Confused and uncertain about how five minutes of inspection and one tap with his hammer could warrant a ten thousand dollar tab, they asked the old man to present an itemised bill. He did, as follows:
One tap with a hammer = $5.00
Knowing where to tap = $9,995.00
My friends, today’s lesson is about the value of experience. I know that many of us young people are seizing our destinies, and taking matters into our own hands. This is great. I’m optimistic about our future because I know the youth are poised to take control and steer our path to a greater destiny.
I also often hear young people despair at the older generations. I hear them say, “Our parents have failed us. They have mismanaged our economy, they have borrowed heavily in our name, they have failed to provide for our future, they have mis-educated and misinformed us to the point where we can’t compete globally.
Well, that may all be true. But they have also been through everything that we are yet to go through. They have managed the families, the companies, the systems, the governments that we are about to inherit. They know where to tap with their hammer, and that knowledge is valuable. Plus, they don’t like change. if we don’t work with them, they will work against us.
My people, this nation cannot be turned around with half of us steering one way and half of us steering the other. We have to all come together and forge ahead in one common direction. That’s the only way.
Kwame Nkrumah failed to achieve his vision because he failed to get everyone on his team to buy into his ideas. Today’s youth might suffer the same fate with our nation if we fail to find a role for the highly skilled, extensively experienced and yes, palpably flawed older generations.
It’s easier said than done though. They will fight, brawl and claw against the necessary change we must all go through, but with patience, love and an unwavering sense of unity and national purpose, our new youth leaders will get us all there. We must. For the sake of generations yet unborn.
My name is Kojo Yankson, and I’m ready to work with anyone who wants a better future for Ghana – especially those who know where to tap.
GOOD MORNING, GHANAFO!
Tap: Message from the morning man
Kojo is a broadcaster with the Multimedia Group, in Ghana. Among other responsibilities, he hosts the Super Morning Show on Joy 99.7 FM. He is a graduate of the University of Cape Coast with extensive working experience in Ghana and abroad.
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