Late Ghanaian Hiplife musician, TERRY BONCHAKA died in a car crash on the way home from a performance before he reached the height of his success. I am not a fan of that particular genre of music but think his skills and stage performances were great at the time. In Ghana now, anyone who ever dances and raises one of his legs is said to be dancing like the artiste who died on October 29, 2003.
His stage performances were not the only fascinating things about him but his costume as well. At a time when the entire country dressed like the West, TERRY BONCHAKA started appearing on stage with African prints. His designers always combined different colours of African prints to give him nice apparels which distinguished him on stage.
Several years after his unfortunate demise, Ghana launched the Friday/African wear which called on Ghanaians to wear African prints on Fridays. Today, different designs of African prints abound not only on Fridays but Sundays in church and all other days. Different beautiful designs of the African prints decorate various social events including engagements, weddings, naming ceremonies, funerals to mention a few.
At a time when the entire country had not thought of this, Terry Bonchanka could see far and started out with this ingenuity. He SAW FAR and could not be distracted by people who do not. Today, he is long gone but any person daring to put on African prints can never forget about how it was first made public and popularized by the Hiplife Artiste.
How far you see in life determines the number of miles you are prepared to go to achieve your aim. There is no need for anyone to share your vision before you start putting it to work. The only person you need his approval for this journey is your maker. History has shown that theories and ideas which changed the world were not always that popular among people.
When Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, and mathematician, GALILEO GALILEI discovered that the earth was round other than flat as was the popular view then, not many could agree with him and eventually he was persecuted for that. Many Americans also wondered how a blind child could become a hymnist, but today she is not only popular but also one of America’s greatest Hymnist of all time. Her name is Fanny Crosby, Safe in the arms of Jesus, I am Thine, Oh Lord/Draw Me Nearer, To God Be the Glory, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior etc are all examples of hymns she authored.
The list can continue but can never end without making reference to DR. OSEI KWAME DESPITE of the Despite Group of Companies who defied all odds and insults to establish, PEACE FM at a time when persons who communicated in local languages publicly were thought to be BUSH and UNCULTURED. “Forget Peace FM, they are bush people and only the uneducated and uninitiated would want to work there…,” many said when the station was opened in May 1999.
Knowing where he was heading, he withstood all forms of criticisms and today, Peace FM is not only one of the leaders in the local language broadcast but also served as the bedrock upon which several others sprang up in other parts of the country. KWAME DESPITE can also boast of other radio stations in addition to PEACE FM.
He set his eyes on one specific thing – to be successful in the enterprise – and hence failed to be distracted by unnecessary criticisms. He saw that which many failed to see, traveled the path which many would never dare to and implemented that which was thought insane then. He rolled into the entire country the impossible dream and today, many are riding on his shoulders for survival. EMBRACE THE FUTURE YOU WANT NOW AND TAKE STEPS TO ACHIEVING IT BEFORE YOU START CURSING YOUR STARS SOME DAY.
Let’s learn from the named persons and several unnamed heroes including persons you know and go to every length and aim at hitting our targets. If we focus on the target, we would get there. But if we seek like PETER to seek the approval of others before we travel on our individual destiny paths, we would start drowning. You are never too young or old to get your vision rolling, jump up from the bed of procrastination and start the journey early because the world can’t wait for you to bring out that which is you to transform society.
Source: Nana Kweku Nti
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