As you may already know, the Bible begins with the description of a formless, empty, and dark earth. Then, we are systematically taken through the creation of the earth and everything that dwells in it. We will not go into details regarding creation but rather God’s sustainability plan for the planet. This is seen in two concepts that we are introduced to in the opening passages of the Bible. 

These are:

• The concept of Goodness: “Good” literally means anything that is desired or approved. It also means anything that possesses required qualities or meets a particular moral standard. The concept of goodness therefore encapsulates all these definitions and illustrations of “good”. This concept is first seen in Genesis when God was so pleased with his own creation that he called it good! This is the first time anything is described as good according to scripture and it was based on God’s assessment. This simply makes him the originator and definer of goodness. Hence, it is important that we consistently check back with him to ensure our definition of goodness aligns with his. This proves the point that God remains the objective point of reference for morality as well. He is the supreme assessor and the originator of the concept of goodness. Nothing was said to be good until he said so; nothing will ever be good outside of his assessment and stamp or approval.

• The concept of Stewardship: Stewardship refers to the careful and responsible management of something. Hence, the concept of stewardship in this context refers to the charge God gave man to keep the earth and to be good stewards of his creation. The Bible states categorically that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord (James 1:17). God handed the earth to man (as a good and perfect gift) to keep, to have dominion over it and subdue it. This presupposes two things:
  • The earth doesn’t belong to man; the earth is the LORD’s
  • God has given the earth to man to keep it. 

God didn’t command man to let the earth be as it is. He said in Genesis 1:28 that man should subdue the earth. To subdue anything implies to bring it under control. It also implies, in this context, that the earth or nature has the propensity to go rogue, hence there is the need for special attention and the development of specific capacities that can help humans work to keep the earth in its pure state. This is the idea that has necessitated such professions and fields of study as environmental science, environmental conservation, natural resource management, etc. To subdue the earth doesn’t imply that man has the right to treat nature in whatever way pleases him. Especially, since God declared creation “good” then it means that our sole duty as stewards of the good gift that creation is to us is to preserve and conserve it so that the Master will still find it to be good. It is a lot of work to keep nature in its purest state. No wonder some professionals have dedicated their lives to keeping the earth. Every human being, so long as they live on this earth, must contribute to the sustainability and preservation of nature. Why? Because “the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). This is God’s charge to the human race concerning the earth: to work it and keep it. 

Therefore any human activity that degrades nature and our environment is diabolic and against the will of God. This is why I spent considerable time and space explaining the two concepts above, they go hand in hand and if adhered to, the purity of nature will be preserved and conserved, first to the glory of God then for the benefit of mankind and nature itself. The concept of stewardship refers to the command to subdue the earth. Adhering to this alone without understanding that God has declared creation good and requires it to remain good could spell doom for us all. Without an understanding of the concept of goodness, it seems man is given the sole responsibility of keeping the earth without an objective point of reference as to how to keep it and what the benchmark for a well-kept earth is. But once we combine the two concepts (goodness and stewardship), we have both the charge to keep the earth and the standard we have to maintain in doing so. In this case, the standard is “goodness according to the LORD” and the charge is to work and keep the earth.

God assessed and declared creation “good” 6 times in the creation story alone, when he appears here on earth today will he still find it “good”?

From the Christian perspective, God is deeply concerned about what happens on and to the earth. Some people believe that God set things in motion and left the earth to its fate; they are called Deists. Deism is a philosophical belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe. Jehovah, the God of the Bible, cannot be equated to the Deist god because throughout scripture he shows us that he cares about how humans live and what they do on and to the earth. Here is proof; a few environmental laws the LORD gave in the Old Testament: 

1. Sabbath for the Land (Leviticus 25:1-7): Every seventh year, the land was to be given rest from cultivation. This practice allowed the soil to recover and prevented over-exploitation.
2. Preservation of Fruit Trees (Deuteronomy 20:19-20): When besieging a city, the Israelites were forbidden from destroying fruit trees. This law promoted the preservation of valuable resources.
3. Waste Management (Deuteronomy 23:12-14): Specific instructions were given about designating areas outside the camp of Israel for human waste and covering it, maintaining cleanliness, and preventing disease. In verse 14, we are told that the reason for this particular instruction is that “the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp…”. This presupposes that the Israelites previously disposed of human waste within their camp and it wasn’t pleasing to the LORD. 

God used to walk in the midst of the camp of Israel, I believe he is still doing that today: walking in the midst of his people. My concern is, if he walks throughout the country of Ghana, will he be pleased with how we have kept the land, water bodies, plant and animal life, etc? The idea of establishing a natural ecosystem where different living things rely on each other for survival is God’s original plan. From the creation story, we are told there was a river that flowed through the garden of Eden to water it (Genesis 2:10). This depicts the dependency of plant life on water bodies. The flourishing of plants is highly dependent on proximity to sources of water. This reality is even used as a metaphor to illustrate the state of a godly man who delights himself in the LORD in Psalm 1:3. The Bible describes such a man as “a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither”. 

It is also interesting to note that there was a river in Eden called Pishon which flowed around the land of Havilah, where there was a lot of gold. The gold in Havilah is described as good. It is as if the creation story in Genesis is trying to emphasize the fact that a land that has a lot of gold in it can (or should) coexist with rivers in their purest state. The point is that rivers don’t have to be polluted because there is gold in the land. Unfortunately, we cannot say this about Ghana. Illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as Galamsey, has destroyed the vegetation of most mining communities in the country and polluted the rivers in those same communities. 

One thing about water is that it flows; it flows with the pollutants and the impurities in it. Hence, the pollution is fast spreading into other water bodies all over the country. I saw this for the first time while on a flight to Cote d’Ivoire in 2019. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the extent of degradation and the fact that it was visible even on a flight got me concerned more. Guess what, on my flight to Ghana from Senegal a few days ago, I took the pictures below. I heard the pilot mumble a few words but I wasn’t paying attention till I heard the phrase “… we have entered the Ghana air space…”. Just to be sure, I looked out of the window and there it was; proof that we had entered the Ghana air space.

Ironically, I was returning from a Climate Change workshop. According to the Ghana National Climate Change Policy 2013, illegal mining and even other forms of mining are key challenges this country faces in the “Management and Resilience of Terrestrial, Aquatic and Marine Ecosystems”. This is to say that mining activities, whether legal or illegal, could have negative implications on nature – be it life underwater or on land. 

We are facing a major challenge with this menace. It is the commercialization of environmental degradation and since the effects on the general populace are not readily visible, the advocacy against it will always appear irrelevant to perpetrators. There is a lot of advocacy going on online and through protests in Accra, some other parts of the country, and even in the UK. One thing is for sure, people are concerned and worried sick of this menace. We rather find a certain level of reluctance or unwillingness on the part of the authorities in charge to nip this issue in the bud. I will not make assumptions here, but if it is the case that we found out that there is illegal mining being done 200 meters away from a Police Station in Anyinam and the police are yet to make an arrest, what kind of conclusions do you expect us to draw from this?

All of this is embarrassing and those in charge should bow their heads in shame. In a proper jurisdiction where the laws work and policies are implemented, all involved parties would be facing some jail time or some other punishment due to their actions and inactions. 

If you walk away from this post remembering nothing at all, I need you to remember that the earth is the LORD’s and he assessed it and found it to be good. Have we done a good job at working and keeping the earth? Will God be pleased with the state of our environment? I have no biblical basis to assume that we have been good stewards of the good gift that the earth is to us. Again, the earth is the LORD’s and he has given it to the children of man (Psalm 115:16). We haven’t been good stewards of the LORD’s good gift. 

(Feature image taken at Twifo Praso by Mawuli Adjabeng in 2019)

All I wanted was a math-set too. I wanted to use the protractor to draw curves and draw triangles with the sets square. When I was bored, I’d take out either the divider or the compass and punch holes into the eraser. That is all I wanted. I wonder why it is so difficult to get old people to understand the simple needs of a toddler. Better yet, I wonder why it is so impossible to see the wisdom of the elderly until you are older. I wasn’t using those instruments right anytime I laid my infant hands on them. But because my brothers had them, I felt I needed one too. The need to have what the other person has even though you don’t need it; It is called covetousness, right? My mind played back this episode from my childhood because of a picture I saw on twitter some weeks back. In the picture was a guy and a girl both top-naked and the caption suggested that if the guy’s ‘bare-chestedness’ doesn’t offend you, neither should that of the girl. Well well well, this is where we are right now with our fight for gender equality eh? You want to be bare-chested in public merely because men can do that? – Merely because men can do that? Excuse me, what is the point here? In my childhood, I wanted the math-set that my brothers got, merely because they had it. I admit that was rather childish. So seeing grown women literally making childish demands such as this is rather disturbing. You want to unstrap the bra and let those ladies loose and walk around eh? Well go on right ahead. If that will salt your soup, then by all means, knock yourself out. You see, this is everything that is wrong with gender equality; as I have already stated here, let’s fight for equity instead. Where the society gives to each what they deserve. Who knows, probably at the end of the fight, we might realize that women deserve more privileges than men (certainly they do). But this won’t happen if our dear sisters are merely fighting for everything men have. So you want to grow beards and shave too? Do you really feel nature is unfair to you because you don’t have broader shoulders and an Adam’s apple? Just realize that we are different but equal in terms of worth.

The Apostle Peter puts it in a better way  ‘… showing honor to the woman as the WEAKER vessel, since they are HEIRS with you of the grace of life…’. Let’s learn a bit of primitive fisherman wisdom here. If you look closely, you would realize that the bases for showing women honor as the weaker vessel is that we are heirs together with them. In the sense that, we have equal inheritance with women in Christ, and on that level we are equal. But physically, women are generally weaker than men. This isn’t demeaning, but a glaring fact. The bible didn’t say that women are intellectually, spiritually or economically weaker than men. It stated a fact that we all know: men are physically stronger than women. Hence, we men must honor women.  Therefore, where is the wisdom in merely wanting to have anything that a man has? You don’t see men pained because they don’t have menstrual cramps? Besides not everything the society has unduly given to men is good. I am even shocked some of these things are desirable to some women. I know it is all a ploy to prove a point, but that isn’t necessary.

I read a very interesting post recently on the ghanafeminism.wordpress.com blog (here it is). I tell you the truth; I haven’t had a goodnight’s sleep since then. The post was about a young lady who was in the news recently for all the bad reasons. She apparently rose to prominence because she slept with a few famous men and is currently dating a very rich man. All of this is alleged. Now, the post began and even well into the middle with some sound arguments. But getting to the end the writer declared boldly that she found nothing wrong with prostitution. Oh of course I washed my face with detol and read that paragraph again. This is something I wouldn’t be shocked to see in a ghanapatriarchy.wordpress.com blog post. In fact, I am sure it would be one of the main aims of the blokes behind such a blog: to glamorize prostitution, compelling as many young ladies to go into it as possible. After all, prostitution is to the benefit of men because we gain more. I heard one could sleep with a prostitute for as low as any amount under 5gh cedis *it is purely coincidental that I know this*. Therefore I conclude that men gain more from prostitution than the women involved. So when I saw that portion of the post I was in shock. These are her exact words:

‘Nevertheless, prostitution is not bad. Women have the right to control our bodies and if we see it  fit to exchange sexual services for monetary compensation in a safe manner it is our prerogative’

It will interest you to know that she stated early on in the post that a woman selling her body doesn’t amount to objectification. Excuse me again, if this isn’t objectification then what is? You mean you don’t think prostitution is objectification? Ah? I am so lost eh! O and this part is my personal favorite, ‘The ability for women to tap into the erotic and utilize it to navigate the world as we see it’.  ‘The ability to tap into the erotic…’ ha! She describes this heinous act with such beautiful language. Never would it have crossed my mind that a woman somewhere would support the idea of prostitution. You see why some men do not want to have anything to do with feminism? This point stated by our dear friend above goes a long way to justify to some extent the point that women are their own enemies (not all though). Prostitution should be treated as a human rights issue because there are pimps in the background eating off these poor girls. Do you even know the psychological trauma and physical pain their customers subject them to? The story is told of a prostitute who got so bruised from the rough beastly sex she had with her partners. She was advised – obviously by her colleagues – to put camphor in a bucket of hot steaming water. After this, she squatted over the bucket naked, for the steam to have direct contact with her nether regions. She stood up that day from the bucket with a numb organ: numb enough to insulate her from the pains of the trade. This is the kind of ordeal some women go through and some other women think it is cool to prostitute merely because society seems to have given men some level of sexual freedom? Wow! This is even deeper than I thought. You really think having freedom over your own body means sleeping around for money? See, the very moment you attain freedom and move on to engage yourself in barbaric activities, please know that you are a greater slave after freedom than before it.

Anyway, I am a Christian. In Christianity sexual immorality isn’t acceptable in one sex and unacceptable in another. The standards are high and the same for everybody. Jesus said by merely fantasizing about sleeping with a woman, I have already committed the sin. So if you want sexual freedom because society seems to have given it to men, dear feminist, you are lost. The fact that society turns a blind eye to the sexually immoral acts of men is the cause of many of society’s problems.  Let’s fight for what we deserve and not what somebody else seems to have. Be content with crayons, the math-set might be detrimental to you.

Greedy leadership has been the bane of Africa since time immemorial. Colonialism obviously, has had a toll on the development of our continent. When a thief enters your house, it’s wise to let him know he isn’t welcome. It is absurd to go into a contract with him and agree on certain terms of payment after you have assisted him to plunder your property. It seems outrageous for one to  be involved  in such a self-destructive act, yet our chiefs did it with a smile on their face. They exchanged their own subjects for insignificant items such as mirrors, sugar and whisky. That is the value they placed on human life. I believe I would be pained for the rest of my life knowing somebody valued me at the price of a mirror. We have no justification blaming our current state on the white man. Sometimes, when you think about it, you would realize that neither democracy nor autocracy has been helpful to us. For in practicing both ideologies, we seem to cleverly find a way to be greedy and satisfy our selfish desires.

When I started my National Service 8 months ago, the fare from the Kwame Nkrumah circle to Dansoman was 90 pesewas. As at last month, one had to cough up blood and 1.50 Cedis as a commuter from Circle to Dansoman. We are in hard times. We are really in hard times. The government’s hands are deep in my pocket. The little money you make is taken from you. It hurts and I find it rather disturbing that at this point in time, Ghana is still  battling with enemies some countries conquered many years ago. We are at war with filth. We are in a hand-to-hand combat with diseases like cholera. And we are standing face to face with corruption in a bout, only to realize we are actually standing in front of a mirror staring at our own image. Hence, that enemy of corruption we are supposed to be boxing is ourselves; no wonder we have made little progress in that fight. Just stick out your index finger in the direction of the nearest person around you, and voila! – you just pointed a finger at someone. It is that easy. It requires no training at all, my friend. Pointing a finger at others, blaming them for your woes is the easiest way to become a world class lazy person. Nevertheless, taking up the responsibility to become a better person by fighting the ills of society in front of the mirror is a thing we rarely practice in this country. How about battling corruption in front of the mirror? No! The average Ghanaian prefers pointing fingers at politicians. Well of course we have had (and still have) very corrupt politicians. In statistics, the ‘theory of Sampling’ implies that a considerable section of a large group reflects characteristics of the entire group. With this in mind, then it is ok to assume that the problem is more widespread than we think. This government has been a very poor one so far. I say this without any prejudice or malice against any personality. In my bid to call a spade a spade and not Daavi’s ladle, I just had to say that. Some time ago in Nigeria, the government signed a deal with the Abacha family to return some of the money Sani Abacha is known to have accumulated wrongfully. The family returned $750 million dollars. Not long after that the government could not account for $705 million of that money. Isn’t this amazing and appalling? My point is, usually the people pointing fingers at corrupt officials are twice as corrupt. There is the need to bring corrupt government officials to book and also to deal with corruption in the private sector and in our individual lives.

There is a Twi adage I find very interesting, it goes like this *transliterating* ‘when you see that your neighbor’s beard is on fire, keep a bucket of water by your side’. This is wisdom. In the light of this wise saying one would expect the biggest opposition party in the country to be putting things together to present themselves as a better alternative. No! Members are too busy in petty squabbles. Already, the party seems to be split along tribal lines and personality-factions. We keep hearing about groups within the party like the ‘Kuffour faction’ and the ‘Akuffo Addo faction’. Just this week, there was chaos at the headquarters of the party. Irate members of the party went to the headquarters wielding cutlasses and what not, and engaged themselves in a bloody fight for reasons best known to them. Clearly, whatever their differences were, those members of the party seemed to cherish them over gaining power. I believe even if things change for the better in this government and the NPP presents a more unified party come 2016, they might win the elections hands down. But then again, their desire to win it should be reflected in how they deal with internal party issues. Who would like to vote for a candidate who cannot unify his own party? If he can’t do that, will he be able to maintain peace and stability in the entire country?

I believe there is hope for this country and the continent as a whole. There is hope. I loathe it when people let out tirades from their lips that are so drenched in hopelessness. Yes, things are bad, and if you really think they are that bad, then there is a need to hope for a positive change – a positive change, either in the present government or in the next. I see light at the end of the tunnel. I care less if you don’t see it. Dr. Ravi Zacharias said ‘Show me a man in whom there is the death of hope, and I will show you a man in whom there is nothing left but the hope of death’. There is the need to hope for the best, my dear friends.

A poem that seeks to reveal the heart of GOD CONCERNING THE CHURCH.

Nothing can ever match what one feels after completing the university – it is a fruit salad of emotions. Initially there is the feeling of accomplishment when you know you were able to make it to the end while many fell along the way. Coupled with that, there is a feeling of appreciation to the various individuals  that were responsible for your  being able to complete a four-year course in the university. It is simply an amazing feeling. Then the graduation day comes, and there is a feeling of regret mixed with a little disappointment. For looking up and seeing the Vice Chancellor on his feet and shaking the hands of all those first class students, all of sudden fills  your mind  with an absurd thought. The thought that suggests you could have been the one up there or the thought that reminds you that you are smarter than one of those guys and probably answered more questions in class than he/she did. Please! your best was what you put up and if you could, you would have been the one up there. Give yourself a break!  Nevertheless, nothing matches the surge of emotions that hits you after the weight of university education is lifted off your shoulders.

After university, you literally feel unleashed. Just like a wild beast that has never been let out of its cage. Trust me, that is scary. For the world out there looks so big and full of already accomplished people who are more conversant with the terrain of the corporate world. Here you are, not particularly sure whether or not you are half-baked, in a world where the job vacancies available require a certain level of experience. Well, you will definitely feel stranded sometimes. The dilemma – whether to go back to redo the course you did all over again or to move into the corporate world. There is that feeling that makes you realize how unprepared or ill-equipped you are for the  job market. Critically analyze the term ‘job market’. It means the corporate world is a market place, where customers(employers) are very rational and will only spend on products(potential employees) of high quality, versatile and fully prepared to meet the demands of their companies. First of all, the thought that I am a product means I am not solely responsible for how I turned out, though I played a considerable role in it. It simply means, my manufacturer should take full responsibility of how marketable I can be before he passes me through the ‘educational mill’ and labels me as a product of high quality.

Does the educational system take full responsibility of the graduates it churns out every year? Do educators feel the need to equip students with the necessary skills and not merely force students to memorize lecture notes? Well, certainly not. Those were rhetorical questions by the way. I thought this phenomenon was peculiar to this country, till I watched the movie ‘3 Idiots’. Apparently it is a worldwide phenomenon, because that movie was set in India. Using a student’s ability to cram lecture notes is really not the best way to determine how good he is. Education has to be more practical than theoretical. Mark Twain is noted to have said that ‘I have never let my schooling interfere with my education’. This is an amazing piece of thought. It totally deepens the dividing lines between ‘schooling’ and ‘education’. It makes it even more clear that most of us schooled and were not educated. I believe education has the ability to cause change in the society and empower the individual with necessary skills and abilities to make meaning out of life. Schooling brings about unemployment; education on the other hand makes one marketable on the job market. Hence, nowadays looking at the advertisement of certain privately owned universities in Ghana, they often say they provide a more practical educational system which churns out ‘employable graduates’. Employable graduates? In an ideal world, this term would be regarded as a tautology. Because, a graduate should be employable in every sense of the word. Therefore, the term ‘employable graduates’ implies that , there are graduates that cannot be employed or do not deserve employment. Then why are they called graduates in the first place? If we are to allude this to the market place scenario of the educational system, then the situation is similar to a company like Lever Brothers telling the general public that not all the close-up toothpastes on the market are good for human use. This will certainly compel consumers to ask the question, ‘then why did the company put them out on the market in the first place?’.

I believe everyone walking around with the tag ‘university graduate’ hanging proudly on his/her forehead should be employable. That is if our educational system is working properly. I would like to appeal to university students too, that while you are in school find something doing with your hands pertaining to your course of study. Start a business, start a blog and more importantly take vacation internships very seriously. For only by this will you receive practical knowledge of your field of study.