A FORMER presidential campaigner in the late 1970s and a veteran lawyer, Mr Ibrahim Mahama has called on the country’s politicians to sit back and go through an introspection to determine if their contribution to national discourse was making any impact on the nation’s development.
According to him, due to the urge to win political points, most politicians have tended to give much attention to minor issues that were acrimonious, whiles relegating broader issues that were of immense importance to the welfare of the nation.
He also described the adversary posture adopted by some members of the various political parties when debating national issues as needless and unproductive, adding that such postures rob them of the serenity to make prudent and sound arguments.
Mr Mahama, who is also the author of the book – “Murder of an African King: Ya-Na Yakubu II” – and other publications, made these remarks in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Tamale.
He noted, for instance, that the debate generated by politicians of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) regarding the ‘Amina saga’ was totally unnecessary and a diversion.
“If somebody tells an alarming story, there are institutional and legal procedures to crosscheck such a story and take appropriate actions depending on the veracity or otherwise of the story,” he stated.
Mr Mahama noted that there were certain issues that should not take the chunk of our time when discussing national issues and yet most of our politicians felt enthused to focus on these matters due to the acrimony they were likely to generate.
“It is time they took a second look at the type of discourse they engage in so as to realign themselves to important national issues that would advance the welfare of the majority of the people,” he recommended.
The veteran lawyer also condemned the antagonistic approach exhibited by politicians during discussions on issues of national concern.
“When many of our politicians are debating national issues, you would notice on most occasions that they are virtually at each other’s throats as if they were in a boxing ring,” he observed.
The veteran politician said all sides to a debate could make their point without heckling each other, adding that heckling and being rancorous would not compel the listening public to agree with the discussants.
“We need to have sober discussions so as to enable the listening public appreciate our points and develop their own positions on such matters,” he explained.
Mr Mahama mentioned that there were several important national issues that needed to be discussed thoroughly and a national consensus regarding the way forward reached on such matters.
He mentioned agricultural production, oil exploration and its revenue utilisation, desertification, development of science and technology and a decent pay policy for workers as some of the crucial matters that needed much attention.
Lawyer Mahama further expressed his objection to the over reliance on newspaper headlines as the determinants of national discourse.
According to him, a lot of the newspapers were replete with sensational headlines and reports that tended to deviate from the important issues due to their desire to make profits.
He said “limiting national discussions to these sensational reports would therefore deprive the very important issues of adequate attention.”
No comments:
Post a Comment