People who know me or read this blog religiously should have now figured out that I was one hell of a pain in the butt when I was young—and even today, I am a thick nail in the skin of a lot of people.
I cut through a lot of the usual Ghanaian BS and I am not bothered by the age of the person sitting at the other side—let’s be frank, most older people are plain stupid, caused by generation gap and their ‘dogmatism’.
In Ghana, the notion ‘Opanin (the elder) is always right’ is the cause of many of our problems today—as many Ghanaians lack the ability to critically think and evaluate situations to form their own reasonable opinions.
Dangerously, this ‘metusala’ tradition accentuated in our way of doing things has created a generation of cowards, non-rational thinkers and millions of people incapable of standing up for themselves, their rights or beliefs. It’s worse when the opponent is someone older…
Of course, it is within good manners to respect the elderly, in fact, you must respect everyone—but that does not mean, by default you should swallow whatever BS the elderly is feeding you and accord him or her some undeserving immunity from criticism.
When I was a child, I was labelled ‘obstinate and troublesome’ when I was not really any of these two; I just asked why I have to do certain things while many other children just jumped because they were told to do so.
I asked questions and mostly I ‘rebelled’ when the answer was not forthcoming or the answer given did not sit well with my own reason—I guess that is the reason why we all have brains.
Over the years, we’ve somewhat bought into this flawed conception that by virtue of being older, you know it all—and you are always right. As such, everyone younger than you must do exactly what you command even if it falls outside the scope of reason or if you have not given any conceivable explanation as to why your orders must be followed.
We’ve therefore become a generation of sycophants and sadly, we are passing on this trait which seems to have become part of our DNA to the young ones. Literally, we were abused into doing things, accepting things and holding certain beliefs—most of us did not have a damn say in some of the most important things of our lives.
When it comes to education, your parents (the elders) chose the course you would study for you even at a level where you had the ability to make such choice based on your strength, interest and understanding.
I remember when it was time to pick my course for Secondary School, I staged the biggest family civil war because everyone including my mother said I should go and read Science—because they said I was smart. I told them I was not going to read what they want and I opted for General Arts—because that was my interest, I loved current affairs, law and politics so I wasn’t going to be compelled to study some damn chemistry, biology and others.
It was weeks of war with threats that my fees wouldn’t be paid if I don’t do what the ‘elders’ wanted. I walked over their threats and went ahead to choose Government, Economics, Geography and Elective Mathematics at Adisadel College. Even, they wanted me to go to Mfantsipim Secondary School as opposed to my place of interest.
And in all these, they offered no reasons as to why they think their choice for me was good, they just expected that they are older—and as such, I should do what they want without asking any question…
Meanwhile, I was the one going to do the studying—while they just sit back and do ‘f**k all’—except to pay my fees. This is one of the reasons why most Ghanaian children and young adults drop out of school and do not perform well. Our education and total existence are all about what someone wants from us, not want we really want for ourselves.
Even in today’s politics, we’ve positioned some people in power just because they are old and because of their age, no one is allowed to cut through the BS and tell them the truth when it is even obvious. When it is black, a Ghanaian will say it’s blue-black so not to offend the elderly.
Our way of development and growth from childhood to adulthood is no different from some Chinese robots being manipulated by batteries in the hands of some bored workers who issue instructions without thinking twice.
Only a few of us can think for ourselves, can look into your eyes and tell you the truth—can displace the age factor and say it as it is… We lack critical thinkers because we did not cultivate any.
We have become a generation of dummies caused by the ‘opanin is always right’ ingredient in our soup. Until we decide to displace this faulty social concept, we will continue to produce dummies, unfamiliar with critical thinking, evaluation—and more importantly, truth telling…
Hmmm….b) ho biom
thats really true ,because am facing the same problem ,my uncle called and lied about me he said all sort of things that was not true ,my dad called me in america to verify from me, after i waited for him to say whatever he had to say and i told him my uncle was lying and that he does not even know my whereabout in america ,he lives in utah whiles i live in new jersey we dont even talk on the phone.oh lord come and see insult from my dad for saying my uncle was lying to him ,he made it big issue that i had to apologise,because according to older people dont lie.thats ghana people for you
Opanin does not lie? Waa look they even lie the most. This is the mentality we have to end
Exactly what it is, it is happening here live in the States, that misconception has to change. I don’t usually comment, but this one touched me. (You know what time it is)
Growing up in Ghana you only do what you are not old. You can’t ask question or ask why. This is really bad for a child and when you become adult it doesnt make you a better person. Up to date, my aunties want to dictate for me because they think they are older. This must stop. Thanks Chris for this piece
So on point chris. I experienced the same opayin is right nonsense about 3 years ago. Well, i made it clear to them they r not being fair. The answering they gave came back to the same opayin is always right. We really have a long way tto go.
This western culture is corrupting most of you and it is what is destroying our moral values as a country, i perfectly understand using ur brain as an individual and being discerning enough to make choices and decisions, but the extreme end of this is what this argument can lead to and that is the basis of most of our social problems
I couldn’t agree more.Isn’t it interesting how we are socialised from a young age not to question authority. The result; a nation of spineless, unreasonable, sycophantic individuals who lack autonomy.
Is the biggest mistake we blacks have ever committed n we will always pay dearly for it until we change that perception……always remember “before a wise young king was born,there lived a foolish old man“.