On Friday, July 9, 2010, I attended a programme that should have started at 9a.m., but after arriving at the venue on schedule, the programme started at 11.45a.m., almost three hours later.
The occasion was the inauguration of one of the branches of a rural bank at Kronom Abuohia, a Kumasi suburb.
Between 7a.m. and 8a.m. that day, the media representative of the bank started harassing a section of the media with telephone calls, urging us to rush to the venue on time, explaining that the programme was about to start.
At that time, I was in the office, putting finishing touches to a story I was writing.
Having reached the office at 7:15 a.m., I was hoping to finish the story and mail it to Accra before attending the programme, which I knew from experience would not start on schedule.
However, the urgency of the telephone calls from the media representative, forced me to suspend the story and, together with my colleague, rush to Kronom Abuohia, expecting to meet a sizeable number of invited guests at the venue, perform our official responsibilities, and return to the office by 11 a.m. to complete the earlier story.
To my surprise, not a single soul was at the venue where the ceremony was taking place.
Apart from the music that was in full blast, threatening to tear our ear drums apart, only one female was at the venue, decorating the tables and canopy to make the place a little more attractive.
When we drew the attention of the media representative of the bank to the harm he had caused us, and its rippling effect on me and my company, he smiled apologetically, assuring us that the programme would start exactly in 15 minutes .
Eventually, the 15 minutes turned out to be two hours 45 minutes.
This was because the programme finally got underway at 11:45 am.
After the prayers , which has become part and parcel of every programme in the country, the next item, which was the introduction of invited guests and dignitaries, took as much as 45 minutes.
As if the programme was a beauty contest, designed to market personalities, almost everybody was mentioned, and they responded by standing up, showing the designs of their costumes.
While the introduction was going on, the lady who was charged with that responsibility continued to coax the audience to clap incessantly for the personalities being introduced as she admired their costumes, thus prolonging the programme and causing those who know the essence of time to constantly look at their wristwatches.
By the time the introduction ended and the Chief Executive of the bank got the opportunity to give his welcoming address, it was exactly 12:30 p.m.
His speech and other items on the programme held us to ransom, compelling us to finally depart around 2:20 p.m.
With the heavy vehicular traffic associated with the Kronom-Abuohia- Suame corridor of the Kumasi road network, we finally reached the office at 3:40 p.m.
At that time, there was nothing we could do as newsmen by way of sending any story to Accra.
This was because the paper had already gone to bed.
The implication was that we wasted a whole day for a story which could have taken less than two hours to complete.
Ironically, the programme was organised by a bank which prides itself as a member of the Ghana Club 100 and aspires to be one of the best financial institutions in the country.
With time as one of the most important factors of production, one wonders why a reputable bank used almost a whole day to organise a programme that could have taken just a few hours.
One institution that has also become synonymous with time wasting is the Ghana Police Service.
For more than ten years that I have practised Journalism in the Ashanti Region, not a single programme organised by the police has started on schedule.
From organised media encounters through briefing journalists on numerous criminal cases, to durbar and passing out parades, the police, regarded as partners in the discharge of our responsibilities, always succeed in wasting precious time.
A programme that is supposed to start at 9a.m., is likely to begin at 11:30 a.m.
If the Police Public Relations Officer asks journalists to converge at the Regional Commander’s office at noon, they would count themselves as blessed if the programme begins at 3 p.m.
As if time does not apply in their profession, journalists always converge at the reception hours before they put news items supposed to be the core business of the day together.
By the time they finish and make the necessary corrections, those who always arrive on schedule would be dozing out of boredom.
Ironically, messages inviting the media to attend such programmes are sent 48 hours early, so it baffles some of us why journalists are made to waste precious time on each occasion that scheduled meetings are organised.
Not even the Ghana Armed Forces, perceived as one of the most disciplined institutions in several aspects, is blameless when it comes to time wastage.
One event organised by the Armed Forces which almost caused a stir in the media circle was when the Chief of Defence Staff paid a maiden visit to Kumasi this year.
As usual, the media were asked to converge at the headquarters at 9 a.m. for briefing, but for over three hours, journalists kept on waiting in a room where we had been ushered into, thus bringing into question the seriousness of Ghanaians on efficient and effective time management.
When the meeting finally got underway, some journalists who had other nuts to crack had reluctantly left.
For politicians, the little said about them for their wanton disregard for time, the better.
Seldom do politicians attend programmes on schedule, and no matter the venue, the nature of the programme and how close it is to their offices and constituencies, politicians, irrespective of the office they hold, are sure to arrive two or more hours late.
Incidentally, it is politicians who have been shouting very loud since 1957 that they have the dream, ability and capacity of propelling this country to achieve a middle-income status within the possible shortest time, forgetting that irrespective of the resources, it is the prudent management of time that makes it possible for dreamers to eventually realise their goals.
While wasting precious time all day long— a commodity which is the most important factor of production— Ghanaians, especially politicians, always tout the Asian Tigers, singing their praises and making empty promises that they would harness the needed resources to take this country to their level.
With almost everybody in Ghana consciously or unconsciously wasting somebody’s time with impunity without any national programme to holistically address the issue, one wonders how this country can make any headway to match the Asian Tigers we have become so much enthused about.
What Ghanaians should appreciate is that, the Asian Tigers got this far partly because everybody, including high office holders, became mindful of the value of time, and therefore channelled all their energies to manage it in an effective and efficient manner, thereby facilitating the needed accelerated development.
From the dream of attaining a middle-income status in the year 2000, Ghanaians were assured that water, accommodation, power for domestic consumption and health, among other social amenities, would be readily accessible for all, and poverty would be a thing of the past. Politicians and opinion leaders are now pushing for the attainment of these social values in the year 2020.
This was after they realised that, like the year 2000, the year 2015, which was targeted for the attainment of a middle-income status for Ghana, is just around the corner, and that their goal was not achievable due to the disregard and mismanagement of time which has become a national syndrome.
In his book, ‘The seven Principles of success and Wealth Creation’ the author, Dr Michael Agyekum Addo, expounded that it is important for leaders to be at “functions early to set good examples to bring a change into society.”
Explaining the value of time, the author was of the view that it was important to “be at the right place at the right time and for the right reason stressing, “do not keep people waiting for you unnecessarily.
Do not follow the crowd and assume that people will be late because of their adherence to Ghana or African Time and be late yourself too.”
The author, who said his strict adherence to time had made it possible for him to generate adequate resources that have transformed him from a salary worker to a shrewd business tycoon, was also of the view that “when people are able to identify you as a punctual person, they will ensure that they are punctual anytime they have to meet or see you. This will save you a lot of time. Remember time is money.”
It is very important for Ghanaians, irrespective of status, age, gender and ethnic background, to read the book because we stand to gain as a nation to be orientated from its content.
It would also help us value certain principles, including efficient time management, hard work, honesty, discipline and truthfulness, among others, as essential commodities which should be factored into our national agenda to create wealth for sustainable socio-economic development to take place.
One thing is certain, and that is the fact that until Ghanaians, including our political leaders, heads of financial institutions, traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil servants, the security apparatus, and the media, among others, recognise the essence and value of time and let it play the right role it in our daily activities, Ghana will continue to mark time, and the national dream of realising a middle- income status would always be a mirage.
No comments:
Post a Comment