What Kind Of Society Are We Building?

What Kind Of Society Are We Building?

It's a very sad day;And nay,it's hard to say! It's hard to say our society is on a reverse gear heading towards the worst and self-destruction.
Things are indeed,fast falling apart.Society is honestly struggling to find its feet.

The future of our generation appears dangerously bleak.And our hopelessly useless system seem to be providing no hope in sight.Disorder is the order of the day.Glory is given to thieves and lawbreakers by law makers and enforcers.Truth is no longer the value of society.The fear of God has evaporated from mother earth.Our value system is on a systemic degeneration.Poverty and oppression are the curse of our generation.Injustice everywhere and lack of justice anywhere!Infact, it only takes some miserable money to buy justice on the market...

Just imagine,a story is recently told of a teacher friend who traveled to Winneba for the purpose of further studies.Days on,his bungalow was ransacked by a masked criminal who's identity was later known.His valuables(decoder,a television,clothing...) were made away with...The said thief threatened to kill his wife and child.

Thanks to technology,news of this unfortunate incident got to this young man and he quickly made a return journey and called for the arrest of the said miscreant who is reported to have picked up personal issues with the teacher and his wife.He was indeed arrested and detained in police custody.

To the dismay of the teacher and the world,the very moment this criminal was arrested and detained,I mean in a matter of minutes,he was found on the street Walking scout free and feeling nothing about anything.
The teacher out of surprise dashed to the police station to demand explanation of the sudden release of the said thief.The apology of a police officer told him the suspect had been granted bail and there was nothing he (the teacher) could do about it. . .He challenged the teacher to take the case anywhere he desired.

 Apparently, the conspiracy theory had come to play.Moneys exchanged hands some where.The police who were supposed to take a neutral position in maintaining law and order took sides out of conspiracy and developed apathy towards the case.

As a law abiding citizen,the teacher took the matter further to his mother organisation (G.E.S)...There again, the suspect who had strong people to shield him had his way and the case was not heard.Infact, it was thrown straight to the dustbin.What matters is, do you have people at the office to defend your wrong doing?Not, do you have a genuine case?

It saddens my heart when the teacher called me on phone and his final words were, '"I live them and the situation to God".

So I ask,is that the kind of society we are building?Where law enforcers are accomplices and partners in societal breakdown.And what can be more worrying when such things don't happen at the blind side of society.Stealing with impunity is the order of the day in most communities,because there is no one to maintain the law.
Where are we heading towards with this kind of a system?Can there be a way and hope for the future?When will the ordinary man without a voice know justice...?
This is the story of many out there wailing for justice, and equality in the eyes of the law.Many of such stories go unheard of...Who will stand by the people and fight the peoples course....?
It's disheartening to write....

By ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM(VILLAGE WRITTER)
FREELANCE JOURNALIST,AND A VOICE OF HOPE
0241129910/0200704844

The Challenge With Ghana's Education Has Never Been How To Make Education Fee Free

The Challenge With Ghana's Education Has Never Been How To Make Education Fee Free
Should it just be the question of fee free education?Is that what we have identified as the main challenge with our educational system as it stands now? As a country, what are our educational priorities? Must it alway be politics as usual or fulfilling some campaign promise? More of such questions soon....
Infact,as a citizen, not a spectator, and a concerned one at that,I have been wondering and grappling with some few issues the very day His excellency Williams Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo made public his intention to commence his policy of free S.H.S come September 2017.
Indeed, the very first day I read about the supposed policy packages, I was like wow! Has Ghana gotten to that level already?
I must state that in as much as I'm not oblivious and for that matter agree with the constitutional provision that guarantees progressively free secondary education,I want to believe there can be more to our kind of free education than meet the ordinary mind's eye.
A begger they always say has no choice, and so free in every cycle of life is usually accepted without a choice.But in our case, do you really think we are begging?A big NO! It's our taxes;It's our money for heaven sake!And this is the reason why we have to interrogate the issues and not just fall for anything free...In any case, we are still paying for it,so it's never free.(Credit to all tax payers).
I know it gladden the hearts of many to hear that secondary education in Ghana will soon be free.Why not?After all,the policy in itself appears plausible and commendable, and we are all happy."E no be so?"
But in our unending happiness, let's begin to bother our mind's with some few questions:Do you think it's genuinely possible to comprehensively implement such a policy at this point in time?What is the possible source of funding for this "laudable" policy? Can a developing and nearly broke country as we are being told like Ghana sustainably fund such a policy into the future?You're aware the debate is already raging about the proposed source of funding for the policy...More importantly and for the purpose of this article,has the major challenge with our educational system at present to do with how to make education fee free?Does free education guarantees quality education? Will free compromise quality?
Think of it, if truly and in all sincerity, it's the question of free and cheap education, we all know and, indeed, it's common knowledge that private schools pay far more than government schools.Infact,basic education is virtually free and compulsory in Ghana.But have you ever wondered why the political class has their children in expensive private basic schools instead of the free public basic schools?If it's not abroad then it's international schools for such "golden children".They have little faith in our system...How about the teachers that teach these pupils but have their own wards in private schools?Did you also know that rich and poor parents alike are more willing to spend their last penny in funding private education for their wards than fall for the cheap public education?Don't you think these people have found some truth and logic in the adage we learnt at primary school that, 'cheap things cost much?'
Before you get me wrong, I want to state for the avoidance of any doubt that I'm not doubting the value of our public educational system.As a matter of fact, I'm a full product of public education right from nursery to the university.I remember when I got the rare opportunity through a competitive entrance examination to attend a renowned private secondary school, I turned down the offer to the dismay of my own parents.I opted for a less endowed public secondary school, and I have no regrets for my decision.Thanks to my parents for allowing me make my own choice.
I only want you to awaken to the reality that the politician is gradually destroying our education if care is not taken.All they care about is their votes (The public choice theory).
From the forgoing argument,I want to reason with you that the challenge with Ghana's education now is not how to make it free,but how to guarantee quality and make our education meaningful.
I know the think tanks,experts and the media are seeing nothing wrong with the policy except the source of funding.I have followed keenly and listened to their arguments.Just like they never anticipated nor question the source of funding when the policy was being flaunted around and used to make a particular candidate popular all in the name of votes.But "ordinary me", sees everything wrong with this policy.
I tell you,our educational system as it stands now needs a complete overhaul of the curriculum to guarantee quality not just the so called "free education".We must begin to shift from the over formalised,theoretical and marks awarding("chew, pour and pass") type of educational system.The colonial nature of our education must change!Why? Because, it is the reason why we have engineers but will always opt for Chinese contractors to construct our roads.It's the reason why our own parliament will import furniture for the chambers of parliament from outside the country when our own carpenters are dying of talent.It's the reason why all the formal sectors of the Ghanaian economy is choked.Today, we are talking about downsizing the public sector, ban on public sector employment and possible retrenchment.Nurses after years of training are now home unemployed, teachers are following suit.Graduates are theoretically churned from our schools without employable skills linked to industry to be absorbed into the private sector.We are only interested in big certificates and titles without impact.We all want to occupy formal sector positions,since it's where our education best trains us to be...We advance beautiful arguments towards vocational and technical education but do very little to realise same.
In the midst of all these,the politician can only promise us fee free education, and we are all happy.They will always have a choice and a way.What about you and l that are helping them destroy our system?Their wards are studying in the best systems abroad to come back and rule us.
You see the more reason why you and I should be worried if a whole minister of education will only be interested in students obtaining good grades.He says,"heads of schools will be sacked if students fail BECE and WASSCE.(Rephrased)...It's about passing theoretical examination and  not acquiring real knowledge,skills and attitudes/abilities(KSAs) relevant to life.So unfortunate!
Fellow citizen, our education is our only hope.Let's not fall for the trick of any politician.There is nothing free in what we are being offered . It's our choice to demand the best and quality of education, and not just the so called fee free education.We are those that will continue to be jobless if our system is compromised the more . Remember,"A quality education grants us the ability to fight the war on ignorance and poverty".Charles B.Rangel...
May God bless us all....
The writer is a teacher by profession,a freelance journalist,blogger and a student of Bachelor of Science Public Administration at the University of Ghana Business School.

By ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM (AB)
(VILLAGE WRITTER)
0241129910/0200704844

Longest Words In English And How They Are Formed

Longest Words In English And How They Are Formed
The English language is one dynamic area that has never been fully understood, not even by owners of the language.An interesting aspect of the language, however,is its flexibility in accommodating new things. (New words for the purpose of this article).
Wordsmithery or being a sesquipedalian can sometimes be fun.Such fun was particularly reflecting in the days when man was growing up in basic and high school.
Your prowess in writing big grammar meant you will always be approached by friends to write love letters for them.It was also another strategy to gain popularity and easily win elections at basic, high and probably, the tertiary level.
Infact,I remember I could spend hours doing further studies on long words, how and where to use them in my manifesto growing up as a student leader.And for obvious reasons,it did the magic!
Once upon a time and interesting enough, during such manifesto presentation,once you throw a long word, students go like,"hooooow".At a point, it matters less whether such words really exist or made sense, just open your mouth and make a pop sound in the microphone and students will cheer you up and go like "hoooooow".You will become the talk of the school the next day and this coupled with competence meant you've won the election in advance.Interesting, right?
But have you ever wondered how such jaw breaking words as aequeosalinocalcalinocereceoaluminosocupreovitriolic come about?How about the meaning associated with such words and how they are pronounced?
Indeed, it's said that the longest word in English language is made up of 189,819 letters and the average man will have to spend not less than three hours to pronounce it. It's the largest known protein.(Maybe we will deal with this word alone someday in an article of fifty-seven pages).Huh!
  As a matter of fact, a word's definition and how length should be measured and compared determine longest words in English language.We can understand length of words from the orthography(a part of language study that deals with letters and spelling),and number of written letters, but also in rare cases from the phonology and the number of phonemes(see https:/en.m.wikipedia.org & Merriam Webstar dictionary)....
Apart from Latin and Greek roots,thus,the language's root,new words in English language can be formed by agglutinative constructions, coinage,or derived from technical terms and names(scientific names)....Mind you, such words may or may not be found in the dictionary.
Agglutinative constructions:this involves the extension of existing words to create other words or to serve a new purpose.This is done by simply adding a suffix or prefix.This process can be used as a strategy to create long words.
Examples of such constructions are:incomprehensibility,great-great-grandmother,antidisestablishmentarianism(a 28 letters word which means an opposition to withdraw government support of a particular religion or church), semihemidemisemihemidemisemihemidemisemiquaver, anti-bacterial....
Coinage:Words can be string together to create arbitrarily long words.This is by threading(bringing together) the ingredients of the word.For instance, Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a 45 letters word coined to be the longest word in major dictionaries(specifically, the longest word in Oxford English Dictionary).In the world of medicine, it's the same as Silicosis. The 45 letters word simply refers to a lung disease that one is likely to get from inhaling fine silica particles (volcano) or quartz dust.Other examples include:Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (34 letters word made popular from the movie Mary Poppins.You only say this word when you don't know what to say or you don't have anything to say).
The longest word in Merriam Webstar dictionary is electroencephalographically(a 27 letters word...electroencephalograph is an apparatus for detecting and recording brain waves)...
Longest non technical word(not likely to appear in general text) is floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters word which consist of Latin words. It means nothing or the act of estimating a thing as valueless or worthless).
Technical terms:
A number of Scientific names are generated as long words.For example,Aequeosalinocalcalinoceraceoaluminosocupreovitriolic(a 52 letters word that describes the Spa water at Bath)...It's attributed to Dr . Edward Strother (1675-1737), and composed of the following elements:
Aequeo-equal (Latin:aequo), Salino-containing salt (Latin:salinus), Calcalino-calcium (Latin:calx), Ceraceo-waxy (Latin:cera), Aluminoso-alumino (Latin),Cupreo:derived from copper, Vitriolic:looks like vitriol.
Others forms of long words:
Longest English word made up of only vowels is EUOUAE, a 6 letters word .Notice that all the letters are vowels and are most consecutive vowels . It's a musical term from ancient times and holds two Guinness World Record.
Longest monosyllabic word is STRENGTHS,a 9 letters word made up of 8 consonants, and only one vowel.It holds a Guinness World Record.
Longest word with alternating consonants and vowels is HONORIFICABILITUDINITATIBUS,a 27 letters word which is same as "honorableness."Another close example is UNIMAGINATIVELY, has more vowels. Alternate between vowels and consonants.
The longest Word without a vowel but only consonants is TSKTSK(6 letters),which one use to indicate his or her disapproval of something.
Isograms:This are words that do not repeat letters.UNCOPYRIGHTABLE and SUBDERMATOGLYPHIC are the longest examples.
Linguistic pluralism in English(using words of natural origin than borrowing from Latin and Greek) will be my next focus.
I must be very quick to end by saying that it pays very much to speak and write as simple English language as possible . Being complicated doesn't really pay.God bless!
The writer is a freelance journalist, a blogger, teacher and a student at the university of Ghana Business School pursuing Bsc Administration with a major in Public Administration. Read more of his works on his personal blog:ananpansah-ab.blogspot.com

By:ANANPANSAH, B ABRAHAM (AB)
(The village Writer)
0241129910/0200704844
aananapansah@yahoo.com/aananapansah@gmail.com

Bimbilla Is First In Series;Yendi And Bawku Will Follow Soon

Bimbilla is first in series;Yendi and Bawku will follow soon
The Director of Center for Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies (CECOTAPS), Rev . Dr . Clement Aapegnua has stated that Yendi and Bawku will soon follow depending on how the recent chieftancy conflict in Bimbilla is handled.
He said this whilst contributing his expert point of view on the incident on the official WhatsApp group of DAMONGO YOUTH PARLIAMENT (DYP).
" Bimbilla is the first of the series. Depending on how Bimbilla is handled Yendi and Bawku will soon follow. Here is why. The perceived political divisions are as follows: the current Bimbilla reagent is NDC or has NDC leanings. The chief who's body is still in the mortuary has his supporters leaning towards NPP. Now that NPP is in power, the followers of the dead chief are going to be audacious. The current reagent of Dagbon and the Andani family is perceived to be NDC. This is the time for the Abudus to reopen the issue of celebrating the funeral of Naa Abdulai. Conflict right there. In Bawku, Mamprussis, traditionally NPP, will soon ask to celebrate the chief's funeral and/or to celebrate Damba. Kussasis will insist there is one paramount chief of Bawku, the Bawku Naaba"-Averred the Rev . Father who doubles as a peace expert.
He further revealed that Bimbilla and Yendi have a structural problem. And that for these people, Chieftancy is a matter of life and death because of the numerous benefits.
" Bimbilla and Yendi have a structural problem. A reagent is for all intent and purpose the paramount chief. He has all the powers and privileges of the chief. He enskins, sells land, settles disputes and receives official delegations. He is the traditional leader. Why should any body in such a position want to vacate the seat? The so called traditional people know that in Dagbon and Nanum, you cannot succeed your father as chief if you do not celebrate his funeral. For a people for whom chieftaincy is a matter of live and death, it us suicidal to prevent such a funeral celebration".He reiterated.
He further noted that the people involved in this conflict will surely pull government in, and that government as we have it today must be interested in such cases because it will need votes every four years from these same people.
According to him Parliamentary candidates win or lose seats depending on how such cases go. And that the current minister of defence and member of parliament for the area hon.Dominic Nitiwul was lucky he is a Kokomba.Depending on how he intervene in this case, he could either be in trouble, create a new conflict or he could find a lasting solution to the problem.
He however expressed worry in the fact that in all these traditional conflicts, innocent lives are lost and life and business is disrupted.
He reiterated the fact that the security of every person in Ghana is the business of Government and it is a human right! Anything that interferes with it is government's business and no one should say government should take its hands off.
Meanwhile, reports have it that ten people have so far been killed and several others injured through fire exchanges in the chieftancy crisis in the two ruling houses in Bimbilla. A fresh curfew has been imposed on the area.

Story by:ANANPANSAH, B ABRAHAM(AB)
(A freelance Journalist)
0241129910/0200704844