Fareed’s Bar.

One of the low-key drinking bars set up in the neighbourhoods of Adabraka, this place was frequented by many a gentleman looking to down a bottle or two of beer while airing out their frustrations at the standard of living in the Gold Coast.

That Wednesday evening, Justice Morrison and Kofi Boadu were two of such gentlemen. The two twenty-somethings had stopped by to get themselves a drink, and were talking about their day.

Another day of trying to get a job, and falling short. And it couldn’t be more painful for these two, who needed to get some money in their pockets to help support their families. For Justice in particular, whose mother was currently suffering from a serious bout of typhoid fever, the constant rejections were very vexing, to say the least. He saw the burden this ailment was taking on his father’s already depleted resources and wanted to help out.

But the system just wasn’t making it possible.

“Chale, it’s so frustrating!” Justice complained as he took a big swig out of his glass. “Everywhere you go, there are no jobs. Kyɛrɛsɛ, it’s like this system is designed to disappoint you. From education to housing to even buying normal goods for the home, it’s all messed up.”

“Say it again ooo! Yet, this government doesn’t care. They don’t care one bit. The only people they care about are their own. If it’s some British person, oh, they’ll move heaven and earth to settle their matters. But we the people of Gold Coast… nothing. Nothing at all,” Kofi added. “See how they removed their eyes from this AWAM matter.”

Justice’s lip curled in disgust at the mention of the term AWAM. “Just imagine. People have boycotted shops because of high prices, and instead of you to intervene and do something, you sit there and say you’ll be neutral. Such nonsense!”

“Extreme nonsense, chale! As the government, the concerns of the people should be your prime interest. When they complain about something causing them suffering, you can’t just turn a blind eye and say you don’t need to get involved. That neutrality thing they’re claiming is just a clear slap in our faces!”

“It really is, my friend, it really is. That thing convinced me more than ever that all those allegations about AWAM and this government are true. Because if you really cared about the people, you wouldn’t step back when they’re making their grievances known. They’re not neutral at all, they’re on the side of the oppressors, that’s all!”

“Chale, it’s just infuriating. Everything is a mess. Every single thing. You just wonder if things will ever get better.”

“Hmmm, for me, as long as these Europeans are in charge, we might as well forget it. They’ll watch us dry and die while they’re attending to their own. They don’t care about us. At all.”

***

At another table situated at the far end of the bar were seated three gentlemen, slightly older than Justice and Kofi.

Emmanuel Agyei, Michael Dadzie and Yaw Darko.

And the topic at their table also centered around current affairs. But theirs was more centered on the ongoing boycott, with Yaw, who was their hub of major information going on in the country, giving the other two special updates on what was going on.

“Ei, saaa? So there’s likely to be an agreement on the prices reducing?” Michael asked as he poured the last of his bottle of CLUB Premium Lager into his glass.

Taking a sip, Yaw nodded as he put down his glass. “Hopefully, by tomorrow, we should have an announcement.”

“Well, thank the heavens!” Emmanuel declared. “Finally, we’ll get something out of this. But honestly, Boycotthene has done so well with getting this boycott in place.”

“Yes oooo! Those AWAM people and their ridiculous prices. Just taking undue advantage of us Gold Coast folks.”

“Me, what makes me happy is how we as a people stuck to this boycott,” Michael remarked. “Because most of the AWAM people were saying a whole lot of silly things about it. One of my friends, Kwadwo, he works around Kingsway Chemists. He said when this whole thing started, he overheard some of the European shop owners mocking it. That we Gold Coast people diɛɛ, we’ll never be able to carry out a proper boycott.”

“Oh yes! A lot of them were saying those things, that we’re not united and all sorts of things,” Yaw confirmed. “When they saw it had gotten serious, they now started doing all sorts of silly things to throw us off. See, eh, do you know they tried to bribe Nii to call it off?”

Michael and Emmanuel’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You don’t mean it!” Emmanuel gasped.

“I’m serious! And you know the amount he was being offered? Ten thousand pounds!”

“EIIII!” both men gasped.

“Yes, that much. Just so that he himself would call it off. But he refused it. He said he won’t betray the people for money.”

“Chale, this is serious ooo!” Michael murmured. “And in all this, the government said they have no business intervening in this matter.”

“It’s sad,” Emmanuel said, shaking his head. “It took this virtual standstill for them to intervene. If at this stage, you still think they care about us regular Gold Coasters, you really aren’t correct.”

“Honestly. Na see the kind of houses they secure for their people. You’ll find one European man and one Gold Coast man holding the same position. Yet the European man will get some nice house bi, whilst the Gold Coast man… some nyama-nyama building bi. Ahh!”

“Oh, hmm. It’s so pathetic. But look, a lot of people are awake now ooo,” Yaw declared. “That old mindset that they are superior to us is slowly dying out. You ask the ex-servicemen, and they’ll tell you. These Europeans were no different from the ones they were fighting in Burma a few years back. They were just as much human as we are. Massa, they are not superior to us. We can manage our own affairs, we don’t need them to be holding our hands like we’re some lost children.”

The others nodded. “Very true,” Emmanuel agreed. “Look at the UGCC men. Anyone can see that they’ve got some good brains in there. Brains that can lead this country without any assistance from these white men.”

“Oh yeah, yeah. Dr. Danquah and his people look pretty good,” Michael added. “And I heard they’ve brought in some gentleman bi as the General Secretary. Francis Nwia Nkrumah or so.”

“Yes, yes, Kwame Nkrumah. He’s quite the sharp, charismatic gentleman. I see him making a major impact in this nation in years to come. Look, we have the men. We do. And soon, these colonial leaders will have to make way for them. Sooner or later, they will make way. If they think they’ll rule over us forever, they’re sorely mistaken. The time is coming, my friends. Believe me, the time is coming…”

“Cheers to that!”

Well, claiming neutrality when your people are suffering is definitely not acceptable. Both sets of friends weren’t wrong…