Features
Reorganising life after Easter
By the grace of God, the people of Ghana, together with the rest of the world have celebrated Easter shared in the joy of that occasion which to Christians serves as a salvation period for mankind which aims at bringing about peace to humanity.
Many a time, this occasion though always celebrated, is taken for granted without critically and comprehensively examining its essence to society and mankind. It is an important occasion that must be thoroughly examined in other to understand its purpose and importance or significance.
Even though we have been celebrating Easter since our childhood, we do not seem to really understand what it stands for and how we can use it as a guide for our social, economic and political life.
ESSENCE OF EASTER
As a nation, Ghana and its people ought to reflect on the essence of Easter and bring it close to heart as a way of guiding all activities in society to maximise its benefits for the good of society. It is only when this is done that, we can boast of having maximised the benefits from Easter.
Easter is usually celebrated on Sunday and this occasion is referred to as Easter Sunday. However, Easter is not a one-time occasion but is preceded by events all of which contribute in a relevant manner to that occasion which has become known as Easter Sunday.
The preparation for Easter begins a week before and this is known as Palm Sunday. On this occasion, the saviour of the world is hailed in a vociferous manner by people who follow him, pointing out to the world that the saviour ought to be accepted and praised. This praise was carried out in a genuine manner throughout that period and everyone present accepted that the Lord our saviour indeed deserves to be praised.
GENUINE COMMITTMENT
It is for this reason that he was given a donkey to ride on to show how genuinely committed to the people. The treatment given to the saviour on this occasion also showed that he was a great person who ought to be treated with respect and revered by all.
Interestingly, not long after this, the Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed by his own people. On holy Thursday for instance, he became sad because he knew he was going to be betrayed by his own people. This was a very unfortunate situation.
After being rejected by his own people, he was crucified on Friday and because of the shedding of blood to save mankind that occasion became known as Good Friday. It was an occasion that marked the salvation of men and women on this earth. How sweet this day was!
Being a true son of God and created for this special purpose, Jesus Christ did not stay in death but had to rise again after three days. This is what makes him a unique person. He was special because he did not stay in death but had to resurrect to prove to the world that he was indeed wonderful and brought into the world for a special purpose.
EASTER MONDAY
This special purpose was celebrated in various forms and on Easter Monday, which was declared a holiday in many countries, Christians took advantage on the Monday to celebrate this occasion in various ways. It is widely known that picnics were usually organised by churches and other groups of people to engage in enjoyment of special social activities meant to celebrate the occasion. On such occasion, people bring food to share with friends and loved ones after which games are also played with each other.
The Easter festivities were meant to give us useful lessons which when properly adopted can make our lives better. Not only can personal lives be improved upon, but society can also be turned round for the better. The first lesson which can be learnt from the period of Easter is that it is not everyone who praises you who must behave as genuine. This is because the very people who shout “Praise him! Praise him!!” are the same people who will turn round and say “Crucify him! Crucify him!!”. This is often done to our political leaders some of whom sacrifice their lives to make things better for the country.
Even before the occasion of Palm Sunday, Christians go through a period of lent. This period teaches Christians a big lesson, to deny themselves of some comfort to appreciate the sufferings which other people go through. When you deny yourself of the pleasures of life and fast or even abstain from sex as married couples, it makes you realise the difficulties that people go through when they have no food to eat. Even though it purges the body of excess food and prepares a person for a new life, the pain and discomfort encountered help to teach us useful lessons about life.
DENIAL
Again, Jesus Christ was denied by one of his own disciples in the person of Judas. There is a Judas in every home, household, or country and this teaches us that every leader must be prepared to undergo disappointment in this way. As a son of God who existed in human flesh, his human nature might have made him very sad after being denied by Judas who was very close to him as a friend.
Earlier before this incident, Simon Peter had also vowed never to deny Jesus of any support. Unfortunately, before the cock crowed, Peter had denied him “three times”. Again, it tells us that man, no matter what can never be dependable.
However, the good news is that Easter had brought us real joy and made us stand for what is good. If we are to stand for what is good then we need to appreciate one another and remember what society has done for us, not forgetting about the great contributions made by our leaders, so that together we can appreciate one another and make society a better place for all.
In our national politics, we need to be genuinely committed to one another and to show genuine love to all manner of people irrespective of political affiliation, social status, religion, or ethnic background. We must not show pretense when within our heart we do not like certain things being done to us. At the same time, those of us who criticise us for one reason or the other should not be marked down for hatred, punishment or discrimination.
NEW SOCIAL LIFE
The old way of doing things must give way to a new social life. This new social life must be pleasant, positive, impactful and bring all of us together for the common good. This common good when promoted is what will bring progress to all manner of people in society irrespective of their familiar and unfamiliar backgrounds.
Ghanaians must therefore not go back to the old way of doing things after Easter but rather turn on a new leave for the rapid progress of the country. We want to see much more cordial relations in parliament between the majority and minority but not the usual negative ways of doing things over there. Political parties and other groups and professionals must also exhibit genuineness and sincerities in all things done, so that we can find it easy to depend on one another.
We must also be prepared to help those who are in need in our neighborhood so that life, even if not perfect, can be bearable and made more pleasant than it is today. Those are the positive changes we want to see after Easter, but not to move on “with busines as usual.”
The world has taught us useful lessons, whether in the past or present. In the light of all these problems, challenges and daily issues we become confronted with, we need to reorganise ourselves after celebrating the Easter to make our country a pleasant place for all.
By Dr. Kofi Amponsah-Bediako
Features
A focus on Mr Edmund Armar
Happy New Year to you all! Today, I am back with my narration of personalities and their accomplishments as members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Finland with a focus on Mr Edmund Armar.
Mr Armar, affectionately called ‘Eddie’ by his peers, is a well-respected senior member of the Ghanaian community in Finland.
He moved to Finland in the early 1990s. He has lived in other places in Finland but now lives in Vantaa, a part of the greater Helsinki region.
Accomplishments and honours
It is important to recount accomplishments as part of the success stories of the personalities of Ghanaian descent in Finland to highlight their exploits both within the Ghanaian migrant community and in the wider Finnish society.
Mr Armar has been an active member of the Ghana Union Finland, which is a non-governmental organisation for the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland. He is always present at events organised by the Union and contributes to the various activities at such events.
Mr Armar has other accomplishments. He is the proud father of an adult (18 year-old) son.
Other unique characteristics
Mr Armar is a Ga from Accra. It may interest you to know that Mr Armar’s maternal lineage is traced from the royal family of the Ga Mantse. His late mother is a direct descendant of King Tackie Tawiah III.
On his paternal side, Mr Armar’s late grandfather was an astute and prominent businessman who also lived and was well-known in Calabar, Nigeria. Mr Armar also comes from a well-known family of educated elites. One of his uncles was a well-known mathematician who co-authored maths books used for schools in Ghana, approved by Ghana’s education services in the 1970s and 1980s as mathematics textbooks in schools.
Recently, I got to know that Mr Armar was a school mate of former Vice President, Dr Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, whom he affectionately called Mahamudu.
They both attended Sakasaka Primary School, where Mrs Benefo served as the headmistress.
Working life in Finland
Mr Edmund Armar has worked in various companies in Finland. He currently works with the Post group, Finland Posti, where he has been for many years now.
He has risen to a high rank at his workplace and has helped others to find jobs at that place and others elsewhere.
His role in the Ghanaian community
As I have mentioned already, Mr Edmund Armar has been very active in the Ghanaian community. He is still very active in the Ghana Union Finland and other smaller Ghanaian associations.
Apart from being an active member of the Ghana Union Finland, Mr Armar was once an executive member of the Brong Ahafo Association.
He has been a counsellor and mentor who has guided many young Ghanaian migrants on their career paths and has also been part of helping them to settle in Finland.
Mr Armar lives in Helsinki with his teenage son, after the demise of his wife about nine years ago.
Dear readers, once again, a very happy new year to you all. Expect more of such interesting stories about people of Ghanaian descent in Finland, about Ghana immigrant groups/associations and their accomplishments in the Finnish society in my subsequent narrations. Thank you!
GHANA MATTERS column appears fortnightly. Written in simple, layman’s terms, it concentrates on matters about Ghana and beyond. It focuses on everyday life issues relating to the social, cultural, economic, religious, political, health, sports, youth, gender, etc. It strives to remind us all that Ghana comes first. The column also takes a candid look at the meanings and repercussions of our actions, especially those things we take for granted or even ignore. There are key Ghanaian values we should uphold rather than disregard with impunity. We should not overlook the obvious. We need to search for the hidden or deeply embedded values and try to project them.
perpetual.crentsil@ yahoo.com
By Perpetual Crentsil
Features
Prostitution in Sikaman (Final Part)
Behind any successful prostitution venture is a pimp. A pimp is the official public relations officer of a prostitute. He manages the prostitute, supplies clients, organises the trade to maximise profits from which he earns an income. Occasion- ally, he demands a sexual treat and he is not denied. That is his bush allowance.
Prostitutes hire pimps because the trade is a precarious one. You have men who want hot sex on credit basis. They complete the act, get satisfied, and pretend they have no cash on them, so payment be deferred.
But sex as a commodity cannot be compared with a ball of kenkey which can be credited on a carry-forward basis. So the prostitute informs her pimp to make the customer pay or face an Osama Bin Laden revolutionary action. The pimp, there- fore, has a dual role, one of which is that he is a debt collector.
The collection of debt from a client can sometimes require macho, so the typical pimp is hard-shelled akupa who may not be too intelligent, but has muscle. He can deliver a punch and cause internal bleeding.
So he tells the defaulting client to pay up or save his shoes and shirt and collect them back if he comes to settle. No court case!
Sometimes, the customer cannot accept the terms which include walking home barefoot and half-naked, so he must fight his way out, in the process he can lose an ear, his front teeth and end up in the home with a swollen nose. It’s all part of life.
In Sikaman, most prostitutes do without pimps. They consider pimps as parasites who batten on the income they derive from strenuous work. Fact is that some clients are not normal in terms of the size of their equipment. They can cause collateral damage to the reproductive organs of the human female.
Prostitutes who do without pimps are experts in street-fighting because they face problems when it comes to handling cheating clients. A client requires three rounds and it is granted. Later he says he can only pay for one. Wallahi!
The typical street prostitute develops long finger-nail, in case it comes to teaching a client where power lies. She can scratch your face red and fix a finger-nail into your eye. When you get home, you’re likely to tell your wife that you’ve got Yes, Apollo in one eye!
Servicing a client can take different forms depending on the type of prostitute and caliber of the client. Some do not like fore-play. It wastes time and is bad for business. So they get you on and order start work. They have subtle ways out of making you climax quickly. You settle your fee and make way for someone else. No messing up. No messing up. No extra time. Clients who delay in reaching orgasm are advised in their own interest to “come quickly” or get thrown off.
Clients who want romance pay more. Those who wear condoms pay relatively less than those who want to go ‘raw.’ It all depends on choice. There are some who are prepared to risk AIDS to get sexually satisfied. And they’d tell you, “All die be die.”
The trade in sexual acrobatics and gymnastics is having its toll on Sikaman prostitutes. Prostitutes are getting skin cancer because they use dangerous chemicals agents to bleach the skin. Others get syphilis, gonorrhea and herpes simplex.
By far, the most devastating impact on the flesh trade is the Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV) which causes AIDS. Go to Korle Bu and you’ll find them there. Some have had a stint in La Cote d’Ivoire and come back to Ghana to do some part time distribution of the virus.
Prostitution in Sikaman is becoming a death trade because it is an enterprise that flourishes underground. If it can be legalised and brought to the surface where prostitutes can be educated on the health implications of their trade, it would do the country a lot of good.
This is being done in Namibia where 23 per cent of adults are HIV infected. They are about to get prostitution legalised to help combat the AIDS menace.
Prostitution is an evil trade. But anyone can imagine what will happen if there were no prostitutes. Rapists would abound and the incidence of sexual attacks and defilement will sky-rocket. Many men who would otherwise have been raping women are making do with prostitutes.
I guess to legalise prostitution would raise problems bordering in the moral psyche of the nation. But its practical significance can also not be discounted.
This article was first published on Saturday, February 10, 2001
