“Bowed heads,” ten down and……………..

The N1: hard as industrial diamonds!!!

They stand almost forlorn in their very shiny vestments. As if reluctant to populate their quite lonely spatial settings. To be sure there is something angelic about them if you agree with the account of biblical scholars. It is that almost bird- about- to- land posture and that topping of white on the “head” and that wing-like whatever jutting away from both sides of the “head.” And they spread out in a long tedious row one after the other. At points in the distance it is as if the horizon has become their scribbling pad as they etch out  strings of  the English letter “m.” They took a long time coming and here they are. But they seem embarrassed as they pour forth their luminescence night after night on a highway that seems to have long lost its youth.

The Accra-Tema Motorway(ATM) had been dark for eons it seems. And then I am sure some politicos after a bout of gluttonous feeding and wining decided to give us some attention. “Hehehe let us light the ATM so Ghanaians would see we are the best government they ever had.” So like the God of the Bible they decide to rain some light on the ATM. Not for us but for them. Never mind the very mortal danger that a Hades dark ATM poses to our lives and limbs. As if they cared. At best we are underfed dogs on a leash for them. Otherwise why would it take SO LONG FOR LIGHTS TO APPEAR ON THE ATM?  The claim was that the project will be completed by the end of last December. As I write I do not know whether the lighting project is over. The irony: light pouring over a highway patched in so many parts and still very much fit for the hoofs of mountain goats not tires!!!!! The bestiality of the logic is as scary as it is befuddling. And still 50pesewas is fleeced off us whenever we use that totally scarred highway. The politicos believe in their heart of hearts that this is what we deserve. I would not be surprised at all when the lights begin to go off one after the other and return us to pre-Mosaic darkness; to the way things were. And yes Accra is so very dark. So every sane driver chugs along with a full beam. It is a pristine jungle on the roads at night as every motorist tries to blind the other. The wise ones use halogen lamps: they do not take chances.  

Thanks for a good job!!!!

Not far off from the ATM (indeed they form a wretched continuum of new and very old) pedestrians are taking chances on the N1. 10 have lost their lives in less than a month since the N1 was commissioned? inaugurated? whatever. It is a bedlam of utter madness on that highway. As usual the authorities are bleating, puffing and huffing after the fact. After 10 lives of the citizens of this Republic were lost because of stupidity. How can any sane human being expect people to cross such a highway unscathed without strategically positioned crossing points?  And I must admit the N1 looks pretty hard; unrepentantly industrial or even pre-industrial. No green belts; just steel and concrete and the childish competition of party flags. And how so happy and grateful we are!!!!!! That very humongous bill-board announces the benevolence of our benefactors for this. Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!