news programmes that seem to make up for the-minister-said stories replete in their major bulletins. Metro TV seem to have enough time for their news and they carry good stories. TV3 have the best news ideas, than any media house in Ghana but they scratch the surface of the stories.

Perhaps, they need to be reminded that how fast you do something will be forgotten but how well you do it will forever be remembered. GTV parades the best reporters in Ghana but their “output” is a subject of my subsequent write-ups. I sometimes wonder whether the prime time is for News or advertisement. The only station with nationwide coverage! They, too, must be reminded that the size of an animal does not matter; what matters is the taste in its soup.

Nevertheless, Saturday is going to be a great day! And the big question is who will wear the coveted crown of the GJA Journalist of the Year?

To me, the GJA Journalist of the Year should go to Mr. Henking Adjase-Kodjo! And I don’t want anybody to ask me who the hell he is, because his journalistic credentials may not fill an A4 sheet of paper. I mean Verdana font type. Font size 32. Bold. Justified! Sorry, Henking, I didn’t mean it.

Certainly, Henkings name will not be mentioned at the GJA awards. He’ll not be nominated, let alone win an award. But to the people of Odumase-Krobo in the Lower Manya Krobo of the Eastern Region, especially the current, past and future students of the Odumase Presbyterian JHS, Henking is not only the Journalist of the Year for the year under review but forever. He is their hero. He is their saviour.

He has demonstrated that with the stroke of the pen, the journalist is an architect of change and development. His parents must be proud of him and so will his community. Henking has demonstrated the naked truth in my mentor Chinua Achebe’s saying, that the cock belongs to one person but its crow is the asset of the entire village. And this week that we’re about to witness the Ghanaian journalists day of honor, I don’t think there is an individual who’s worthier of my praise than Henking.

Now, the news in details, credit to GBC’s Mercy Sowah. That woman and her voice! Only God knows the number of admirers out there who tell me they feel GBC Radio news doesn’t end when she’s reading. That’s another subject for another day.

The year was 2009. Henking was a still in GIJ. He was our Clerk of the SRC General Assembly. The best we’ve had so far, and they will ever have. He was in his final year and they were on their monotonous academic writing they call thesis. Final exams were near. And a referral in one subject meant that you’ll not graduate, thanks to gatekeeper Ms. Avordeda. Familiar name, GIJ alumni?

But despite the stress of having to meet all his responsibilities in GIJ, Henking Adjase-Kodjo found time to do a series of stories on the miserable state of affairs of the Odumase Presby JHS. Seven stories in all, on the same subject! The school was built in 1888 and had not seen any renovation after 121 years of existence. So what happened? In 2008, part of the building collapsed and killed a 13-year old pupil and injured three other pupils.

The rest of the building became a death trap, but the teachers and pupils had no option. So they risked their lives in there. The district assembly was too poor to help. NADMO, according to the headmaster of the school, did not pay heed to them when the school authorities reported their plight to them. The headmaster also explained that they had appealed to Ghana Cement Company Ltd (our own GHACEM) but nothing came out of it. And the central government? The Jubilee House was a priority!

But when Henking took his pen and wrote a touching story ,which presented the views of all interest groups of the school, and the Daily Graphic carried it in its May 7, 2009, edition of and there was change. Zain Ghana was touched by the story and today, the school has a new six-unit classroom block, a staff common room, a well-stocked library and a computer laboratory with internet facilities. The pupils also have new furniture. Pupils of the school now have ceiling fans above their heads, refrigerators to supply them with cold water and instead of stinky KVIPS, they can now sit on WCs and do their own thing, thanks to Zain. And thanks to Daily Graphic for carrying the story.

But the hero himself is 27 year-old Henking Adjase-Kodjo.

When last year the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) organized the students’ award and there was a category for Best Student Journalist, Henking was the one I tipped to win. I had presented materials from print, radio, TV and the numerous articles on the internet some people claim are “masterpieces” but the impact of Henking’s story was enormous and I confessed to him.

So on that night as I sat through the well-attended NUGS Awards Night in the auditorium of Zenith College, I had only hopes for winning the Best Student Writer category because I knew Henking was in the race and since NUGS is about education, he was sure to pick it up the award for the Best Student Journalist. It was a well-attended programme, with the descendants of Eve attending in their numbers. They scooped the well-polished yam mounds on the chests and as they cat walked, they (I mean the yam mounds) vibrated provokingly. You couldn’t look away because they were everywhere. And the word “beautiful” is an understatement. Indeed, heaven will be boring! And hell?

But the night turned out to be one of the most horrific nights in my life. I didn’t get the award for the best student writer and didn’t win the best student journalist, either. So who do you think won the best student journalist award?

No! Not as you think.

Henking didn’t win. It was awarded to an Akan newscaster based in Kumasi. And I cannot hide my disdain for most of these local language newscasters anywhere. Before this guy came to pick up his award, he gave a “free-style” of the comedy they mistake for news casting and the whole hall thundered with rapturous applause.

It was only then that I realized that Henking and I were too noble for those things they called awards. Where ignorance is bliss… One of the panelists who did the selection later told me that after the panel had all agreed to award some of us, the NUGS executive went and sat somewhere and came out with a different list, saying the “Council of Elders” of NUGS had the final say as to who won what.

It was therefore no wonder that after the “newscaster’s” praise had subsided, a loud voice pierced through the auditorium like a spear, “SAKAWA AWARDS.” And guess who owned that voice? It was our own Nana Darkwa Baafi, JJ Rawling’s good friend. But he was 101% right on this occasion. Like a Liverpool fan, he didn’t walk alone.

But on the day of his congregation the Ghana Institute of Journalism honoured Henking. He was adjudged the Most Inspiring Student and a citation was read for him. What about GJA?

But on Saturday night if what happened in 2007 should happen again, I’ll have a say in who becomes the GJA journalist of the year. I still remember that night very vividly, as vividly as the day I broke my code. I mean the day you broke your virginity, your dignity.

The GJA Vice President, Mr. Roland Affail Monney was asked to come and declare the Journalist of the Year. And he obliged. Spotting a neat, dark suit, he daintily mounted the podium and the whole State Banquet Hall died. The public address system used was very lousy but on this occasion, his voice seemed to reach every corner of the hall even if the microphone was taken away from him.

The clink of the glasses could be heard far away as worshipers of booze decided to respect the silence and momentarily placed them on the tables. Nigerians have a proverb that: “When a soup is unpalatable, and the paste of the pounded yam that goes with it is not smooth, that is the time to know a man who loves to eat pounded yam.” But I say that it is when there is excess booze at a state function that we know true “boozemen.”

But on this occasion, everybody respected the silence and the sound of Mr. Affail Monney’s voice rang out like the St. Michael’s Catholic Church bell in Kete-Krachi. He spoke for some time. And we listened, like a spellbinding sermon of salvation delivered to people about to face firing squad. Then he dropped the cluster bombshell! No journalist had written anything sensible enough to be named GJA Journalist of the Year.

The news was that there was no news! Period.

But this year, when such a thing should repeat itself, I will rise up and shout at the GJA officers like the way Representative Joe Wilson shouted at Obama.

“You lie! The GJA Journalist of Year is Mr. Henking Adjase-Kodjo, a freelancer for the Daily Graphic. Hurray!” The only difference will be that I won’t go back to apologise as Rep. Joe Wilson did.

Long live journalism.

Long live Ghanaian journalists who exercise our press freedom responsibly.

Credit: Manasseh Azure Awuni [www.maxighana.com] Email: azureachebe2@yahoo.com. The writer is a young freelance journalist based in Accra, Ghana. To read more of his writing, visit: www.maxighana.com

ZAIN THE SAVIOUR

Full video via this link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA

Henking A. Adjase-Kodjo, the writer

To the chiefs and people of Odumase-Krobo, particularly the staff and students of the Presbyterian Junior High School (the school that was left to rot), the name Zain, will forever remain synonymous with salvation and relief because what all others have failed or refused to do, Zain has done.

Just when hope was getting lost because the authorities were shirking their responsibility and virtually running away from what they were mandated to do and with no rescuer in sight, Zain came from nowhere to restore smile on the faces of the visibly hopeless tutors and pupils of the 1888-built school; the school had been left for a long time to rot, injure and kill.

All, even those whose mandate it was to ensure that the building was fit for human habitation and, for that matter, academic exercise fled in the face of the worsening condition, leaving the teachers and pupils like “orphans”. But Zain did not. It is, therefore not for nothing that the name Zain has gained acceptance in the Odumase township and beyond.

At least if for nothing at all, their prompt response to the distress call of the school within a day has succeeded in averting a worse form of the earlier recorded disaster. This has shown that they are not only in the country for business, just like others, but to improve the lots of the people.

But for the rescue mission, the news of the impending rainy season would be a bad one for the “orphaned” teachers and pupils because it would worsen their plight.

I am very sure if they had the power, they would have suspended the season and, for that matter, the rains but they had no such power so they resigned themselves to fate only hoping that nothing disastrous happened.

If at the hands of mere showers that preceded the season, parts of the roof of the colonial edifice kept flying off, to the extent of snuffing life out of one student and injuring many others, one can imagine what would have become of the building, the pupils and teachers during and after the heavy rains of this season as has already been predicted by the Meteorological Service not too long ago.

We needed no consultation to arrive at the conclusion that a great but preventable disaster was looming. I am firm in the belief that other schools in other parts of the country are in similar or worse conditions.

If in the heart of a town like Odumase-Krobo, which is very close to the capital city, we still find crumbling schools buildings like this, one can guess with certainty the nature of school building in the “remote” parts of the country. How long should we continue to toy with risky situations like this?

Some things can be toyed with, if we so want, but not when human lives which we neither can create nor restore are involved and more so when one has already been lost as a signal that more were going to be lost.

Is this the kind of free, compulsory but quality basic education government keeps boating of? Why then should it be compulsory if children have to face life-threatening conditions to access it and die in the process? What would the benefit be to come to school only to be struck dead by a collapsing school building?

I shudder to think that the deceased, Bernard Narteh, has been dispatched to eternity prematurely and for this reason the authorities responsible for the mismanagement of the schools must be taken on for negligence of duty. Negligence because the building started showing signs of imminent collapse long ago and yet the authorities simply refused to act. This is where or disregard for maintenance has brought us.

Could it be that those whose mandate it was and still is to ensure the safety of the people (pupils and teachers) and the provision of a conducive environment for academic activities simply refused to do so because they are not directly affected in any way or the condition of the school had not been brought to their attention?

Was it a case of lack of finance, the usual refrain, and if so, what prevented them from taking initiatives? Am I being made to believe that “communal labour” which has been very effective in arresting situations like this has outlived its usefulness?

Was it that the stakeholders were too many and their roles not properly defined for which reason they shirked their responsibility? And who at all is directly responsible for the management of public-mission schools like the one in question- Odumase Presby Junior High School? Because one of the identified causes of the abandonment is “who has what responsibility to do what?”

Is it the government, the mission/church or the Parent-Teacher-Association? Some may even argue that the old students have a role to play. Is there a clear definition of who does what? If there is, then the identified authority must be held responsible.

While the government, for that matter, the District Assembly and the Ghana Education Service (GES) seem to be too busy with “more important issues”, the church has also almost withdrawn, playing a passive role in the management of the school.

I very much believe that the church has withdrawn because the school is “public”, otherwise what reason can the Presby Education Unit (PEU) the Presby Education Foundation (PEF) and the Dangme-Tongu Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) assign for not responding to the distress call of the school”

Anyway, where was the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO)? What did it do about what happened? Why the silence even when they had fully been made aware of the disaster?

Would I be wrong to think that what happened was not disasterous enough for them to manage? Perhaps, disaster to them is better managed on a large scale and not when only three people are injured and a single life lost.

Thank God, the management of Zain has been touched by the plight of the school and is hurriedly putting up a befitting classroom block with a library and a computer laboratory in place of that “death trap”. But the question is, what of other schools in the same and similar conditions?

Zain certainly cannot do all and that is why the government must sit up and prioritise properly, otherwise the very essence of the laudable interventions such as the Capitation Grant, School Feeding Programme, free school uniforms and the others would all not be felt.

Of what essence would it be for the children to attend school for free, be fed for free but learn in crumbling school building only to die later because of the faulty and abandoned school building?

We have toyed with lives for far too long and so this must be a lesson. We done Zain! This is a long-lasting investment that you have made and you will forever be remembered for this philanthropy. You are really making the world a wonderful place.
Daily Graphic, Monday June 22, 2009

Watch full video via this link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA