Wednesday, 19 August 2015

REVIEW: Why we need more 'Abanga' in Ghana


The first time I watched Season 01 Episode 01 of “ABANGA – THE NEW GUY” dubbed “German burgar wahala” I was very impressed about it. I actually saved the video to watch it later in order to write a review on it. This movie /short film basically mirrors the kind of society we live in – Ghana is soaked in filth (if I am not exaggerating) and no one seems to care. We often preach cleanliness is next to godliness and practice its very opposite.  

On June 3rd 2015, Ghana suffered a calamity which saw the death of over 100 people with just an explosion. One of the cause of the disaster, which was later known, was said to be the choked gutters in Accra. Our gutters especially in those the urban areas are chocked generally polythene and plastic products. In Ghana, gutters often serve as a rubbish dump which shouldn’t be so. The June 3rd disaster opened our eyes to the hard truth that we need to change our attitude about how we disposed off waste. So in my view, this movie series ‘ABANGA – THE NEW GUY’ came in at the right moment.

The movie commences with the titular character, Abanga picking up pieces of waste left by some undisclosed people. Abanga stops after sometime and remarks ‘Enti me mia Ghana paa nie’ (translation: is this really my country Ghana). After doing his bid to get rid of filth, he goes to the main street only to see a German burgar throw an empty bottle to the bush from his private car. Abanga then confronts him and he later begs and promises to pick the bottle he threw away never to repeat the same mistake again.  

The synopsis of this movie is just what is happening in the country, the only difference is that we don’t have any Abanga (or very few Abanga to be ignored). It is highly convenient for someone to buy water from street hawkers and throw the sachet away on the street when one is done with it. We, Ghanaians are responsible for the flirt in our country.

I remember the last time I sat in a car with someone and he did exactly what the German burgar did and when I asked him why he did that, he replied me angrily ‘But isn’t it why I pay tax? The government must use my taxes to clean my filth.’ I was very sad because no matter how hard I tried, this man refused to listen to the voice of reason.  The sad aspect of it all is that he is only one in over twenty million examples we have in this country. To solve this canker, it is imperative that we change this kind of mentality that makes us throw rubbish around. What most people fail to realize is that most politicians live in highly neat and high class residential areas/facilities and we the normal Ghanaians are the ones who will bear the brunt of any effect of the indiscriminate throwing of rubbish. If we are to use all our taxes to clear the flit we make, what money will hence be left for development?

Further, we all know about the impact of movies on our mind. I believe we need more of ‘Abanga’ movies than ‘atopa shaking movies’, ‘sex movies’ and ‘unnecessary farce’ to educate the Ghanaian about the importance of keeping our environment clean.

To end, I believe strongly that if we don’t keep our environment clean, no politician will do it for us. Our environment is ours and if we destroy Ghana with flit, we will have nowhere else to go than to become slaves in other people’s countries.
 

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