Do we still have patriots in Ghana?

I came across an article on Paa
Grant the other day and I asked
myself "do we still have
patriots?" Paa Grant heavily
financed the United Gold Coast
Convention (UGCC) which
spearheaded the Independence
Movement after the war in the
forties.
He did not finance the movement
to become its leader or a leading
member as is the current
practice. He supported the
Independence Movement because
he was a patriot who believed in
national self determination.
Paa Grant (George Alfred Grant)
was a successful timber
merchant who believed that the
African genius in enterprise
would flourish if unfettered by
colonial aims and purposes.
We have rightly recognised the
Big Six of the UGCC and the time
has come to recognise the
contribution of Paa Grant.
Research may reveal other
patriots we should emulate.
Recognition of the great patriots
may lead to an appreciation of
the role of the forgotten many
whose national fervour helped to
achieve national progress. The
market women of Accra, the
effective foot soldiers, and the
workers at location in Sekondi/
Takoradi deserve special
mention.
We do certainly have patriots in
our midst today. We should
encourage them to surface. It is
not necessary to obtain political
office to serve the nation. In fact,
the road to political office has
been tainted by personal
ambition. Many contribute to the
party so that they may obtain
office in the organisation and
become ministers or high-profile
office bearers in the event of
party victory.
Incidentally, this practice raises
the question of funding the
various political parties. Some of
us believe that the state should
assist the funding of political
parties to weaken the power of
the major financiers. Others do
not agree with us. The way out is
to discuss and seek an
acceptable way to deal with the
problem and not to adopt a
desiccated professorial stance.
The present practice is not
healthy, and makes it difficult for
patriots like Paa Grant to surface.
Patriotism can be encouraged to
flourish by appropriate textbooks
and other reading materials for
our children and students. It is
not sufficient to name
institutions after Sarbah and the
like. We should know what they
did. The youth should know
about the patriotic fervour of
these men and women of old.
Our young ones at school should
know about the nationalism of
Yaa Asantewaa, Nana Sir Ofori
Atta, King Tackie Tawiah, and
Ephraim Amu, to mention only a
few. We should not try to find
leaders only among the political
elite. We should encourage the
true patriots among us to help
raise the political horizon. We
can do this by not giving
attention to only what the
politicians bid us to think about.
Right now Knowledge is vast and
accessible. In Ghana, we need
not wait for a Freedom of
Information law to know all that
is going on. We can force
authority to reveal information by
expressing what we know.
We would do well to use social
media to disseminate news and
discuss ways of dealing with our
economic and social problems.
We can meet in groups or in
"demonstrations" on specific
issues and force authority to
listen and to act. Patriots
passionately concerned about
the nation can find important,
useful and effective roles in this
area.

Source:dailygraphic,voice from a far