First of all, I must clear certain things which I envisage some individuals would dwell on to unfairly discredit and undermine the substance of this article.
I perfectly recognise and understand that this piece will be bigotry to the candidacy of Ms. Roseline Okoro as Miss Ghana 2012 contestant.
However, should the issues below be ignore and Roseline Okoro manages to win the National pageant, the many years of credibility, prestige, Ghanaian heritage, Association and Representation which is embedded in the Miss Ghana pageant will end.
Where do we place the balance of convenience then? Without any malice, I think it is only prudent that the below issues which can tear down the Miss Ghana pageant and erupt long confusion and dissatisfaction among Ghanaians be addressed to the detriment of Roseline Okoro’s right to participate in unprejudiced contest.
For those who intend to evoke the absurdity engulfed in the entrenched Ghana/Nigeria rivalry by saying that, I am mentioning the below because I somehow do not like Nigerians, you should know that, the parents of my girlfriend are Nigerians (though she was born in Britain and may prefer to be called a Black British). I want such people to know that I do not have any dislike for Nigerians and as such, this piece will only look at substantive issues, detached from any rivalry hogwash.
I do not have a problem with Roseline Okoro’s nationality as a Ghanaian. Since one of her parents is a Ghanaian, by law, she is a Ghanaian. Nationality/Citizenship can be acquired through Birth, Blood (descent) or Naturalization. This means that, by descent/blood, Roseline Okoro is a Ghanaian and SHOULD be able to participate in the Miss Ghana pageant.
However, depending on how an individual becomes a citizen of a country, there are some positions that he or she cannot/shouldn’t hold even though such a person by law is a citizen. For instance, in the United States, only a person who is a citizen by birth can become a President or Vice President. Even that, he/she must have lived in U.S.A for 14 years or more.