Wise Counsel to Delay Judgement

A lovely little girl was holding two apples with both hands.

Her mum came in and softly asked her little daughter with a smile; my sweetie, could you give your mum one of your two apples?

The girl looked up at her mum for some seconds, then she suddenly took a quick bite on one apple, and then quickly on the other.

The mum felt the smile on her face freeze. She tried hard not to reveal her disappointment.

Then the little girl handed one of her bitten apples to her mum,and said: mummy, here you are. This is the sweeter one.

No matter who you are, how experienced you are, and how knowledgeable you think you are, always delay judgement.

Give others the privilege to explain themselves.

What you see may not be the reality. Never conclude for others.

Which is why we should never only focus on the surface and judge others without understanding them first.

Those who like to pay the bill, do so not because they are loaded but because they value friendship above money.

Those who take the initiative at work, do so not because they are stupid but because they understand the concept of responsibility.

Those who apologize first after a fight, do so not because they are wrong but because they value the people around them.

Those who are willing to help you, do so not because they owe you any thing but because they see you as a true friend.

Those who often text you, do so not because they have nothing better to do but because you are in their heart.

Those who take out time to chat with you, do not mean they are jobless or less busy, but they know the importance of keeping in touch.

One day, all of us will get separated from each other; we will miss our conversations of everything & nothing; the dreams that we had.

Days will pass by, months, years, until this contact becomes rare… One day our children will see our pictures and ask ‘Who are these people?’ And we will smile with invisible tears because a heart is touched with a strong word and you will say: ‘IT WAS THEM THAT I HAD THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE WITH’.

Thank you for making me smile for sometime in my life. Wise words.

Am sharing with you because I value you. Share with others

The Tongue of a Good Poet Never Rots

Asare-Bediako Addo

Robert Nester Marley

The tongue of a good musician never rots , it transcends all religions and divisions; This is Robert Nesta Marley, he has arguably become more popular after his death than he was alive.

Many good music lovers describes him as the priest of Raggae music, others sees him as a prophet, hero and others too calls him with many legendary attributions.

His style of music has convinced many that gospel songs are never how we were made to believe and understand.. It is gospel when one can relate to it and have positive impacts on his or her life.

His songs were enjoyed and are still enjoyed by all classes of people, the rich, the poor, men and women, the aged and youngsters.

Marley, was great enough to be hero and he had some of those heroic
qualities. He tried to seek for peace and promote love for humanity through his music, It is still heroic action to try seek for something that is very hard to accomplish.

What is really interesting about him is that, he wanted to bring people together irrespective of their race, religion and class; whether black, white, rich, poor, Christian, Muslim etc…all he wanted was togetherness, equality and peace.

“I don’t have prejudice against myself. My father was a white man and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don’t deh pon nobody’s side. Me don’t deh pon the black man’s side nor the white man’s side. Me deh pon God’s side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white”, he made it known

By his words, you could understand that he was religious and he stood not only for utopia but for God too . He was one of the kind to understand true peace by himself, its almost like he knew how to bring World to it. Bob can be obviously named honorable hero of Jamaica, Africa and the whole world.

Asare-Bediako Addo
ebenasareaddo@gmail.com
0247662363

Mugabe ‘legend’ of African Liberation struggle – Mahama

Former Zimbabwe President Robert Mogabe

Former President John Dramani Mahama has described the late Robert Mugabe as a “legend of the African Liberation struggle”.

The longest-serving Zimbabwean leader died after battling ill-health at a hospital in Singapore on Friday, 6 September 2019.

He was ousted in a military coup in November 2017.

He was 95.

Commiserating with the family and the people of Zimbabwe, Mr Mahama, in Facebook post, said despite his flaws in the later years, Mugabe “will always be remembered as a great fighter for freedom and a dedicated Pan-Africanist.”

“He will be remembered for the great strides Zimbabwe made in education and healthcare in the immediate post-independence period,” he added.

Source: Classfmonline

Ghana Beyond Corruption’ proposal important – Osafo-Maafo admits

Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo has described as welcoming the idea for the Akufo-Addo’s government to pursue a “Ghana Beyond Corruption” agenda, as proposed by the Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana.

The Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, Ron Strikker, had said during the launch of the 20th-anniversary launch of Ghana Initiative Integrity (GII) Thursday that corruption is a bad phenomenon which dissuades foreign investors from coming into a country.

He said he would rather the government had a “Ghana Beyond Corruption” as a policy rather than a “Ghana Beyond aid”, which was launched by the President Akufo-Addo on May 1.

“…your official policy is Ghana beyond aid; why not Ghana beyond corruption,” he asked, when he took his turn to share his thought on corruption.

He explained that “corruption is a very bad thing and companies suffer and will stay away if they think that they are going to be harassed by corruption in a certain country.

Confronted with the comments of the ambassador, Mr. Osafo-Maafo who is also the chairman of the Ghana Beyond Aid committee, said corruption matters in the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda

He said even though he was not sure the ambassador meant Ghana should rather focus on Ghana beyond corruption, “whatever is it, all that is important”.

He explained that corruption is a key element of the Ghana beyond aid agenda has been stated variously in the policy document.

Mr. Osafo-Maafo added that corruption must be viewed in a larger context to include people who work for a few hours and still earn their full salaries.

Meanwhile, he has touted what he described as the successes of the “Ghana Beyond Aid” agenda, thus far, stating aid to Ghana from 2011 to 2017 has gone down 50% from 5.6% of GDP to 2.9% to GDP.

Source: 3news.

 

WHY BUYING LOCAL IS THE WAY TO GO

Yaw Barima Agyapong Addo of Barima Shoes poses with Akumaa Mamazimbi of Adom FM

PUBLICITY AND THE CREATIVE ARTIST

Many people use it. Some gain from it. Some loose from it. By many I mean people from all walks of life. Businessmen and women, corporate institutions, Pastors, Fetishes, Mallams etc. some insider trading on the worlds stock markets employ the use of publicity to make gains or make some to loose value. But I would want to talk about publicity in relation to the creative arts industry.

Many artistes have been in the news and on social media for many reasons. I am not saying for the good reasons or bad reasons but for a reason and you will get to know the reason why I am saying this soon. First of all, if you are an artiste and you are eager to make it (of course all artists are) in your chosen field and you have no social media presence, “forgerrit”. You need to have your presence sufficiently established from your website to Facebook to your twitter profile to your blog and a YouTube channel………….. Etc. this is your foundation if you don’t have any strong online presence. Why? Because no one will notice you even exist if you are the best in what you do, if you don’t have the spotlight on you.

With so many musicians and music publicists floating the inboxes of the media, you can count on the fact that these editors and writers will be checking each submission of your social media presence as a means to weed out who not to cover. And you want to have the edge. But remember too that having a presence don’t mean having more likes than everyone but rather having consistent content activity and engaging with your fans. If you are able to build your social media presence well and stable, then you can start thinking about gathering the publicity you dream of.

PUBLICITY

So, what is publicity? According to the Webster’s Dictionary, Publicity is “notice of or attention giving to someone or something by the media. 2. Giving out information about a product, person or company for advertising purposes.

Some artists hire the services of a publicists to liaise with the press. Here the publicist establishes a relationship between the artist and the media. Here the media includes blogs.

When an artist decides to go for a publicist, the artist pays money to the publicist for his efforts. Don’t expect the publicist to win contracts or gigs for you. If you have a manager that’s his job. If your publicist gets you some gigs or contracts, that is a plus. Yes, your publicist should get results but it’s up to you to help make sure time and effort and strategy are part of the equation. One thing you should however know is that you never know when your publicist’s efforts would start bearing fruit. It can be weeks, months, and sometimes a year or more. For example, not everyone will view your You tube ride when you post it, but overtime the right person will see it later and something dramatic will happen.

ARTICLES ON YOU

One major tool to help you in PR is getting stories to be written about you. Doing this is daunting and this is where artists will do anything to get the kind of PR they are looking for. So when you hear or read in the news of an artist involved in something one way or the other, do not be surprised. Everything they do is well thought out. Some use their works like music, poems and their accompanying artwork to do the PR work for them.

So, if you are not in the industry and you get to see something disgusting like videos or photos of your favorite artist or hear comments made by them, sometimes you feel let down. What you need to know however is that, they do it deliberately or it could be not deliberate but to them it helps in their PR so long as it won’t bring them trouble that bothers on criminality. Your reaction is all they want. As long as they will trend in the media, that will be their priority. They are aware that there are other people who do not know about them that would now hear of them. So, whatever you think is none of their business.

EXAMPLES

 

 

Kwabena Kwabena– 24^th January, 2017. Myjoyonline.com. Story Headline. “Kwabena Kwabena’s Second Marriage Hits on The Rocks”. Reacting to the rumor in an interview with Joy News’ Ibrahim Ben Bako, this is what Kwabena Kwabena said, “The last time I checked about myself and my personal status, I advised myself never to talk about anything personal about me in public so I don’t even want to comment on it; whether to confirm or not.” You realize in his response that he is very much aware of the rumor and the situation he marriage is going through, he would rather allow the public to “chew” on it rather than bringing finality to it with a response.

Wisa Greid–

His popularity soared when he released Ekiki Mi but many di not know the man Wisa very well. He became famous when he exposed his manhood during a live concert performance which landed him in court and as I write now the case is still in court. Fast forward 18^th November 2017. Modernghana.com. Story Headline: Wisa Greid quits music for roadside preaching? The articles come with a video showing Wisa Greid preaching at a lorry park with people gathered around him and listening. Five days later ghanaweb.com publishes a story from an interview he granted Joynews where he shares his frustrations about the delay of his case pending in the court. Coincidence?

Delay (Deloris Frimpong Mason) my own ‘sister’ used to be in the news for sometime and even still come under the radar. That helped her to reach a certain level of publicity. Afia SCHWAR, Shatta Wale, Samini, Stonebuoy and most recently Ebony has all been in the news for different reasons.

I used to un-officially manage a young artist. He is very talented, has great stage craft and can wow his audience like something. He goes by the name Ikon Baby. One day I was about to sign-out on my morning show when he called. He said “boss as3m aba oo” to wit boss there is a problem. I asked me to come to the studio and let’s talk about it. 20 minutes later here was Ikon Baby. He said he had attended an event he was not billed to perform on. However, when his fans saw him around, they shouted and chanted that he be allowed to perform so he obliged. Mid-way through his performance some of the fans started getting rowdy. He quickly had to sneak out into a taxi outside the venue forgetting that the FM microphone belonging to the events organizers he was using on stage was with him and he took it along with him. He however brought it back the next day but word had already gone around that he had stolen a Microphone belonging to the event organizers and the media have started to call to find his version of the whole story and that is why he needed me to be his mouth-piece to clarify the issue. I later found out that he intentionally staged the whole thing without my knowledge just to gain publicity.

So please anytime you hear a story about an artist, see a video or photo of one whether in good taste or bad taste, don’t fret yourself too much because whether it excites you positively or negatively, they are aware you will be. They are looking forward to your reaction because that is why they make headlines.

Since you are not in the industry, next time you hear or see something, enjoy it if you want to or look away if you can because your reaction won’t matter, actually is greatly welcome. Very welcome.

Ebony in a performance

THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A MENTOR

I heard the word men-tees when I went to work in rural Ghana where for the first time I got to know that students from the training colleges were posted in schools to be mentored.

That is not to say I had not heard the word but it’s real meaning came to me vividly. Because they are to be trained to be like their mentors, their level of productivity will depend on the kind of mentor-ship they receive.

So it is too if you were to study successful people one thing you will realize they have in common is they all have mentors. They do this because surrounding themselves with the right people allowed them to avoid many mistakes and helped them to progress faster and wide in aggregation . So if mentor-ship is very vital to our success and failure, why aren’t we thought right from school how to find them?

The adage is very true ‘Show me your friends and I will show you your character’. So to be able to achieve your goals, it is your tenacity to persevere but also the the kind of people you learn from. But the Big question is,

Who are you learning from?

Take a moment to answer these questions.
1. Who are your closest friends?
2. How many of them share your goals or beliefs?
3. Are they living the life you want to be living?
4. What does it say about you and your chances of accomplishing journey goals?

I remember this quote from Jim Rohn ‘You are the average of the five people you spend most of your time with’. So whether you have a mentor or you have never even thought about it, you are still been mentored by the people you hang around with. So if you are like most people who do not have the right people in your circle you dream is likely going to remain just what they are, just a dream.

But you can turn the tables in your favor. How can you go out there and form relationships with the right people who are already living your dream?

Start with a small conversation.

We meet potential mentors everyday just that they do not go about introducing themselves that way. Ask about their lives and see where it leads. Their stories will let you know a lot about them. Remember that you will never get a straight forward answer. When you open you mind wide you will get to know if this is the right mentor for you.

Be straight with what you want

Asking a potential mentor “Will you be my mentor?” is an absolute way for the mentor to flee. Instead go like “I want to learn from you and what you do. I think you will be a great resource. Suggest meeting every quarter, or having coffee once a month. Be specific. The answer may be no, and that’s OK. Keep searching, and know that you’re a good judge of character. Great mentors don’t say yes to things they can’t commit to.

How ever it is, be mindful that your success depends on how ready you are to learn from the leaders in your field. Do not be afraid to ask for direction on your journey. You can only make it when you are ready to learn from those who have walked that path you are about to travel on. It gives you confidence to know you have a mentor to guide you. It gives you courage, it makes you feel you have a rock to lean on when the need arise. They made it and you can make it too.

Before I leave let me give you some sites to help you in your quest to finding a support when it comes to mentoring.

SCORE.org: A nonprofit association of more than 13,000 volunteer counselors who individually mentor aspiring entrepreneurs and small-business owners. It also offers training, advice, workshops and resources dedicated to entrepreneur education.

MicroMentor.org: An initiative of nonprofit humanitarian agency Mercy Corps that offers free online guidance to entrepreneurs, particularly those with low incomes and limited access to business resources, and connects them with a business mentor.

EMSociety.org: Los Angeles-based nonprofit Entrepreneur Mentor Society selects 40 to 45 aspiring entrepreneur applicants each semester from the greater L.A. area to educate, develop and promote them through one-on-one mentorship, networking events, internship opportunities and sessions with successful business owners.

SBA.gov: Ever the small-business resource, the Small Business Administration’s Mentor-Protégé program serves firms eligible for its 8(a) Business Development program, an initiative to help socially and economically disadvantaged Americans gain access to economic opportunity.

Feel free to visit the sites for help.

Thanks for reading this blog and don’t hesitate to share this blog with your friends and loved ones. Who knows what sharing this could bring to the hearts of others.

OUR TOURIST ATTRACTIONS, THE CASE OF ASSIN. THE UN EXPLORED POTENTIAL.

One of the many things several countries especially those in Africa derive much income from is our numerous tourist sites. Countries like Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa etc. all make much foreign exchange from tourism.

Ghana abounds in tourist attractions capable of  earning us a lot of money. The question is how are we utilizing these potentials?

This post is to bring tothe fore some of these tourist attractions in the Assin District of the Central Region and how we can make money from it as a people.

The Assin District has a great historical back ground as far as the slave trade in West Africa is concerned. Two great rivers lay claims to this. These are the Pra RIver in Assin Praso and the Ndonkonsu in Assin Manso.

Assin Manso was the place where the slaves being brought from the interior parts of the country such as Salaga, Gowllu among others sojourned. They had to walk over four (400) hundred miles bare footed through the Pra river in Assin Praso (which served as the crossing point between the forest zone and coastal zone) to Assin Manso where they are rested, bathed, sorted out and re-sold, then taken via the Cape Coast and Elmina Castles to waiting anchored ships ready for the Americas,Sautome, Jamaica and others. Not only that, it was place where the slaves were fed with different kinds of meals that would enable them put on enough body weight rendering them attractive for sale.

Some of the important landmarks are; the Slave River, locally called “Nnonkonsuo” where the slaves had their last Ghanaian bath. The“Okye” river was the river that served as the only source of drinking water for the people of Assin Manso and its environs. The others consist of a Garden of Commemoration which incorporates various monuments including the graves of two great slaves, Samuel Carson and MotherCrystal, whose skeletal remains were returned from the United States of America and Jamaica in 1998 for re-interment to Ghana signifying the return to the home land. There is a Prayer Hall located adjacent to the two graves with chapel-style benches, a grassy Meditation Lawn where the slave masters and traders use to worship.

The walls of the Ceremonial Lawn in the slave market are decorated with the portraits of some of the leading names in the struggle against slavery and its abolition and spearhead of Pan-Africanism. Notably, they include Marcus Garvey, George Ekem Ferguson, Frederick Douglas, L’Ouverture, Harreit Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Dr. Martin Luther King, and great Pan-Africanists like Dr. Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, William Edward Burg hard Du Bois, George Padmore.

There is a Memorial Wall of Return where Africans from the Diaspora can engrave their names, “Nnonkosie”, where those who died were buried, as well as the Caravan Route where thousands of the captives and slave merchants walked. Assin-Manso serves as a pilgrimage site for many Africans in the Diaspora in quest of their cultural homeland in Africa and one of the main venues for reverential events.

Some of the activities that one can undertake at Assin Manso include the ancestral walk whereby an opportunity is given to you to empathize with the slaves. One can also undertake a bath at the Nunkonsuo River where the slaves had their last Ghanaian bath. The path to the “River of Last Bath” is 200 metres away from the receptive center. It begins from an arched entrance, and goes along the edge of a forest grove in which a former slave cemetery was located.

The banks of the river are shaded by tall bambootrees. Rest benches are provided on the river bank for visitors to relax and reflect on the tribulations of the slave trade. Photography can be undertaken .Assin Manso can be visited throughout the year.

However, apart from the annual emancipation days celebrations which occurs on the 1st of August every year, the place stay dormant with absolutely no activity. This great tourism potential lie fallow when small other places in thecountry are cashing in on very small attractions they have. This is indeed a worrying development that has to be addressed.

One way to harness this great resource is to make the place more attractive. There are many artisans in Assin like the famous Kentey weavers of Assin Dompim, the wood carvers and several other artisans

This is exactly the spot where slaves were bathed before they were sent to the slave market.

who can be given spaces to make their crafts there so that visitors to that historical site can buy some souvenirs. This will increase sales for these artisans. Revenue from regular visitors can also help improve the lot of the people in this area as well.

The whole world over cultural collaborationsbetween communities of different countries has help improve knowledge between these communities and this can open up opportunities.

It is now left with the District Assembly andthe Traditional Authorities to map out a strategy so as to improve the marketing potential of this place.

The youth of Assin will be the ultimate winners if they are made stakeholders in this venture. There are other places in Assin that has equal potential like the two rivers  that are as close as four meters but never merge nomatter how flooded they become. This i will talk about in my next post to reveal the tourism potential in the Assin district.

FEAR. The greatest killer of great dreams potential for success.

Many great dreams has come to nothing because of the great word FEAR.

What is fear? An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. As for what is fear biologically speaking, when a person experiences fear, certain areas in their brain such as the amygdala and the hypothalamus are immediately activated and appear to control the first physical response to fear. Chemicals such as adrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol are released into the blood stream causing certain physical reactions such as:

• Rapid heart rate
• Increased blood pressure
• Tightening of muscles
• Sharpened or redirected senses
• Dilation of the pupils (to let in more light)
• Increased sweating

But fear is not always bad.  A small amount of fear before an important speech serves a purpose – it encourages you to focus on your topic and avoid making a fool of yourself. This is one of the types of fear that can be useful to sharpen our minds. But some types of fear is that is excessive can be crippling and can put you on hold and even make you feel like escaping when it is not appropriate to do so.

When fear gets out of control, or when we fear something that cannot actually harm us, it can escalate to a point where it effects our daily functioning. Fear is no longer adaptive if we find we are constantly afraid of events that haven’t happened yet. So how do we overcome fear?

See Courage as Important than Security

Several surveys have shown that most people value “security” over just about everything else in their lives. People will put up with jobs that they hate, marriages that make them miserable, and habits that are killing them simply to feel more secure.

To conquer fear, you must consciously dethrone “security” as the thing that you value most in your life and replace it with the active virtue of “courage.” You must decide, once and for all, that it’s more important for you to have the courage to do what you must to succeed, rather than to cling to the things that make you feel safe.

Differentiate Between Fear & Prudence

 

Most fears are irrational and unreasonable. For example, you might be afraid to make an important call because if the call doesn’t go well, you’ll have to face the fact that you “failed.”  Or you might be afraid to confront a co-worker who acts like a bully, or to start your own business because you’re not certain you’ve got what it takes.

It’s these irrational fears that hold you back and keep you from being more successful.

That said, there are other kinds of fear that are actually just simple prudence. For example, you might be afraid to drive aggressively because you might cause an accident. Or you might be afraid to be arrested if you sell a product that kills people.

Prudence is a good thing. Just make sure you aren’t pretending to be prudent–when you’re just trying to avoid taking reasonable business risks, for instance, or putting yourself on the line to do what’s necessary.

Handle Fear as a Call to Action

If what you fear is outside of your control, write down a specific plan of the exact steps that you’ll take in order to adapt, if and when it happens. Once you’ve completed that task, put the plan aside and have the courage to forget about it. You’ve done what you can; it’s time to move on.

But if what you fear is inside your control–some action that you’re afraid to take, that is–take a few moments to prepare yourself, then do the thing that’s scaring you.

Do that  now. Don’t wait till tomorrow or next week. Right now, before you read the rest of this post. Call that person. Write that email. Create a business plan. Do it now!

 Convert Fear Into Excitement

Finally, tune in to the aspect of fear that’s really fun. Think about the last time you rode a roller coaster: You probably felt plenty of fear, but you were also having a great time.

Let’s face it, a life without fear–and without the courage to overcome fear–would be pretty bland and insipid.

Learn to overcome your fear and be on your way to success.

A personal note: I want to add that there was a time in my life when “security” was so important to me that I was willing to tolerate being truly miserable. I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say that it was only when I changed my thinking (using the formula above) that my life came together.

Today, I’m actually really excited whenever I discover something that I’m afraid to do, because I know that something wonderful is going to happen–provided I summon the courage to take action!