This Article First Appeared on: Myafricanmagazine.com
Written By: AMARA CHIDINMA EZEDINIRU
Had he served in my country, he would have been reminded he was not Nigerian, he would not have dreamed of smelling the presidency! Thinking of Jerry John Rawlings, I feel ashamed how patriarchy destroys us. A man whose parents come from the east may be born and groomed in the north. Even though the northern culture may be the only home he knows yet he would not be allowed to serve as a local government chairman for the simple reason that it is not his ancestral home. Jerry’s mother would have been taunted to take her son back to Scotland. Pathetic and disgusting it is!
A few weeks ago as Nigerian youths took to the street to protest against police brutality, I recall writing on my Facebook wall that I was thinking of him. Had he been our president, we would have got governance right, wouldn’t we?
Jerry Rawlings headed his country in military uniform just like our Muhammadu Buhari. He handed over same power without pressure when he believed he set in motion proper machineries for good governance. Perhaps our own Abdulsalami Abubakar learned this from him.
JJR’s passion to make life better for all Ghanaians kept his eyes on the leadership. He led a failed coup d’état, an act for which he would have had his head on a platter had he been here. I’m not sure history recorded a Nigerian who had a second go at a coup!
Jerry John Rawlings was a rare breed! Could it have been the other blood in his vein?
I found it fascinating that an African leader of his stature died in a public hospital. Coming from where I do, it is unheard of, unmentionable, there would have been no reason not to have him flown abroad for medicals. Do Nigerian leaders and their families use public facilities? This is probably the reason they rather have them decayed.
Jerry, a charismatic and intelligent man of the people took a while to get a hang of economic affairs as he presided over the affairs of his Ghana, but he got better with each try. He must not be compared to Nigeria’s current president in whose second tenure as a civilian life is daily becoming unbearable. How sad.
I know JJR, as he was affectionately called, was not a friend of human right activists for executing some lives. Every human life is sacred; I align my thoughts with the activists. In our clime, loads of lives have been lost through herdsmen clashes and Boko Haram activities. Most recently, unarmed young Nigerians were murdered by our military men for protesting against police brutality. What shall we say to our civilian leader with a military mindset about this?
Rawlings, the longest-serving president of Ghana, was a man of the people. He spoke to the people. He felt the pulse and the heartbeat of his people. He listened. He walked the streets. He got involved. He is remembered in Ghana for abating the pangs of hardship. I wonder what the memories of his counterparts here evoke.
Not only do Ghanaians mourn, the whole of Africa does. November twelfth, twenty-twenty will be etched on the walls of our memories. We will remember it forever being the day one of Africa’s finest presidents proceeded to eternity.
Adieu J J Rawlings!