Friday 30 September 2016

GHANA MAN BLUES 7

Dede’s daughter is missing and Nii and Naa are still struggling with child birth. Missed out on Episode 6? Here’s a reminder on ghblessed.blogspot.com/2016/09/ghana-man-blues-6.html?m=1. And now the blues go on with Episode 7.

EPISODE 7
Dede drove home, relieved and angry at the same time. Safoa’s school authorities had called her phone a countless number of times but Dede had not picked, forgetting that she had turned her phone to silent mode. They had asked Safoa if she knew any other number, and she had mentioned an Auntie Esiaba. Thankfully, Esiaba left work to pick her up and she was safely with the Danquahs. Relieved that ‘Something Different’ had not gotten hold of their daughter, Dede was angry with herself for being so absent-minded these days.
“I have to get myself together.” She muttered to herself and almost did not see the man who had stepped on the road to cross right in front of Dede’s car…..


“Ei, I could have died today o”, John the Great said to himself after a narrow escape from being knocked down. He had so much on his mind and was in a hurry to get to the driver who had just called him that he had barely seen the car that was moving at top speed. The woman had just rolled down her window and yelled “What is wrong with you?” before driving off, obviously incensed.
“Ei these days Ghanaians are always angry”, John said to the seller passing by.
“But you also didn’t try”, the seller responded.
John sat down on the curb, contemplating his decision. He had decided to stop selling and take up his mysterious visitor’s offer. He dug deep into his pocket, took the piece of paper with the number on it, and walked to a nearby ‘Space to Space’ desk…


Kofi Wilson had not been able to sleep for the past few days. His boss Lanre had been released just a day after being arrested, after the police admitted they had no substantial evidence against him. They were just obeying an order to have him arrested. Of course, Kofi knew what was going on, but knew that Nana Yaa was on to him and was getting too close for comfort.
“What kind of man have I become?” he lamented to himself. He planned to resign before what he had done was exposed, but at N.E.A.S you had to give at least three months’ notice before you could leave. He turned on his bed once more, adjusting his pillow when the silence of the night was interrupted with a loud knock on his door.
“Kofi Wilson!”……


Nana Yaa had had enough of that weasel Kofi Wilson. He had been nothing but trouble for Lanre, but Lanre had refused to see it with his “ever-patient” attitude. She admired him for that, but it got on her nerves at times. She did not even know how to tell him what she had found out. Kofi had become a recipient of every bribe Lanre refused, and had agreed to incriminate Lanre for an amount of money. A disgruntled contractor had been bitter from Lanre’s refusal and had threatened to make Lanre pay dearly for it. Fortunately, Lanre had kept his reputation intact, making it a bit easy to get him out of custody. What angered Nana Yaa the most was the role Kofi had played in the whole situation. He had leaked information on Lanre’s every move, facilitating his arrest and had even gone further to forge Lanre’s signature on one or two documents. Nana Yaa vowed to make sure Kofi got what he deserved.
In the meantime however, she was becoming more concerned about Dede’s custody battle. She had not been involved in the case because that man was her own brother she had lost touch with over the years. For him to resurface this way was just despicable and she had decided to do something about it. She picked up her phone and dialed Dede’s number…..

*How does our desire to make it in life sometimes cause us to compromise on our integrity?
*Lanre did not have much of a problem getting released from custody, due to his reputation. What does this tell us about a good name?
*If we were in Nana Yaa’s shoes, having to correct a loved one for his wrongdoing, will we live up to the task?

Thank you for your support in diverse ways so far. Let’s keep the Blues going with our feedback and shares with others.
The Blues continue next week God willing with Episode 8.

Till then, stay blessed and please don’t forget to like our Facebook Page on https://m.facebook.com/ChangingTheStatusQuo

Friday 23 September 2016

GHANA MAN BLUES 6

Kofi Wilson is growing increasingly nervous at N.E.A.S. and John is contemplating his next move to make.  What else are our GMB characters up to? Catch up with the past blues on ghblessed.blogspot.com/2016/09/ghana-man-blues-5.html?m=1
The Blues go on with Episode 6:

EPISODE 6
Esiaba had just put her daughter to bed and was about to check on her son when she heard her phone ring. She glanced quickly at the time.
“Who would be calling so late?” she thought out loud.
She doubled her steps just before the phone stopped ringing. Realizing who had called, she was about to return the call when the phone rang again.
“Hello…”
“Esiaba…” Nana Yaa said obviously upset about something.
“Yes Nana, what is it?”
“Lanre…” Nana Yaa responded brokenly, sobbing all over again.
“What is going on?” Esiaba asked, her heart skipping a beat.
“Lanre has been arrested...” Nana Yaa managed to say.
“What?”……


Lanre felt confused, but was trying his best not to show it. He had been whisked away just when he got to his gate, and had no idea what was going on. He knew he had not done anything wrong, and jumped at the opportunity to call Nana Yaa when he was given the chance to make just one phone call. Something was very wrong at his secretariat and he had figured out that someone wanted him silenced. Shifting towards the corner as another man was shoved into the cell he was in, Lanre tried to figure out how he was going to spend the night…


Dede had so much to write about these days. Her ex-husband had found new ways of tormenting her, and she had drowned all her frustrations into publishing more blog posts. She had put church on hold even though her new found friend Esiaba had tried so hard to get her to go to church again.
“What’s the use anyway?” she muttered, feeling that God had forgotten her completely.
She heard some kids passing by, chattering loudly.
“Kids have no care in the world. These kids…..Ei, Safoa!”  Dede exclaimed, leaping off her couch. She had forgotten to pick her daughter up from school.
“5 o’clock! My poor baby will be all alone!”  she said, getting frantic. This had never happened before. She grabbed her car keys and sped off, forgetting to lock the front door…”


Nii and Naa left the consulting room, holding hands. It was almost another two years since Naa’s miscarriage and things were still not working out. Naa had tried to build her defenses, afraid Nii would eventually leave her for someone else. He had proved her wrong however, and stood by her every minute. He had had another argument with his mother last week, over how badly she had humiliated Naa at their family reunion. He had threatened to cut off ties with her completely, but had softened in his resolve when Naa reminded him about the need to honor his parents no matter what.
“You’re awfully quiet Naa”, Nii said suddenly, glancing at her. Naa smiled weakly in response.
“Come on, let’s go and watch a movie, then I’ll take you somewhere special afterwards…” Nii said, trying to cheer his wife up.
“Okay Nii,” she responded, lighting up a bit as they walked out of the hospital doors.


Dede was almost frantic now. She had reached Safoa’s school in record time, but her daughter was nowhere to be found. She had been to the classroom, playground and even the kids’ washroom, but there was no sign of her daughter.
“I don’t need this right now,” she said almost in tears.
‘Something Different’ was on the verge of slapping Dede with a nasty custody battle, and this situation would not help at all.
“God, where is Safoa?” she cried, placing her head on her steering wheel in frustration. Just then an unfamiliar face knocked on her window.
“Ms. Quanson…is it your daughter you’re looking for?”
Dede quickly rolled down her window in desperation…


*Are there some dangers we face in our society when we make the decision to always do what is right?
*How strong is our support system for people going through situations, like Naa and Dede?
*Do the problems we face in our daily lives give us enough reasons to forget our responsibilities?

Let’s make GMB more practical by sharing our views right here on this page, and sharing it with others as well. Looking forward to your comments and feedback.
Please don’t forget to like and share our Facebook page on https://m.facebook.com/ChangingTheStatusQuo

See you next week! Stay blessed!

Friday 16 September 2016

GHANA MAN BLUES 5

With Dede facing her ex-husband and Nana Yaa saddled with the task of finding out what exactly Kofi Wilson is up to, what happens next on Ghana Man Blues? Missed out on Episode 4? Here’s a recap on ghblessed.blogspot.com/2016/09/ghana-man-blues-4.html?m=1
The Blues continue with Episode 5:

EPISODE 5
John had been extra quiet these days, and even his fellow sellers had noticed it, assuming he was unwell. A lot had been on his mind of late; sales had been extra low, reducing the frequency of his meals to just once a day. He did not even notice when a trotro sped by, splashing some water on him.
Since that tall man approached him some time back, John had been debating on an offer that had been made to him. The man had said he had observed John for some time now and wanted to help him out, but John was uncertain.
“These days the world has become strange o”, he reasoned with himself. So even though this encounter was a few months ago, John had still decided to sell his socks not because of the profit, but because of his fear of change. What would he start doing if he stopped selling? He dug into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper with the man’s number on it….


Kofi Wilson sulked the whole way home on the trotro he had boarded. He did not even object to the constant nudging the huge woman sitting by him had subjected him to with her elbow.
“That Nana Yaa woman, whether she is his girlfriend or what I don’t know o…” he grumbled to himself, attracting some curious glances from some of the passengers.
Nana Yaa had been coming around the office too much of late and always seemed to have an eye on him. He was extra jittery today at work as he was expecting a ‘small package’. Nana Yaa had arrived at the same time Kofi was expecting his ‘visitor’, so he had had to call the agenda off. N.E.A.S. was just getting too heated these days……


Mrs. Jones Snr. had just stormed out of Naa and Nii’s home, leaving Nii angry and Naa speechless. She had come with a callous proposition;
“Since you can’t give my son a child, either you let me take you to see someone, or you leave”, she had said carelessly.
“Ma, what is the meaning of this”, Nii had exploded in response. “Is this what you meant by you wanted to pass by? I’ve had enough!”
He was just about to grab his mother’s arm to lead her out of the house when she retorted:
“I can see myself out, but think about what I said o.”
Nii banged the door angrily after her and turned only to meet his wife’s broken gaze as she crumpled to the ground sobbing.
“Is this what it has come to?”  she wept, not even consoled by her husband’s embrace. Their marriage was beginning to fall apart and they did not even know when it started…


“Ah but how could she have done that?”  Nana Yaa and Esiaba exclaimed angrily at the same time. They had paid Naa a visit and were incensed by the story Naa was telling them. It reminded Nana Yaa of one of the reasons why she did not even want to get married.
“Hmm, I don’t even know which is worse…Naa Aku or my neighbor Dede’s story”, Esiaba interjected.
Of late, there was quite a lot of disturbance at her neighbor’s house, and they had struck a friendship as a result. She had wanted to bring Dede along to Naa’s place but had changed her mind last minute.
“Why, what’s wrong?” Naa asked about Dede. “Is her name Dede Quanson?”  she continued.
“Yes. How did you know?”  Esiaba asked surprised.
“Oh we’ve been friends for quite some time now.”
Nana Yaa had become very quiet, her mind obviously wandering.
“Dede…Dede…” she said, her eyebrows knitted into a frown. She had worked on a case concerning a lady called Dede, something about domestic abuse, but had taken herself off the case when she realized who the wife beater had been…..


*John had an opportunity to advance in his life. He was however afraid to take the next step. How open are we to change? How has the fear of the unknown kept us from taking bold decisions?
*How can Nii and Naa work through the difficulties they are facing? Have you had any similar experience, where you felt you were losing control over everything?
*How have the first five episodes of Ghana Man Blues encouraged you to see the valuable lessons in everyday situations?

Ghana Man Blues, and Changing the Status Quo in general, can only make an impact with great people like you. Your opinion really makes a difference. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Please like our Facebook page on https://m.facebook.com/ChangingTheStatusQuo and please don’t forget to spread the word as well.

Thank you, stay blessed and see you next week!

Friday 9 September 2016

GHANA MAN BLUES 4

Esiaba and Fiifi rush off to Naa and Nii’s home, and Lanre is faced with the question of what to do with his assistant Kofi Wilson. Missed out on Episode 3? Here is a recap on ghblessed.blogspot.com/2016/09/ghana-man-blues.html?m=1
The Blues go on with Episode 4:

EPISODE 4
The hall phone had rung about four times already, and Naa Aku was reluctant to pick it up. She had tried to be strong since her miscarriage a few weeks ago, and even though she and Nii had tried to keep it under wraps, Esiaba and Fiifi had ended up finding out, and had left their home not too long ago. She wiped her hands dry and rushed to grab the phone before it stopped ringing.
“Naa, it’s me…is my son there?”
Naa breathed a silent prayer for patience before answering. It was her domineering mother-in-law again. Ever since she and Nii got married, Naa had seen a new side of her which reminded her of the movie ‘Monster-in-Law’. What irritated her most was this woman’s incessant questions about when she was going to give her son a child. 
“Hey Naa, are you not the one I’m talking to?” Mrs. Jones Snr. demanded. 
“Sorry Ma, please Nii is not around.”
“Ah but why didn’t you answer me the first time?”
“I’m sorry Ma”, Naa quickly apologized before the tension escalated any further.
“Hmm. Anyway, I want to come and see the two of you tomorrow.” Mrs. Jones Snr. continued.
“Oh I’m afraid that won’t be possible Ma. Nii and I have an engagement tomorrow God willing, that will keep us away the whole day.” Naa quickly lied.
“Nii and I will not be at home”, Mrs. Jones Snr. mimicked. “You are hardly at home. How do you expect to be a Proverbs 31 woman eh?”
Before Mrs. Jones Snr. could carry on with her tirade any further, the line disconnected. 
“Thank God for Ghanaian networks this time!” she sighed in relief, walking back to the kitchen. Just then, the phone rang again.
“Hel…”, Naa was interrupted before she could complete her greeting.
“Ei so you decided to end our conversation like that eh!...”

****************************************************************************************************

Lanre had just asked Nana Yaa a big favor which she did not feel too comfortable with. She had decided to channel her hard-earned Law degree into defending those who had no one to speak for them. Even though that option did not pay much, she enjoyed it thoroughly and had added private investigation to her list of hobbies, so she could have more ground to defend her clients on. Her new task, thanks to Lanre, was to frequently visit his office in an attempt to find out just how true some developing allegations against his young employee, Kofi Wilson, were.
“I never really trusted that guy anyway”, she thought out loud, before realizing just how judgmental she sounded. She chided herself, picked up her bag and headed to the National Employment Allocation Scheme (N.E.A.S.) office.

****************************************************************************************************

Esiaba peeked out her kitchen window, trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on next door. A loud commotion had been going on for the past fifteen minutes, and she could not hold her curiosity back any longer.
“Fiifi, come with me. Something is definitely wrong”, Esiaba said, obviously concerned.
“Ei Madam! Always ready for action!” Fiifi teased in response, as Esiaba pulled his arm and led him out of their home.
Just before they got to their neighbor’s gate and could knock, a tall, well-built man yanked the gate open, storming out of the house and narrowly missing Esiaba and Fiifi. They exchanged a look before Esiaba took a tentative step toward their neighbor, a young woman who was clutching a little girl protectively. They were both crying.
“Hello”, Esiaba said hesitantly. “We are the Danquahs”, she continued, glancing quickly at Fiifi who stood silently behind her.
“We couldn’t help but hear all the commotion going on, and just wanted to see if everything is alright. We live next door.”
“Thank you, but everything is fine”, the lady responded.
“I don’t believe you but well…just know we, or at least I, will be back again!” Esiaba said firmly, and left after Fiifi encouraged her to let it go……

****************************************************************************************************

“This cannot be happening again”, Dede thought to herself as she carried her visibly shaken Safoa back into the hall.
 Her ex-husband had tried to reach her for several days, and to her surprise, had burst into her compound after failing to reach her.
“I want custody of Safoa”, he had said unceremoniously.
“You want what? Where were you after the divorce? You just left her with me and now..”, before Dede could finish, Kojo Afriyie, or Something Different (S.D.) as she secretly called him, had given her a heavy slap. Too shocked to react, she was about to get back up when her daughter ran out to ‘come to her rescue’. Her neighbors had appeared simultaneously, causing Kojo to leave to her relief.
“That coward…”, Dede sobbed after she had put Safoa to bed…..

****************************************************************************************************

*Naa is having a tough time balancing her own grief with her domineering mother-in-law. What are some of the situations, and people that have tried our patience, and how have we dealt with them?
*Esiaba and Fiifi, though seeming a bit nosy, showed genuine concern for their neighbor Dede. Is that element of neighborliness still present in our society today? When was the last time we just ‘checked on’ someone?
*Are there any effective systems in place to deal with abusers like Dede’s ex-husband? If yes, have you had any experience of how effective these systems were?

Let’s discuss our views right here, and change the status quo together. Your opinion counts!
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Thank you, stay blessed and see you next week!

Friday 2 September 2016

GHANA MAN BLUES

We're getting more acquainted with our Ghana Man Blues friends, Lanre, Nana Yaa, Dede, Naa Aku, John and Esiaba. Missed out on Episodes 1 and 2? Here's a recap on ghblessed.blogspot.com. The Blues continue with Episode 3:


EPISODE 3
"A top of the morning to you! LiveWire FM is here again with the hottest news! And now... ", the radio presenter's voice blared loudly through the radio as Fiifi Danquah prepared for work. It had been a tough week, and he had no choice than to add the weekend to his work schedule this week. His wife Esiaba was not too happy about it, but they had sorted it out. Things had been far better ever since they took the decision together to let God steer affairs in their marriage. Just after whispering a prayer of gratitude, his daughter burst in... 
"Daddy, don't forget your promise to take us out today o.. ". He was just about to answer her when he heard Esiaba's scream from downstairs... 

****************************************************************************************************

It had been two years already since Nii Boye Jones had tied the knot with his fiancĂ©e Naa Aku. Time had flown since then, and his mother was already asking when her grandchildren were arriving. Nii had decided to turn a deaf ear to that kind of pressure, and was about to find something to occupy his mind when he saw his long time friend Fiifi's car turn into the driveway... 

****************************************************************************************************

It had been raining almost the whole day, and John and his counterparts could not do much business as a result. John had managed to find shelter under his credit seller friend's umbrella, and occupied himself with staring at those light-skinned children who were busily holding on to the legs of passersby, despite the rain. The street was already flooding, and there was massive traffic as a result. Some police officers were trying to direct the traffic, but what was needed right now was a huge truck to help clean up the mess. "We must definitely organise some clean up o", John's friend said to no one in particular. John was just about to respond when his view was suddenly obstructed by a tall, well-dressed  man. 
"Young man," he said, looking at John directly.... 

****************************************************************************************************

A gentleman walked out of Lanre's office, leaving Lanre in a pensive mood. This was the second person who had come with a complaint to him about how demanding and corrupt  his assistant Kofi Wilson was becoming. Lanre found it too hard to believe, as he planned to test Kofi's patience with his apparent 'errand boy'  position before pushing him up the ladder. But it seemed Kofi was failing. He decided not to jump to any conclusions yet, but give it a little time to see just how true these allegations were. 
A hesitant knock interrupted his thoughts. 
"Who is it? ", Lanre spoke up. 
" It is me, Sir", Kofi quickly responded. 
Not in the mood to face him right now, Lanre quietly responded, "I'll be out in a minute."...

****************************************************************************************************

*Fiifi Danquah faced the task of juggling family with work. What are our family values? What are priorities? 
*Nii was already facing pressure from his mother-in-law. What are some of the expectations society has of us, and how much pressure do we face in meeting those expectations? 
*John's business had been interrupted by the rain. What are some of the societal problems Ghana faces and how do they directly affect us? In the case of flooding, what are some of the personal measures we can put in place to make sure we and those around us are not affected? 
*Lanre's suspicions about Kofi Wilson have been confirmed, but he does not accuse him yet. How quick are we to jump to conclusions about others? And like Kofi, do we take the 'easy' way out when what we are waiting for delays in coming? 


Your opinion really counts and will make a difference in just how much impact Ghana Man Blues makes.
Let's discuss our views right here on this page, and spread the word.
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Thank you and stay blessed!