My trip to Mole National Park...

          The Mole national park is one of the popular places tourists love to visit in Ghana. The animals present in the park were never brought into the park. The park had earlier been a village in Mole where people lived. Later on, it was discovered that most of the inhabitants of the village were coming down with a sleeping sickness, which was killing some of them. After various studies were conducted, it was noticed that there were numerous amounts of Tsetse flies present in the village. More research was carried out, and it was discovered that these flies were present as a result of the wild animals present. These animals include elephants, wood hogs, crocodiles, antelopes, baboons, etc. The tour guide also mentioned that the oldest elephant in West Africa was found in this particular park. The elephant was called ‘old man’ because his husks were all the way to the ground. We had the opportunity of walking on foot through the forest very early in the morning. It is definitely one of the memorable experiences I would never forget because these animals were in their natural habitats, and none of them had been trained. There were also a lot of baboons walking around, and stealing food from people’s tables.

My little Introduction...

Before I begin to share my experience in Ghana, I would like to express my utmost gratitude to the Gilman Scholarship Program and my University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, who have greatly contributed financially to my being on this study abroad program. Students should therefore utilize the opportunities the Gilman Scholarship Program has to offer, because we are all aware of the fact that a shortage of funds (especially when you are in a foreign country) can serve as a major predicament.

I have been in Ghana for about three months and I didn’t know how to begin to write about my experience. I was overwhelmed by the change of weather, diet and environment. I just seemed not to be able to motivate myself to do anything productive. I wouldn’t say I was culturally shocked… I just wasn’t able to focus for the longest time. To begin with, I had so much free time that I didn’t even know what to do with myself. I have always been accustomed to working part-time while in school, but it was rather difficult to secure a job here. I also repeatedly fell sick… My illnesses ranged from fevers, migraines to food poisoning of some sort. Overtime, I have adjusted well to my environment. I then decided to volunteer to teach at a private primary school. It was a very interesting experience. The students were very excited, co-operative and readily available to learn whatever I had to teach them. My classes at University of Ghana, Legon, have been going great, and I am learning the native language ‘Twi’. It’s funny that when people realize you can speak their language, they treat you like one of their own, and not a foreigner. For example, if you want to board a cab to a specific destination, the cab driver could initially charge you 10 Ghana Cedis, but if you asked him in Twi, he would reduce the charge up to about 4 Ghana Cedis. The conversation could look like this:

Twi (English)
Passenger: Droba Maakye (Driver, Good morning)
Driver: Yaanua. Wo ho te s(e)n? (Good morning. How are you doing?)
Passenger: Onyame adom me ho ye (By God’s grace, I am fine)
Driver: Na worek(o) he? (Where are you going?)
Passenger: Mepaaky(e)w merek(o) kurom. Metua s(e)n? (Please I am going to town. How much will I pay?)
Driver: Wob(e)tua 8 Ghana Cedis (You will pay 8 Ghana Cedis)
Passenger: Mepaaky(e)w te so (Please reduce it)
Driver: Ma me 5 Ghana Cedis (Give me 5 Ghana Cedis)
Passenger: Mepaaky(e)w. mema wo 3 Ghana Cedis (Please let me pay 3 Ghana Cedis)
Driver: Yoo, mate. Tena ase na y(e)nk(o). (Fine I agree. Sit down and let’s go)
Passenger: Yoo, medaase (Fine, Thank you).

I have had the opportunity of visiting some very beautiful places in Ghana. For example, the national park at Mole (northern region of Ghana), Elmina castle (in Cape Coast), Volta region, Kumasi, Kintampo Waterfalls, Aburi botanical gardens, etc. Why don’t you follow me as we explore the beauty of Ghana…

Why I chose to study abroad in Ghana...

     GHANA                                                                                                   NIGERIA

       

 

          vs.

 

 I had decided to study abroad just as I became a freshman in college. I had no idea of where I would like to study abroad, but I was certain I would want to visit an African country. I have always been interested in the economies of different countries, and the possible causes of disparities among different countries’ socio-economic and political advancements. I come from a country where there are a lot of misallocation of resources, political instability, corruption and increased poverty. Nigeria, a country people all over the world have numerous negative comments about is one of the most beautiful places I know. The problem is that due to the numerous shortcomings in Nigeria, the negative aspects of the country are working its way up to outweigh the positive aspects of Nigeria. Nigerians are very hospitable people, who also love reforms… The question is how can there be a reform if the majority of Nigerians want to keep quiet and avoid dealing with the country’s problems. Over 80% of the resources in Nigeria are controlled by 20% of the population. Every country has its shortcomings… I mean corruption is present in almost, if not every, country there is in this world. But the reality of the matter is that people need to step up and be the change they want to see in their economy.

I therefore decided to visit Ghana, which is one West African country doing extremely better than Nigeria both politically and economically. People tend to argue that Ghana is in a better position for development and advancement because of its smaller population compared to Nigeria. Currently, there are about 24 million people in Ghana while there are about 152 million people in Nigeria. One would think that a country with about 6 times the population of another country would be advancing faster economically. However, the case is different; Nigeria is being instructed to lay back and follow some of Ghana’s footsteps. It is an extremely ironic situation because Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) cannot even be compared to Ghana’s GDP. Studies have proven that Nigeria's GDP is by far the largest in West Africa, and the second largest in Africa. Nigeria has the largest defense budget in West Africa, and the 3rd largest in Africa.

                                                                                                                           

 Source: CIA World Factbook.

            If a random person is selected and shown both graphs above, the person would probably say Nigeria’s economy is doing far better than Ghana… in fact; there was no need to compare in the first instance. The fact is that Nigeria might look like its performing better; but you have to visit both countries and see the differences before you can make your judgment. If you glance at the graph above, you realize that Ghana’s GDP dropped from about $60 bil in 2007 to about $30 bil in 2009. This happened as a result of Ghana revaluing its currency with 10,000 old Ghanaian Cedis now equal to 1 new Ghanaian Cedi. This has reduced the amount of currency in circulation, and thereby stabilizing inflation. Nigeria on the hand, due to the presence of devaluation, has a weak currency because $1 is now about 150 Naira. While in Ghana, $1 is now about 1.4 new Ghanaian Cedis. Therefore, the excess currency in circulation in Nigeria may actually overstate its GDP and understate the poverty level of its inhabitants. When I wanted to begin my project on comparing both countries to determine what Ghana was doing right which is making their economy progress, I searched the Google database to get a feel of what other people had to say. I came across someone’s review and found some aspects of their comment very interesting. This particular person stated that,

Nigeria is classified as an emerging market, and is rapidly approaching middle income status. Ghana on the other hand is still classified as a third world country. Ghana also depends on foreign aid. Ghana has a better democracy than Nigeria and has less corruption. Other than that, Ghana’s economy hasn’t done much.
In 2002, Ghana’s economy was better than Nigeria but in 2008, Nigeria’s economy surpassed Ghana in a high percentage (Now Ghana’s economy is below Nigeria again). And Nigeria distributes oil all over the world. 

(Cited: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_is_nigeria_economy_better_than_that_of_Ghana)

I think it’s interesting that two of the very important factors that can delimit a country’s progress were merely overlooked by the author. A better democracy determines if there would be political stability and the presence of a strong government in a country. This is a very important factor because a weak government leads to numerous political unrest, increased crime rates, economic tension, chaos and increased corruption, above all the things. The reduced corruption in Ghana is one of the main reasons why the Ghanaian economy is working well. Yes! Nigeria is one of the major oil distributors in the world, but isn’t it ironic that the fuel scarcity situation in Nigeria is always on a constant rise?

Ghana may depend on foreign aid, but the government is definitely putting that aid to work. For example, high school public education is free for all children in Ghana. This helps to educate a greater amount of people, and reduce the amount of children who grow up and partake in crimes or fraudulent activities. On the contrary, Nigeria is known to be one of the major countries involved in internet frauds. This may be as a result of the lack of adequate jobs for graduates or even children who grow up without education. I have also come to understand that children up to the age of 17 years are provided with free health care. This is not even close to existing in Nigeria. Pregnant women are also provided with free health care for them to deliver their babies, and free food and supplies for them and their babies for a couple of months. This is a great advancement because it shows the government is doing a good job in providing for its people’s needs.

            Therefore, I decided to gain the advantage of actually studying both countries, and seeing how Nigeria can shape up its economy to better develop itself in all aspects. This is one of the main reasons I have decided to study in Ghana for a semester, and approach Ghana through the eyes of both a Nigerian and an American. I am aware that I would find some flaws in the Ghanaian socio-economic and political systems, but I wish to also embrace the positive aspects of the economy and examine how Ghana has progressed over the years. Of all the countries in West Africa, why did President Obama decide to visit Ghana?