[dropcap]DUMSOR [/dropcap]– a problem we have all been scanning for solutions for. It’s a crunch that has plagued an already crazed nation. The government is working hard at bringing some solutions on board. The President is doing all he can, the minister is pulling all the strings, the clergymen keep praying, with the hope that we will get uninterrupted power supply. But we have so far had no solution. Nothing has come of any attempt at salvaging the situation.
Then Yvonne Nelson came up with an idea. She started a social media campaign together with other celebrities, and the result was a congregation of thousands of exasperated Ghanaians in the capital on a Saturday evening, in what was dubbed a #DumsorMustStop Vigil.
Interestingly this advanced solution doesn’t seem to have added a single watt to the national grid. So in conclusion, the Vigil was a complete hopelessly hopeless hopelessness. The whole vigil thing was pointless. It was like the Japanese blaming their leaders for earthquakes. Pointless!
You act to save a situation, not to say the situation exists. After all, we are all aware there is dumsor, and we don’t need a fair, slim actress to draw our attention to it. The vigil is sick and a very, very lazy way to go. Maybe these folks just wanted media attention, or could have been fuelled by the opposition party.
Now let’s do this.
It’s sheer shallow-thinking to reason with the above opinion and to believe that registering your displeasure against the government for messing up your power supply, is useless. To chastise the celebrities for this initiative, is also without point. Pointless!
And you all should stop the social media grunting and the whining and the nagging you do at home, because that didn’t put your lights on either. So why not sit, with our hands clasped in between our thighs hoping for the best, but relishing the worst.
Silence gives consent. Silence means acceptance. It means you are satisfied with the circumstance. To resign oneself is to be crippled fast – Odewale. So when the country finds itself in the hands of mediocre, short-term thinking leaders, it takes only brave, courageous and patriotic folks like Yvonne, Sarkodie, Lydia Forson and co to go haywire about it.
It helps.
So what has Yvonne Nelson achieved with the Dumsor Vigil?
In spite of the numerous authoritative attempts to frustrate and supress her, she has proved her ability to soar above thwarts to accomplishment. The protagonists may want to take a cue from this. With such a spirit, we will have a lot of our problems solved.
This has been a fruitful approach to holding the leaders accountable for the mandate given them. Dumsor Vigil has sent the strongest message to our leaders. It has been the fiercest open letter ever written to the President.
In retrospect, it’s a shame that African leaders promise industrialisation and marginalisation, and moving from third world to middle class economy, when in reality they can’t guarantee power supply.
Two wrongs do not make a right. Therefore, it would be wrong for a grieving people to sleep, because the government is sleeping. So she chose to wake thousands of Ghanaians up – to keep them awake. Ghanaians should not sleep like their leaders are doing. That’s vigilance!
Someone needed to stand to make a difference and she was the initiator. Someone needed to beat the odds. She needed to prove that her position wasn’t only in front of lights, booms and cameras. She needed to put to use her influence, and that she did with perfection.
A heroine she is. A great legacy and a rich heritage she has left for generations. She has carved a memorial niche in the sands of time.
Yaa Asantewaa would be proud of Yvonne. Posterity is forever indebted to her prowess and for years to come, she will be regarded as a brave young woman who defied the odds to demand for an end to the crises of the masses.
The vigil might not have made the power crises better though, but your silence will not make it better either. In the absence of good, bad is better.
Author: Patrick Fynn
The writer blogs at patrickfynn.blogspot.com
Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickFynn