Free SHS, Not Free Chinchinga!

�A rooster crows only when he sees the light. Put him in the dark and he will never crow. I�ve seen the light and I�m crowing,� � Mohammed Ali, the greatest boxer of all time. My good friend Kofi Django has done it again! Another prophecy of his has come to pass, confirming the call that he deserves the title �prophet�. Indeed, I�ve already started calling him �prophet�. Not even his addiction to the bottle would make me change my mind. After the publication of the piece �Family feud over Nana�s free SHS policy� on Monday, September 10, 2012, I received a call from Kofi Django entreating me to take things cool. He did not mince words in his proclamation that my cousin and I would smoke the peace pipe. When I pressed him to tell me when it would happen, he implored me not to be apprehensive because it would be sooner than later. True to Kofi Django�s words, my cousin called me the following day to apologise for his bizarre attitude. He explicitly said he had now seen the wisdom in the argument that voting for Nana�s free SHS policy in 2008 would have saved him the �wahala� of running to friends and family members for school fees. He said he had now seen the light and intimated strongly that he would vote for Nana�s free SHS policy in the upcoming polls, despite having sympathies for the ruling Zu-za. I�m happy my favourite cousin and I are on good terms again. I�m even happier that like the rooster, he has finally seen the light and has started crowing. But I still have this pang of sadness in my heart because hundreds of thousands of my compatriots haven�t yet seen the light. They are still in the dark because they have swallowed Zuza�s propaganda that free SHS is not feasible. Time and again, we are told by members of the Zu-za family that Nana�s free SHS policy is not do-able because the country does not have the resources to finance the policy. We are told the country�s economy has not grown to the size that will make implementation of free SHS feasible. They tell us to wait for twenty years to enjoy free SHS education, yet they did not wait for twenty years to use state cowries to buy �chinchinga�. If they could not wait for twenty years to splash state cowries on their cronies in the name of judgment debts, what makes them think my compatriots can wait twenty more years before enjoying free SHS education? Abusuapanin, I could not believe my eyes when I saw the �chinchinga man� on stage during the recent Zu-za rally in Kumasi rubbishing Nana�s free SHS policy. A friend with whom I was then watching the programme on television laughed and said, �Does this man think we are joking in this country? We are talking about serious issues such as free education, not free chinchinga and pampers.� Trust me, if it were for Zu-za alone, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), free feeding and free maternal healthcare policies introduced by the Gentle Giant would never have seen the light of day. The argument they are espousing today was the same argument they espoused then. If their wobbly arguments could not stand then why should we believe them now? Zu-za�s rejection of Nana�s free SHS is akin to the Russian proverb which says that a man who lacks ideas will sit by the river and use his saliva to wash his face. Indeed, in the mist of all the country�s resources and the wastage in the system, only a corrupt and incompetent government will say there are no cowries to finance free SHS education. It is a shame that a government which pays fraudulent judgment debts to cronies could have the guts to claim that free SHS is not feasible. It is a big shame! Wait a minute, Abusuapanin! Did I say shame? Maybe I should use a different word in shame�s stead because shame is one thing that members of the Zu-za family do not have. They are a shameless lot who will do anything and everything to throw dust into the eyes of the electorate so as to win political power. Perhaps, pity is a better word. It is a pity to have such characters running the affairs of a serious country such as ours. Yes, it is a pity! I�ve heard it said that whatever fowl a man chases in the rain is very important to him. Certainly, Nana Addo�s passion and belief in the free SHS policy is because he knows and believes that education is the only key which can unlock all doors. His determination could be linked to his passion to see the downtrodden climb the social, financial and educational ladder. What more can anyone ask of his leader? Like the rooster, Nana Addo is crowing because he has seen the light. He is crowing because he is no longer in the dark. But his opponents cannot crow because they are still in the dark. I�m crowing because I�ve also seen the light. I therefore entreat all my compatriots to join Nana Addo in crowing because we are no longer in the dark. Let�s all rally behind him for real hope and visionary leadership. For we need free SHS education, not free chinchinga and pampers! Ciao!