"We are Watchers of a Beacon, Whose Light Must Never Die" - Contemporary Musings on the March from the Ghana we have, to the Ghana we Desire

Abstract

Resilience’ is the capacity to withstand stress and return to one’s shape after being stretched. In today’s world, it means a state or institution’s capacity to withstand threats to its survival, and even to thrive in difficult terrain. The myriad of challenges facing the state in these times require a measure of state resilience purposefully cultivated and intentionally nurtured. Ghana’s current state is the Ghana we have. Our dream of what Ghana could be, is the Ghana desire. In between these two states, are the threats either in our neighbourhood or from within, which could affect even what we have, and derail our march to the Ghana we desire. In this first lecture, I identify some of the socio-economic phenomena which pose an existential threat to Ghana. These include: rapid urbanisation occasioned by rural-urban migration; changes to our demographic profile and its associated problems; and growing inequality. These internal distortions, make us more vulnerable to external threats from the subregion, and must cause us to take active steps, mostly envisioned under the 1992 Constitution, to address them in order to protect the Ghana we have, so that we might progress to the Ghana we desire. I also discuss the positive effect and influence of the use of technology, as well as the challenges occasioned by these new technologies, adapted for peaceful and not-so-peaceful, uses respectively. I conclude with recommendations on what needs to be tackled in the immediate future, to face off the threats to the Ghana we have, and ensure our march to the Ghana we desire.