Are Ghanaians Optimistic or Cynical?
June 16, 2008
Tune in to any radio discussion on a good day and you may be turned off by the numerous complains and criticisms that panelists and listeners churn out on every subject.
Listen to any conversation in a Trotro and you are often left to wonder whether Ghanaians really believe anything good can come out of Ghana.
Many believe you can only succeed in Ghana today by doing drugs or knowing someone, by being corrupt or being affiliated to some Politicians.
Such critique makes many believe that Ghanaians are cynical. Quick to criticize but often unwilling to praise.
On the other hand it is believed that there are some optimistic fellows out there who of course believe there could be a better Ghana despite the many, too obvious “mountains”. We attest this to their so called faith?
Some also believe there is opportunity in Ghana that rewards hard work.
A balance of the two by Uncle Ebo supposes that Ghanaians are optimistic when it comes to football but when it comes to the real life issues they are cynical.
So what do you think?
Are we optimistic or cynical?
Post your comments here…………….
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16 Responses to “Are Ghanaians Optimistic or Cynical?”
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generally, i believe that ghanaians are mostly cynical. believe you me that people perceive their compatriots to be indulging in nefarious acts when seen flaunting their wealth.It is only in ghana, that you are considered strange when one gets rich at a supposedly early age, say 28. Ludicrous, though it may be and seem,it has largely affected the mentality and psyche of countless ghanaians and the earlier such behaviours are scotched the better.
Hi Kojo, I have travelled a bit and met many Nigerians. They are risk takers, very aggressive people who wouldn’t settle for anything low whilst the Ghanaian is very timid and doesn’t take risk.
Robert Nyarko, London
hi Kojo,
on the subject of the cynical attitude of Ghanaians, i would like to say its hard to be optimistic in a society whereby people act anyway they want irrespective of implemented laws. a practical eg being the wearing of seatbelts which was supposed to be compulsory and punishable by law if not abided by. what happened to that? the police dont check anymore so why should the citizens practice the wearing of seatbelts? the traders are back on the streets in more numbers than ever before so why should we trust anything the lawmakers of this country say? people are being attacked by armed robbers every other day, now we have to look over our shoulder whether walking or driving.
Personally am slowly bordering on the edge of cynicism, i look at our movies and i try not to weep! its really hard to be optimistic,seriously. i could go on and on.
linda, Osu
Ghanains are very cynical maybe due to the over flaunting of wealth by the few wealthy ones in the society. It is no secret that those who have political alliances are the ones who flaunt their wealth. As such ghanains tend to be cycnical when they see a rich person. I have to say also that there is an attitude of mediocrity and acceptance that eats away at Ghanaians. The attitude of enyershwii hinders people from going after what they want, and taking risks. They are too quick to accept mediocre results and chalk it as the norm. They need to be challenged to showcase ingenuity and talent. I was in Ghana a few months back and I was appaled to see that after almost 10 years of being away, there had been no change in ideas for music videos, plays etc. It was the same old, same old. Meanwhile you go to Nigeria and you see a studio that is at par with an American tv studio, tv cameras are up to date and of very good quality. The Ghanaian will not think to do these things for himself but is quick to dismiss the achievements of another person. Instead of being motivated by another’s success, they are rather demoralized. So maybe the radio stations should make a conscious effort to not give too much attention to known drug lords, but rather to hail and encourage creativity and ingenuity. Thats one thing that I love about western nations, they always encourage new ideas and new inventions.
Kojo,being cynical or optimistic lies within the individual cos i believe Ghanaians in general are doing all that they can espercially the youth. You can be optimistic as u can yet situation can turn upside down against you.
Kojo, in an economy where the slogan has changed from “whom u know to who knows you” what can one expect, but in all that we do lets rememeber posterity will judge us all one day. God bless Ghana and save us.
Ernest
Why have you left this side of the road like that mr. contractor…and the answer will be it does not matter….Someone is supposed to check and make sure things are done right, but he does not. How do you expect a child to behave after seeing his parents accepting the mediocre things in life and accept it like that. How do you expect people to react and behave in a society where there are no standards in building, in constructing our roads, in cutomer service and were nurses think that they are doing us a favour by attending to the sick. A child from chokor who knows a lot will be timid to face a child from trasaco valley who knows nothing. That is what is happening to the Ghanaian. Why do we always look outside for help, from coaches of our natioal teams to the smallest assignment. The problem is psychological and it is so because of what they society has been forced to believe in by the leaders. Is it not true, being are being employed because of who they know, is it not true that politician are amassing wealth all over. The good thing is we can change and we have to start now by letting the Ghanaian believe in himself. That means, every law enforcer must be held responsible for acts of negligence and we must not accept near beauty or near perfection but rather the true perfection. This is a virtue and once we have it, we will frown on the sub standard. We must tell our leaders it is so unacceptable not to have a a police emergency line like 911 that you can easily call for assistance wherever you are. AND the Ghanaian will change from cynism to optimism.
i think the environment one finds himself in most definately influences his attitude. so kojo if we are cynical then it is because we are here (in ghana)
don’t you think we would be optimistic in a different environment
Kojo,
The first line of your blog says it all…..what do you expect when we are bombarded everyday with criticisms from the radio/tv/newspapers…some bothering on nothing but half-truths, we turn out to be just that as a society. I think we are becoming or have become cynical partly because the radio stations shape our perspectives and opinions to behave cynically. and am sad to say that JOYFM is not excluded.
Personally, my radio set is now OFF in the mornings! I drive to work in silence, at peace with myself and my God, and in the process tune my mind to higher and better things. It took me a while to adjust but since then, I am loving it! Right now, am less cynical than I used to be……take a cue!
Ghanaians are generally cynical and I blame our system for it. There is too much uncertainty in anything you want to do. Before you begin, you are assured of discouragements and so many ‘nos’ from people you approach. Nonetheless, some of us have decided to MOVE no matter the obstacles. By the way I have developed a nice package of a TV program and looking for any of the following: TV Producers, Investors, Sponsors to get in touch for A BIG NEW THING FOR GHANAIAN VIEWERS! Call Kwaku on 0244137182.
can you be optimistic when the end of the road is gloomy
I am sory to digress a bit from the issue at stake. I have a problem that has to do with roads in and around Darkuman Police Station where I leave. The Contructor working on the roads there has stopped working since December last year. He first came there and removed all the gravels on the road and ended up covering the gutters . The residents managed and desilt the gutters. Before the Chrismass, he came back and hip gravel on the road and left. That was the last time we heard of him. As I write this message the gravels are still on the road making motoring on the roads there very dificult. We the residents did everything we could to locate the contructor but it yielded no result. I am therefore pleading with you to find out who is the contructor and why the stoppage of work. Kindly also find out when public servants are going to be paid the new salary increament for this year announced in february this year[the new minimumm wage]. Thanks.
Hi Kojo, being cynical or optimistic is determined by our attitudes.It is that simple,our feelings comes from our thoughts.Therefore,we can change them by changing our thought patterns.It is as easy to form the habit of succeeding as it is to succumb to the habit of failure.Let: us all remain optimistic as we can and hopefully we shall be there one day.Long live Ghana.
Hi Kojo, on every coin,there are two sides,so i believe we have both optimistic and cynical people in Ghana.Nevertheless,i think Uncle Ebo is quite right.even in this modern day,people in Ghana remain cynical.In any case,it is what you believe and confess that you will possess.most Ghanaians confess and believe negative and therefore behave in a negative way and that amounts to the situation in which many Ghanaians find themselves in.If we should maintain a positive mentality about our situations and think positive then it will be well with us.But one certainty about life is uncertainty and so whenever we face challenges,we ought to overcome them and be prayerfulnever forgetting that God helps those who help themselves.WE SHOULD NEVER GIVE UP.
Hi, I believe we are optimistic people, and daring as well and wish to pursue great things. I believe governments and institutions need to realise this so as to create opportunities for people to soar, people wants to do big things but there are constraints. and forums for ideas generation and development are few, like a forum for exhibiting housing ideas, waste management, lorry parks, recreational parks are not there. But we resort instead to talking and talking because we have seen what radio can do, thats bad, lets have a radio station to organise a forum for exhibition of ideas in various sectors and get the best to be pushed for implementation. Thats want we need, however in business I can see Barclays is facing up to this by getting to know us and opening up to us we can do again what the Siaw’s did and establish industries to employ our your men and women, when i see them around it tell me i have to rise and establish something for them.
Kojo,
I share Uncle Ebo’s opinion. Ghanians are cynical about everything apart from football. Its an attitude of if it had been me i will do it better. We are cynical Kojo. We criticize everything without offering solutions.
GHANA must get better! They say who that is down fears no falls….Ghana is so down, we have option than to rise. All my friends are optimistic about the Black Stars chances of winning the World Cup in 2010 but they are pessimistic about the total development [economic, educational, social, infrastructural, industrial, agricultural. etc.] of our country. When it comes to football Ghanaians are blind, for the realties of the global life they see clearly. What a shame for channeling all our passion into football instead of nation-building!