Eyes right (limited edition)!!

Growing up in Prestea in the Western Region, I looked forward to 6th March each year.

Beaming with confidence, excitement and a huge dose of patriotism, we would march with military precision around the parade grounds, deftly swinging our skinny arms to the beat of patriotic music, with uniforms starched and ironed to stiff perfection with the capabilities of a new blade, shoes or sandals buffed for a mirror effect. White socks would complete the ensemble.

On arrival at the dais, where the District Chief Executive would be taking the salute, our necks would swing to a sharp 90 degrees to the right upon the shout of ‘eyes right!’, accompanied by a quick salute.

After it all, we would all be given a bottle of Fanta or Muscatella, which we would of course sip rather gingerly and lovingly, wishing the bottle would never be empty.

The apex version of ‘eyes right’ has of course been the Independence Day Parade at the Black Star Square in Accra, which has always received national televised courage to enable many to plug in for the day, with eager crowds on the ground waving their miniature national flags in a burst of patriotic fervour, with food and water vendors in particular doing rather brisk business. 

Muted celebrations

This year’s event, for the second time in recent times, has seen the vast, concretised Black Star Square empty in an almost eerie way on 6th March.

In 2021, with the uncertain ravages of COVID-19, which was allergic to large crowds, the government of the day limited the celebrations to the grounds of the Jubilee House. 

This year, we reverted to the 2021 limited edition with a view to cutting costs in difficult economic circumstances as the primary reason, according to government.

In recent years, there have been calls to scrap the celebration of our independence with grand parades.

In a Facebook post in January 2017, I admitted that I was conflicted on whether or not to agree with such calls.

This had nothing to do with costs.  I wrote;

‘I am tempted to agree that the march past by school kids on 6th March is an anachronism reminiscent of Communist countries of old. Actually, I think it goes back to Empire Day Parades in the colonial era, when barefooted native children marched on a dusty park past the Governor or DC, who stood stiffly to attention in his starched white uniform and plumed hat and sweated profusely as the Union Jack fluttered in the tropical heat and the band played God Save The King (or Queen, as the case may be).’

‘I think it is the march past of the security forces with their imported military hardware that smacks more of the communist era, when the Soviet Union and her allies liked to show off their military might on national holidays as the Cold War raged.’

‘Much as I agree the kids marching past is a tad absurd, I remember as a kid the tough competition at my school to be selected as part of the march past group in the district on 6th March…’

So, notwithstanding the reality of the scorching sun and some kids actually fainting in the past, I am sure school kids will be inconsolable if we got rid of the march past….and so primarily for sentimentality reasons relating to my golden memories as a kid, I am unable to agree with the calls, regardless of what my head tells me.’

My views have not shifted much, with or without the costs argument. 

The cost argument

Ordinarily, any efforts to cut costs to prevent the public purse from hemorrhaging should be welcomed, and it should not even come up for debate.

To that extent, I appreciate the thinking behind the departure from the past mode of celebrations.  

But then, between black and white, there are different shades of grey, which means on matters of such importance, a binary approach cannot suffice.

The day after the Jubilee House independence celebrations, I came across a video clip which reinforced my long-held belief that certain things have their place in nation-building and do not require bean-counting, even though prudence must always be a watchword.

It was a clip showing a number of ordinary Ghanaian citizens standing across the street from the main entrance into Jubilee House and witnessing rather forlornly from a distance the grand affair with the nation’s ‘Who is Who’ in attendance, enjoying the coziness of the event.

For such an important national event, I think it is crucial that the ordinary citizen is able to participate in a more meaningful way than standing across the street and looking in like outsiders, with concrete walls and unsmiling military personnel serving as barricades, while ‘important’ fellow citizens sit under canopies enjoying themselves.

It says a lot and speaks of a celebration somehow meant for a certain class of people and presents an uncomfortable image. 

Innovative cost-cutting

I believe the event should still have been held at the Black Star Square and some cuts could have been made if the budget was too high.

This is hardly rocket science and requires a bit of innovation, which would still have enabled ordinary citizens to plug in with their mere presence on this special day. 

At least many vendors would have made some good sales.

I agree with Albert Einstein when he said “Not everything that you can count, counts; and not everything that counts can be counted

By all means let us cut costs in our national life. But building a nation takes more than cold hard cash and brick and mortar.

It requires lots of soft things ‒ binding agents, if you like, such as the participatory celebration of important national milestones.

May God continue to bless our homeland Ghana and make her strong. Eyes right!

E-mail: rodboat@yahoo.com