It is a sorry state of affairs to think that a society that has thriven on ethnicity since the beginning is trying to hang a dog to give it a bad name. None of us, and I repeat “NONE OF US”, can be absolved of any such mistakes that we recur in our daily lives in one way or the other if we can be this cruel. Hopeson Yaovi Adorye has come under intense fire for something that Ghanaians are fond of committing, repetitively. Ask yourself, for example, how many times in a day would you look at somebody and whisper into your friend’s ear that the person is of an ethnic background not fit enough to be human? For example, we use derogatory words to describe tribes, like “ayigbe” for “EWE”. How many of you know that the word “ayigbe” is frowned upon as derogatory by many Ewes?
How many times have I stopped at a stall to buy something only for persons around, vendor included, to refer to me as “obroni pete, obroni korkor makyen ya fekyere ngongo, bature banza, ofli, yovu yovu gaiga, etc” oblivious to the fact that I speak the local languages. The sheer ignorance, arrogance in poverty (the worst curse of mankind), and uncouth manners passed on from generation to generation, made even worse by the advent of social media, is turning us into beings unlike what we were created to be. So many times have I heard the statement, “chai, ibe rabanis mayn”, referring to me derogatorily. GOD have mercy, they do not even pronounce Lebanese right! I mean, rabanis? Oh hmmm, nipa ns3 hwi!!!
So, my brother Hopeson got chastised, severely, for the statement he made at the healthwalk in Kumasi. Unfortunately, those who have accused him of slander have sharpened their tongues to slander him many doses more; 3ka s3n? He has rendered his apology, so what again do you want from him? Do you want him to hang himself to satisfy your miserable and unforgiving characters? The misogyny portrayed by people who claim to know more is nothing but a hapless attempt to appear relevant making their relevance quite irrelevant.
Hopeson has always borne the cross for us in the NPP fraternity. What difficult job hasn’t he done to ensure that we remain a force to reckon with on the political terrain of Ghana? What bitter pill hasn’t he swallowed all in the name of our party, the NPP? How many times has he used himself as the canon for NPP to fire to win battles? How many times has he been chewed and spat with disdain only for him to regain his strength and forge ahead leaving the scars behind to remind him that it is only GOD who has the power of life and death.
When such a person commits a folly albeit not nearly as grievous as that the attackers commit frequently, can’t he be criticised constructively and be reminded that we are all one, a thought to which he ascribes anyway? We are so full of hatred for one another that we are blinded by the slightest reason to go for the jugular.
My story is not rosier regarding the bigotry that I have had to deal with since childhood, and especially when we came to power in 2017. Some of the very people bleating like a pregnant goat are very much guilty. I, probably, should tell this story in a book one day!
Hopeson is not made of glass that they can break. The stones they are throwing can ricochet and smash their fragile houses rather, #TheBoomerangEffect.
I am disappointed by Justin Kodua for his unwise reaction by making it appear that he had sacked Hopeson from his team. Justin can never pay Hopeson to do anything for him, and he was just helped out for no reason other than love and commitment to a belief in him. My hope that Justin would find a more suitable approach than his bravado to deal with the situation from the onslaught was dashed when he made it seem as if Hopeson was just another person he could use to achieve his goal. Hopeson moved every stone and impediment possible to help him become GS of our party, and maybe he should just have been pragmatic with this dicey issue. I reckon the reaction was even worse than the folly!
I know Hopeson is never, has never been, and will never be a bigot otherwise his story would be a different one to tell! Let me quote his facebook post, “Sometimes it is the one you are willing to take a bullet for is the person behind the trigger!” Let us all be circumspect with our internal issues to refrain from giving other parties a reason to defile us with their submissions.
To know the kind of people we are, just read the comments that have followed my articles and that will follow this one, too! Of course, that is in addition to being dastardly!
By Fadi Dabbousi