Going to ‘Aborikyir’
During the 113 years of colonial rule of the Gold Coast, leaving this country by air and or alternatively either stowaway or mostly by sea [MV Apapa or Aureol], meant destination Britain just as the Francophile colonised citizens travelled to France. Every enquirer about who left was informed he or she had travelled to Aborikyir; and so has it been codified, as long as one is out of the country. Our older people continue to use the cliche until pressed for specifics– which country abroad. It remains taboo in other scenarios.
And the peculiar trait was then the travelled was not going to stay out there for good. It was only to study and return to pick up “Big man’s” position generally in the civil service where you fitted. Favourite study areas were: the law, medicine, engineering, rarely though accountancy and becoming a University Don. Back home, these joined with the few working elders who had worked up to get to what was described as “European appointments”.
There is a massive history .But that belief changed. One strove to get out to work and lived there. The destinations are a myriad. The new feature is propelled by a feeling of hardship and it is driven compellingly by an apparently insatiable urge to go and come no more. I presume to think that a former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo’s recently expressed concerns refer, in part to this prior background. She said “I don’t see hope in the eyes of young people in Ghana …they don’t sound too hopeful…It is about getting a visa…” for going outside—anywhere as long as gone away, it seems for some in particular. That is how desperate and confirms developments in themes, mindsets and determination with time scales and variety of ambitions and visions since from between the last quarter of the 20th century.
The former Chief Justice has probably the same problem defining youth as most of us. The truth is the mix in the departures has older groups, though the content has been individual travellers in the main; there are professionals and with great respect not to spite any, Nothingers too with flights from sinking private industries—not easy to strike any balance—brain drain. Recipient countries have also made it a struggling between Technocrats with the scholar-literati and empty hands with dots called artisans about whom there are reportedly complaints against. All leave freely on their own, with all die be die- hearts .But there was a period here one needed to secure [in the early 60s] “EXIT PARMIT” . The coup 1966 scuttled it. But re-applied in the Rawlings-I term. The desire to travel out though, is partly human and ties in with culture for its own sake. Secondly, it is on assumption interpretively also that must have led the former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo’s cry from her heart “how long’’ it is going to last. It is not profound in the senses of being common knowledge but worth wondering. The phenomenon did not start yesterday.
I think of its surprise surge, and rate like uncontrolled horse thirdly. It is running story, inexorably gathering fresh momentum in recent years. I dare surmise the former CJ received good headlines but undeserved the silence after26 July 2024. I suppose the timing might have been undermined by A : politicians thinking they have stated their solutions in their campaigning manifestoes about navigating challenges of migration and jobs’ crises. I concede though the public are not reliably trustful from experiences; B: too late because what she observed with grave concerns would be unstoppable within shortly; and C: there is no denying (i) travelling outside is long-ancient ambition -activity even after decolonisation because the original wish to get back home to become ‘’big persons”—new status in the social strata stood.
As stated previously here above, she was worrying about the ultimate impacts on an economy which is troubled. Oh I note she confessed economics is not her forte. The distinct asterisk between the old and current situation is the ‘’definitive unwillingness’’ by intenders to quit both properly and or clandestinely—anywhere outside of Ghana.
In her apparent stunned predicament she stopped short of a verdict. It is simple: that it appears that the country’s future is bleak. Any country’s future resides in its Youth, every politician’s song and dance since before and after independence. The common parlance which is now a veritably hackneyed phrasing: ’‘The future belongs to the Youth.’’ Here then is my offertory on her concerns largely shared with “buts” and “ifs” implied:
No one would ask contrary questions about that load of jobless who have given up and think travelling out to any Aborikyir, is the most viable, you often hear. That is the state of youth plus any others entrepreneurship in Ghana. I submit, as I understand it, this constitutes the gravamen of the concerns.
Centrally, she raised the lack of “opportunity” and loss of “optimism” among young people many of whom look out toward for success rather than finding it within Ghana. She appeals for an enabling environment to support business initiatives. On one hand it is valid. But on another, the same could benefit from a nuanced view of Ghana’s entrepreneurial landscape. While challenges exist the narrative also contains stories of success, resilience and potential. In fact reportedly, many young Ghanaians are noted to be already building flourishing businesses across sectors supported in part by initiatives like the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), a prime example as in its governmental policy framework.
(It is understood to provide or expected to, an integrated support system for start-ups and small businesses focusing on services, like business development and funding. Such programmes are essential for the strategic vision of industrial growth and job creation. Official sources report success stories across sectors like beauty, agriculture, education and cocoa processing).
However, the correctness of the call for more for a more enabling environment, could overlook there being a foundation in place – one that be further maximized if societal attitudes and cultural values aligned with the resources seemingly in famine considering the wobbly economy today and the tinges of ‘who you know’ or partisanship rife-rumoured. I need a couple of sentences to emphasise the role of small businesses in economic growth: small businesses are greater adjuncts in economic development worldwide. For instance, the recent budget decisions in the UK hammer home the significance of small businesses contributions to public service funding. That undoubtedly underscores the importance in national revenue generation and economic sustainability.
Critics cite those on the outskirts of mainstream publicity industry as might indirectly, feeding an influence termed: “soft life” mindset. That relates, interpretively to adding clarity to her Ladyship’s reference as I understand it to the statement that young Ghanaians lack optimism. But it fails to address that a key element of apparent excess glamorisation which inherently cheapens success for stardom which fashions to inflate youthful huge expectations. I mean the concept of soft life – a life free from hardships and struggle. It looks more obvious than apparent.
I should add that whereas it could be either innocent, or, (i) our public have a tendency to hail it; or, (ii) hapless—fed on that, as if an unchangeable norm, get rich quickest phantom. It is a phenomenon that has created without a hassle a culture where young people may expect high rewards with minimal effort. I appreciate the competition is knife-end-edgy in that establishment. It’s not their faux pas altogether, by its nature in the terrain they operate though it is possible to temper it editorially. As things stand in that bracket the tendency and indeed trending could safely but disconnectedly distort perceptions of what it takes to succeed in business.
Again, there is the daily but highly sensitive, dating from “nananom mber do” (ancient times), the intractable difficulties in gender and systemic barriers: one significant obstacle which young women face in Ghana’s entrepreneurial echo system is gate keeping, often in the form of unethical demands, such as requests for sexual favours in exchange for opportunities. This issue is a barrier not only to gender equity but to economic development as it limits the potential of half of the population. I would underline the ‘enabling environment’ to include dealing with these pervasive issues, employing enforcements for greater transparency, ethical standards and structural support for the female, crucial to creating an inclusive entrepreneurial environment.
(To be concluded)
By Prof. Nana Essilfie-Conduah.
