The love I got for this country increased as I discovered its very rich cultural diversity.  For the first time in my life, I played the drums. Here in Ghana I learned that it is called the “talking drums”.

 

I had never known that playing the drums required specific skills. I just thought beating the drums was playing it.  But here, I learned that I had to follow a particular pattern, a particular rhythm, a particular style. 

 

Although after a few drumming lessons, my palms became swollen, covered with blisters and red with blood, I was so proud of what I learned and I cannot wait to play the drums in my local church back in my country.

 

At the Alliance Française, I witnessed how culturally superior Ghana is in the sense that She is renowned for showcasing and exhibiting Africa`s rich culture across the globe. The few of the dance groups like the Hewale Sounds and Kusum Gboo I watched were so enthralling. 

 

Expressive dance pieces, frenzied drumming and the colorful attire worn by the dancers boosted my ego and pride for being an African. I later learnt that these two groups have been increasing African “swagger” across the continents, namely in the North and south Americas, in Europe and Asia too.   

 

Also, in my tro-tro and along the streets, I noticed that everybody spoke a native language. Is this a sense of belonging or what? I later discovered that even in offices and public places, the mother tongue is still spoken! Not English language or French Language, but “Ga” or “Twi” or “Ewe” or “Dagbani”. So I get to learn a lot of words like “pacho”, “chale” etc. If this is still another aspect of patriotism, then ….cool!

 

As my host and I walked along the Makola market, what grabbed my attention the most was the fabric shops with goods such as the wax print materials.  

 

The “Kente” is another word that has kept me pondering for the time I have been in Ghana. In the Churches, Priests, Pastors, Bishops have it. At mega ceremonies, official like unofficial, I see people with it. 

 

You cannot help but notice it because it is so conspicuous; having bright colours that even the blind person will see it. “Yeah, here I exaggerated!” But I very much appreciate this high sense of belonging that the Ghanaian people possess; a sense of belonging they express through various items which foreigners will deem petty. 

 

And do you know what?  Because of the exquisite designs of the kente, not having one for myself will be like going to the farm during the harvest season, and returning home with an empty basket.

 

I know you are so curious and want to know what I ate and how I found the meal. Do not worry because I will tell you about the “kenkey”, the “banku”, the “waakye” and others. 

 

On the first day however, I ate some French Fries and Chicken at the Southern Fried Chicken restaurant which is one of the trendy eateries at the Osu neighborhood.

 

I really wanted to taste the local dishes, and as the days went by, I did. I ate fufu and the light soup, the pepper and goat meat made it taste so delicious, which has made me to keep asking for more. 

 

I also tasted the waakye it is not bad, but what has been more than my taste glands and my entire digestive system to accommodate is the “kenkey”; fermented corn and raw pepper and tomatoes with fried fish. Excuse me for a moment, but you know, I cannot figure out this kind of dish. 

 

The fish is good no doubt, but how do I eat the uncooked tomatoes mixed with the uncooked pepper? With fermented corn? The kind of reaction that occurs in a stomach after eating this is only known by the one who created the digestive system.

 

 My favorite dish here though is the “banku”. Nothing pleases me in Ghana, than when I am being served a plate of okra soup with a lot of fish and meat that has got palm oil swimming elegantly over it. 

 

The soup sort of buries the fermented taste the corn may have. Believe me, it is scrumptious.  “Aboboi”. Just from the name, I laughed out a lump of fried pounded ripe plantains. This is eaten with the fattest grains of beans I have ever seen. This meal is delicious too, but the name is so funny.

 

I noticed that Ghanaians eat a lot of pounded food. This makes me keep wondering if they got problems with their teeth. I have not yet seen some hard unripe plantains boiled and eaten with stew. Neither have I seen some cocoyam or cassava cooked and eaten without being pounded, like we love it  in the place I come from. Enough of the “yummie” talk, let me get a little bit serious now.

 

 

As I am on the program that brought me to Ghana, which from a holistic point of view is to grasp some hands-on experience in the journalism field, there are a lot of experiences I have gone through that keeps hunting my mind. I am attached to one of the most influential radio stations in the country –Citi FM  which is based in Accra. 

 

 On  many of the events happening in Accra, events which  my colleagues and I  were assigned to  cover, I found myself sitting on the same table with Ministers, Foreign Ministers and very important figures of this country and abroad. I state this here because, in the country I come from, you will see nothing like this. As a matter of fact some Ministers like the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister are “the untouchables”. 

 

You will not even see them not to talk of sitting and chatting with them. Maybe when I take the correct meaning of democracy to them, there will be some alterations. I felt a quailing sensation when one of the Ghanaian Ministers went to the point of beckoning us so he could  clarify certain doubts and explain succinctly and concisely  what we wanted to know but did not find any platform to lay our worries on.

 

 There are more radio and television stations in Cameroon.  However, I do not think it is the number of these that count, but the role these stations play in shaping the history of the nation in a positive light. 

 

The fact that despite all ramifications, the media has the power to correct the mistakes committed by its citizens irrespective of their social strata or position. In Ghana, I learn and experience what is called: Freedom of the Press.

 

 I noticed how much influence the media can have on building or destroying  a nation and let me admit once again that I am so much moved by the democracy that exists in the  governance of this nation plus the transparency that stands as her bedrock. No wonder foreign nations are so much attracted to her.

 

 Do you know about the old journalism cliché which says that “every day brings something different”?  That is how “news-full” Ghana is. Every day is born with a brand new captivating story. 

 

But from my observations, after having probed into numerous Ghanaian conversations, I think Ghanaians are very good at hypes. Extrapolating every item that makes the news or not. Moreover, I do not know if it is part of their idiosyncrasies, but I do not think being litigious makes a nation make strides towards greatness.

 

 It is so beautiful to be conscious of one`s rights, but it is so ugly that within one republic, the people are apathetic. The number of allegations, and court cases I witnessed in Accra was so alarming. And where the hell did the nebulous announcement of an seismic attack   that left thousands  of Ghanaians in trepidation in the middle of a night emanate from?  “Hmmm… Ghana! Are we still talking about the freedom of speech here?”

.

 

Did I mention to you, how much I love hip life? Yes!!! I love hip life so much that you could see it from the colour of my hair and the length of one of my stiletto heels. And as a lover of hip life, my love affair with Ghana was affected. 

 

The entertainment industry in this part of Africa is high-flying. I realized that new movies are launched at least once  every month and they become blockbusters! Can you believe this? At the LadyBird cinema, on the launching ceremony of one of the country`s own movies, I could not help  but  express how astounded I was when I saw a massive turn out of Ghanaian big screen lovers, coming to watch a Ghanaian movie! 

 

This is unlike in other countries I have been to, my country inclusive, where we shun movies produced at home to the foreign movies. We prefer to watch Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, Sharon Stone, Jessica Alba and the rest in action than Umotola  Jalade, Genevieve Nnaji, Jim Iyke,  Majid. 

 

We also prefer the foreign Rhythms and Blues (RnB), Hip Hop… to our local music!. It hurts me deep down in my marrow to say this, but I think there is a cultural identification shift we have to deal with here because if every African country consumed their own stuffs, like bought and watched their own movies and music, their own clothing designs, their own everything, I think the recession would be a farfetched word to Africans. 

 

Especially due to the fact that African cinema vividly depicts the truth about the African world. Our movies are so didactic, even though in my opinion technology in production needs to be revolutionized so we can match an international standard. 

 

Cinema has always been an important tool for development, since various societies have used it to push forward various sorts of agendas around the world. We should therefore harness this sector to make Africa stay permanently in the limelight.

 

I have been so curious knowing so much about Ghana that I also wanted to experience what temperature the country got at night. In the stillness of the night, the waves at the Labadi beach can distinctively be heard like they are singing hymns of praise to the motherland for all the laurels and the accolades she has accumulated over the decades, also for her resilience after a lengthy political and economical instability. 

 

It was a typical Saturday night, my friend who is a biker volunteered to drive me through the night so I could experience Accra by  night. 

 

Similar to the place I come from, it is basically the same fever. After a week of hard work, folks want to catch some fun during the week end. My friend and I were riding on his BMW bike when something very significant happened. 

 

If you got very good memory, you will recall me saying earlier on that I needed to get into the country proper before making my analysis about the state of corruption in this country. 

 

Well, like there is no human task without fault, I think corruption is the beast that is in Africa,  a beast that needs to be annihilated. My friend and I were riding around the city in the middle of the night, when he was stopped by a policeman. 

 

The reason was he had a helmet on but I had  none. Not because there were no two helmets, but because the hair I did was so gorgeous and it was like a million dollar hair to me.  

 

I could not risk spoiling it that night, so I chose not to wear the helmet. Asides that my friend neglected the fact that he had to have his personal identification papers plus the documents of the bike with him.

 

 So he was outrightly at fault. I knew this was the end of my night, because under normal circumstances with all the faults we incurred, the bike had to be seized by the officer of the law. 

 

To my greatest dismay, before I sneezed and opened my eyes, we were riding on. I just saw some two Cedis being handed to the policeman and off we were gone.

 

We hopped into one of Accra`s most trendy clubs, the club was booming, good country music, and a whole lot of variety sounds. I danced till morning and trust me when I say Ghana is good. At this point you forget about the financial predicaments and all those bogged down in political quagmires. What you do is just enjoy the magic of the place.

 

However, there is something that has been appalling to me. For about six weeks I have spent in Ghana, I have been so worried, asking myself a series of questions. “Are Ghanaians different from other Africans? Have they got different core values? Different moral standards?”

Let me tell you why I ask these questions. Since I came to Ghana, I have never inhaled tobacco from the air. No one smokes in the cars neither do folks even smoke in the streets! 

 

Maybe they do, but I have not noticed anyone yet. This is very contrary to the country I come from where we inhale considerable amounts of tobacco every minute, whether you are a smoker or a non-smoker. 

 

Smoking in my country is not a taboo. It is just a normal thing anyone can do. I very much miss the bean cake we so much love in my country though.

 

 I spent Christmas in Ghana, and it is the same fever we experience in my country. The new year in Ghana surprised me however because at the eve almost all Ghanaians went to church! 

 

Everybody is ‘God-conscious’, we got to express gratitude to the One who took us through the old year into the new one. Despite the queer fact that in this country the churches are spread all over like mushrooms, the people have a fervent love of God that I very much admire.

 

The Ghanaian youth are so frenetic. The December I spent in Ghana, will always be one to remember. I will always remember December in Ghana because on one of the days of that month, I was thrilled by the most salient artists in the country. 

 

I marveled at how a contemporary generation was rapidly moving from delinquency and mediocrity, to building their future through creativity and art. Talents were exhibited and on one platform, I witnessed the rage to become great international artists in the eyes of these musicians. 

 

Do you want to know who my favourite Ghanaian artist is? The one I listen to everywhere and all the times?  Just hold on, I will disclose this to you in a moment. But before that happens, let me tell you about the most shocking thing I have heard and seen in Ghana so far.

 

 

I was having a girl talk with one of my very good Ghanaian friends one evening. Curious as I was, I tried finding out how Ghanaian men treat their lovers. 

 

Little did I know that this subject matter I delved into was going to spark off the most embarrassing but interesting and mind-blowing  discussion I have ever had in my lifetime. 

 

At first, I knew that she was just being superfluous, so I wiped out whatever she told me from my mind. It did not even take two days for me to be reminded of what my girl friend told me the previous day.

 

 It was at the crack of dawn, and I was going to get a glass of milk when I noticed that grandma was bathing a one month old baby. 

 

Around the waist line of this baby, I noticed a chain made of African beads. I felt so sorry for the baby that I asked grandma, why she was punishing this baby with that heavy thing around her waist. 

 

To me this was so cumbersome to the baby. But do you know what?  Grandma told me it is part of Ghanaian culture that all the girls irrespective of their ages wear beads around their waist lines.

 

 I had not even finished digesting what I just heard, when she further explained to me that when the ladies wear the beads, it sort of tantalizes the men. To give you a vivid picture of what I am talking about, what she told me was that the beads seduce and attract the men sexually - like the sight of mere African beads causes Ghanaian men to be horny. 

 

At this point, I could not help it but laugh out loud, not that I was mocking this culture, but because what in my country is used as jewelries for fashion and beauty exclusively is used here as some sexually arousing device. “Wow! When you talk about culture, I think Africa is the majesty”.

 

I do not know if this will enhance the relationship I have with my lover. Nevertheless, there is something new he is going to discover when I get back to Cameroon. Something new I will take back home from Ghana. 

 

Finally, I do not think Ghana is loved abroad because of its pedigrees, referring to significant figures like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Kofi  Anan(just to name these two) but like another  Ghanaian friend of mine told me, what makes Ghana enticing is its enticing people. 

 

My experience in Ghana so far has been a breath-taking one, the aforementioned events and situations I have  lived and experienced will leave an indelible mark on my mind and like my favorite artist – SARKODIE puts it, it is always going to be “one time for my mind”.

 

I will be visiting other parts of Ghana, precisely the Northern Region, the Eastern Region and  Cape Coast which I  hear a lot about.

 

 I really want to shake hands with a rural chief. I got a picture already on  my mind of what awaits me in these destinations but I need to crystallize these pictures. So when I am back I will keep you apprised. You will have more of the gist.