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I first saw and met then Mr. Ekwow Spio Garbrah in Abuja, the federal capital of the Republic of Nigeria, around 1995 when he was the Director of Communication of the African Development Bank, then headquartered in Abidjan, la Cote d�Ivoire. I had been invited by Spio Garbrah�s office to cover the Annual General Meeting of the Bank. I attended that programme with William Ofori Atta, then of the Ghana News Agency, Ralph Sassie, then of the GBC Radio and, I think, my senior and good friend Lloyd Evans of the Daily Graphic. I remember those of us who were journalists from Ghana had the opportunity to chat with Spio Garbrah one-on-one. It was during this same programme that I had the honour to see and meet Mr. J.H. Mensah, who was a consultant to the Bank, and requested for an interview with him. He graciously obliged and an appointment was scheduled in his hotel room for that interview. Not too long after that Spio Garbrah descended into Ghanaian politics after the 1996 elections. His first bid to become a Minister was aborted when Honourable Ewureku Amofa, then NDC Member of Parliament for Abuakwa, asked whether he was a registered voter. Spio Garbrah was not a registered voter at the time and so he lost that opportunity. He later joined the government, heading various ministries including the Ministry of Education, which faced a lot of challenges from the students� front at that time. In fact it was during that period the then government decided to introduce the �cost sharing� policy for tertiary institutions in the country. Watching and listening to Dr. Ekwow Spio Garbrah yesterday live on T.V., I was impressed by his performance and the ideas he put forward to help develop this country. When his name was first mentioned, I had opined that he rejected the offer because of the extreme insults he had received, way back in 2009, from some members of his party on the �Team B� issue. In fact a very senior and influential member of the party had sworn that Spio would only be a Minister in the NDC administration when he the party guru�s body was lifeless. He is still alive though. I had also thought that looking at the very high profile international organisations he had worked for previously, he would not join a dying government whose performance is the worst in the history of this country. That was my view, but he exhibited a sense of patriotism and nationalism to come and serve his country. His response to the foreign invasion of areas of commercial activities reserved for Ghanaians was both cautionary and insightful. Yes, as we condemn the �invaders� in these exclusively reserved areas of commerce for Ghanaians, is it also not true that local landlords eject their own kith and kin from stores, shops and homes in preference for foreigners who pay so much money to them? Is it also not true that Ghanaians are quick at vouching for foreigners and aiding them to flout our laws with impunity for crumbs? What about the organs of state and agencies set up to deal with such matters which rather encourage the blatant violations of our laws? From an ECOWAS perspective, it is imperative to consider the activities of Ghanaian traders in other countries. Is it only in Ghana that certain economic activities are the preserve of the citizenry? If that is the case, then we should enforce the laws. On the other hand, if throughout the ECOWAS sub-region certain economic activities are reserved for citizens of member countries, then we should find out whether Ghanaians in the other member countries�and even Ghanaians in non-member countries across the globe�are also violating the laws of their host countries or not. If they are, then there is likely to be a reprisal effect on our citizens in those other countries. Spio was right on the spot. On the issue of piracy of intellectual property, his advice for owners of such intellectual property to register them is a sure way of minimising, if not completely stopping, major companies elsewhere from using them for commercial gains. Local textile companies need to register their patents so that they can litigate, should any individual or group of individuals or companies illegally violate their patent rights. They can go to court to challenge and claim compensations. In this regard, as he rightly stated, the cooperation of other agencies apart from the Trade and Industry Ministry would help protect our textile industry. But above all, his view that balance of trade deficits between Ghana and other nations cannot be wiped off by laws and policies to ban imports but through nationalistic consumption of what we produce in this country, is the most sensible and patriotic appeal to the conscience of all of us as a people. When I was growing up, about 95 per cent of food we ate at home was locally produced. Today I am sure every home has over sixty per cent composition of imported food served. In those days I saw young women cooking from their homes and carrying them to the homes of their boyfriends or prospective husbands. Today young people in relationships eat in restaurants whose raw materials for the preparation of the food are largely imported. Ghanaians regard anything produced in Ghana as inferior; even when an item is imported from Togo, the mentality is that it is better than those produced in Ghana. A few weeks ago, I was in Accra and decided to buy two batik shirts. There was a variety of them; some were made from Senegal and Burkina Faso, whilst others were made in Ghana. While my focus was on the made-in-Ghana shirts, the woman selling the shirts was rather encouraging me to buy the foreign ones. Asked why, her answer was that the tailors in Ghana charge too much and therefore increase the cost of the local ones. I asked her whether that should be the reason to throw Ghanaian tailors out of business, and turn round to complain that there are no jobs in the country? Walk to many shops in Ghana, and the sellers are promoting imported goods to the detriment of those produced in Ghana. How can we reduce our trade deficits and stabilise the cedi and the economy when we think foreign, eat foreign, drink foreign, wear foreign, dance foreign and are very proud to even spell local names in foreign ways? Spio Garbrah should hammer on the consumption of made-in-Ghana products. He has my fullest support. However, government�s policies can encourage local production and consumption or kill local efforts and initiatives. We have a history in this country when local businesses were deliberately collapsed for politically motivated reasons. We have paid dearly for it. If utility services are also not efficient, they add up to the cost of production and that makes our efforts uncompetitive in the sub-region, considering the fact that incomes are low. The attitude of workers in the production circle in Ghana also leaves much to be desired. Your take on Destination Inspection of Ghana-bound goods was apt. The inspection should be done in the country of export rather than when the goods are in Ghana. The simple reason is that when we find out that goods are unwholesome, we do not allow them to get into the country in the first place. Once they are allowed in and are found to be bad, corruption, which has become a major industry in Ghana today, will ensure that the goods find their way into our markets to endanger our lives. Your ideas and vision for the Ministry are theoretically wonderful, but remember that you are not the President who can push a vision down to his appointees and ensure that they are worked on. If you are unfortunate to find that the President is not interested in your ideas, you would have lost it. Welcome back, and accept my best wishes. DR. WAMPAH AND BARTON-ODRO The breaking news this hour is that two gentlemen holding offices are wanted by the public. The �Court of Public Opinion� has sentenced them for undertaking initiatives which have had negative effects on the people of Ghana, and exposed us to public ridicule among the comity of nations. They are therefore requested to resign their positions in the larger interest of Ghana and in their own interest. Dr. Kofi Wampah and Barton-Odro should resign their positions forthwith. Some three tots of Mahogany Bitters are good for me, even though Omane Boamah wants to disburse the YES funds as if they were his personal monies. He is denying us funds to research and expand our Mahogany Bitters project for exports. Okay, God dey!