Editorial: The quest for a Better Ghana

Sunday, Christians all over the world celebrated the most important event on their calendar — the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead — which forms the very foundation of the Christian faith. Indeed, for Christians, the resurrection is significant for many reasons. First, it is one of the major pieces of evidence that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; second, Jesus’ resurrection represents an assurance that we have forgiveness from our sins. As Paul contended, “If Christ hath not been raised from the dead, our faith is futile; we are still in our sins” (1 Cor 15:17). Third, the resurrection tells the world that the Kingdom of God is ruled by a living sovereign and, fourth, Jesus’ resurrection proves that physical death is not the termination of human existence. God, who is the Giver of life, has power to reanimate the human body and Christ’s triumph over the grave is Heaven’s pledge to us that we too shall be raised some day. The fifth significance and perhaps the most powerful is that the Lord’s resurrection previews the ultimate victory of Christianity over all its enemies. Sadly, however, we continue to grope in the dark, despite the huge price of redemption paid for us by the Lord Jesus Christ and the great assurances that come with it. Wars, famine, poverty and man’s inhumanity to man seem to have eroded any confidence in the future. The story on our continent is no different and Rev J. N. N. Ocquaye of the Grace Baptist Church, Sakumono, hit the nail right on the head in his sermon on Sunday when he traced the woes of Africa to failed leadership. In terms of resources and endowments, Africa is blessed with all the resources that make for greatness — human, material and ecological. A continent so well endowed has actually no business with poverty. African history has been one sad story ever since. So why has Africa consistently failed to engineer an escape from poverty? Why is Africa a cauldron of conflict, wars and death? Why is Africa entertaining a forlorn, dysfunctional and conflict-ridden conglomeration of failed states in its geo-polity? Why does Africa sustain the last frontiers of hunger, ignorance and disease? And why has it failed woefully to contrive a road map to a more prosperous existence for its teeming population? Everything comes back, again and again, to corruption and misrule. Instead of galvanising the people for peace, development and progress to reflect the very nature of God, majority of our leaders only exhibit greed for power and wealth, to the detriment of the people they govern. Our dear nation is also not without teething problems. Economic, educational and social issues aside, our chieftaincy institution, which used to be the centre of a cultural showpiece, is now gradually grinding into disarray. From Bawku in the Upper East Region, through Yendi, Bimbilla and Buipe in the Northern Region to Tuobodom and Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region, as well as many coastal towns in the Greater-Accra and Volta Regions, are hydra-headed conflicts that do not make for peace and unity. But no matter how appalling the situation may appear to be, we cannot throw up our arms in despair. That is why the Daily Graphic thinks that all of us — as a people and as a nation — must resolve here and now to use this year’s Easter celebration to mark a turning point in our individual lives and in the life of the nation at large. No freedom comes without a price. And just as God allowed the shedding of the blood of His only begotten Son for the purchase of humanity’s freedom, so must we be prepared to give our all to change the destiny of our dear nation. In our quest for the better Ghana agenda, no sacrifice must be too big or too small for anybody. Let us, therefore, from this moment straighten out all spheres of our lives for the betterment of the nation. For, together we swim or sink. Credit: Daily Graphic/Ghana