africanreality

Eating healthy foods to be strong, productive and live longer is synonymous to caring about waste management in our society. Sometimes the subject of solid waste management appears to be a huge monster without a face and a name – that everyone seems to runaway from or point the blame to someone else. 

A television news item which highlighted the dumping of waste at the old Weija land fill site has inspired the writing of this piece. This is just one separate case but there are several areas including drains and gutters that pose serious hazards to the majority of people in our society.

It was reported by residents of the Weija area that leaking sewages from the land fill area flows into the Densu River which is their source of dinking water. This unhygienic condition has conveniently created a breeding ground for mosquitoes an an avenue for the spread of cholera, typhiod fever and other dangers to health . Livestock are also slaughtered in the area and sold for consumption.  This can wreck the health and future of an entire generation if not corrected quickly. These are the essentials of life that we cannot continue to blatantly ignore as if those suffering the plight are not humans as we are.

The health implication is dire for the whole nation if we do not take seriously the issue of waste management and change our attitudes toward the issue. Landfill sites cannot continue to be avenues for injuries to the lives of people. It is even argued that these sites cannot be considered as landfill sites because they’re just surfaces of land where refuse are being dumped.

Landfill site management demands a careful, well thought out and scientific approach that would ensure the health and safety of people dwelling in those areas. It demands proper investment of human and financial resources to ensure proper management. The metropolitan authority nation wide along with waste mangers such as Zoom Lion has to be equipped and supported to manage waste appropriately.

What can we do about this?

Prioritize the issue of waste management. If it is a national problem, let us address it seriously.

Let us change our attitudes and mindsets. The people who litter our streets with filth are not mad people. They are students, marketers, religious folks, public servants, private workers and people we call responsible individuals. Take a decision today never to drop a plastic, water bag or any litter in the street and stick to it. Let this be a standard that governs your life.  Let this be a value you are adding to your society and impart this to more people as possible.

I have observed that many people use the gutters as their garbage dump. This is nasty and disheartening. This also accounts for the heavy flooding of our streets when there is an average down pour of rain. Resolve to solve this problem in your own small way.

It is time for most people to start paying for the garbage accumulated. This shows you’re truly responsible and ready to address the problem.  Some homes have a garbage pit there they burn their garbage papers and plastic. The street is not the dumping ground. Your own family members would get sick from your irresponsible action.

A comprehensive waste management policy is necessary. Yes, it is expensive but worth every pesewa. A  Healthy continent is a prosperous continent.  Policy makers must push this policy through and every one of us will support it. Generations to come will reap the benefits of a thinking society.

Much more can be done, but as Africans- our participation is crucial to rebuilding the leadership and prosperity of Africa.  Add your voice to this debate and take action today.

At the end of every year some people, institutions or companies set themselves an agenda to achieve the following year. Call it a plan, a goal, a resolution, a project or whatever terminology that suits your purpose.  A kind of stock taking or looking back in retrospect and assessing performance and then building new and improving standards for the new year.

The writers focus is the individual. Our lives can’t go according to plan if we have no plan in the first place. How successful were your resolutions, plans and targets for the last year? What about the area of career development, personal development, spiritual development, national commitments etc?

Stock taking in crucial in tracking ones progress in life. Such reorientation breaths a new sense of urgency, passion and resilience towards the life ahead.  The philosopher Socrates said -an unexamined life is not worth living. The apostle Paul also warns of examining oneself every step of the way in order not to lose the faith or forfeit salvation.

Sometimes we have some beautiful and ambitious dreams which we sit and watch to fulfill themselves. Only waiting and wishing will keep it been just a dream. We’re aware of some reasons our dreams and plans don’t materialize: indecisiveness, fear, procrastination, lack of belief or self-confidence, indiscipline, abuse of time, laziness and many more. Sad to say but many in Africa live for survival rather than impact. But the story is changing now. Ordinary input will equal ordinary result. Extraordinary input will lead to extraordinary result/output. There is nothing extraordinary on its own; everything extraordinary will be as a result of man’s extraordinary effort into his business.

There are some fundamental principles that can guide anyone who desires the most top in his field. Success takes vision, information and hard work. The law of abundance says that we live in a world of unlimited abundance where there is plenty for everyone who knows how to get it.

It all begins with attitude. It is said that the most important determinant of what happens to us is our attitude to time. Longfellow states – the heights that great men won and kept, were not achieved by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling in the night.

I’ve learned that mastery in any field is as a result of tiny incremental advances, each of which may be small but when added leads to an extraordinary performance. Since we understand that we were created and engineered for excellence – we are therefore not limited by the place of our birth, nor the colour of our skin but by the size of our hope. (J. Johnson)

Let us all pick up some vital lessons in our quest for excellence in the New Year and the years ahead. You must build your daily agenda around your dream. There is no way out of this.  The atmosphere we permit determines the product we produce. Or has your heart not caught fire for any feat outstanding? Know today that – the saddest tragedy of life is a heart that has not caught fire for anything. You are not the pity of the earth- but a time bomb waiting to explode when you wake up that sleeping giant that lies within you.

Napoleon Hill tells us – what a different story men would have to tell, if only they would adopt a definite purpose and stand by that purpose until it becomes an all consuming obsession! Your bull dog determination and persistence in standing by a single idea, is destined to mow down all opposition and bring you the opportunity you are seeking.

Let us resolve today that our dreams will not perpetually remain dreams but with belief, hard work and dogged determination, we can reach those heights and inspire future generations. You are an answer to a prayer. Never give up!!

Every season brings about new global issues to battle with. Tsunamis are Asia; swine flu battles, credit crunch in America to global economic recession and now-- climate change.  Africa is making its voice heard as hard as possible in a bid to salvage some financial pledges made by the west toward helping Africa deal with the climate problem.

The ongoing climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark is supposed to highlight the challenges of “developing nations” and their quest to redeem financial pledges to address the challenge and the need to get industrialized nations reduce their greenhouse emissions.   The president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Donald Kaberuka told Reuters that he wanted to see a “willingness by rich countries to dig into their pockets to enable low-income countries to adapt to climate change.” He adds that “Climate change is costing this continent almost 3 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) per year. Now translate that into numbers, the kind of things we need: about $40 billion a year,” he told Reuters in an interview.

The leader of the African delegation to the talks-Prime minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia said the European Union will commit $ 10billion dollars per annum and would by 2020 provide $100billion to assist Africa manage climate change challenges.

The effects of climate change on the continent are evident. In Liberia, the coastline of Monrovia and its environs are under serious threat from the encroaching ocean. Schools and churches along the coast have been wiped away. Erratic rainfall patterns have affected farming in parts of the country. In Ghana, frequent power outages which are detrimental to industrial productivity can be blamed on the low availability of water from electricity dams.

What is Africa approach to this crisis? From observation- our biggest shot on this issue is the expectation of financial redemption from the west. If the west drags its feet as it is currently the case, does that mean that our hopes are doomed? God forbid. Africa is not the pity of the earth to always be on the receiving end in major global relationships. It is not wrong to ask for assistance to solve problems but when over 70% of all attempts to address our issues are expectations of financial salvation from abroad is a fundamental flaw. It is time to take our place.

Let us open up these issues for discussions among our people. Take bold steps by asking our citizens, institutions and businesses to contribute a dollar each to a noble cause. Bring together human resource expertise and initiate powerful home grown solutions to national problems. The tree planting exercise for instance is a noble one to support and make a national project.

A change of mindsets to national problems and effective leadership will bring a whole new dimension to how we address issues. How about getting those directly affected by climate change as part of the solution?

More issues would arise overtime; but when Africans see themselves as solutions rather than problem children, the answers to life greatest challenges would be unearthed. You’re an answer to a vision, not a helpless creature. Take control or be consumed. Africa has Hope Because Africa has you.