For their children, parents toil; for their students, teachers toil; for their citizens, governments toil; to feed their countries, farmers toil; for their flocks’ salvation, pastors toil; for daily bread, man toils. Toiling here, toiling there; toil, toil, toil, till we go back to the soil; because for death, we all toil!
As I stared unblinkingly at the front page of the Daily Guide of Tuesday, January 19, 2021, my eyes started to be suffused with cold tears. There were four portrait photographs of four prominent personalities adorning the front page. Below, there was a banner headline tearfully announcing the demise of the four: “COVID KILLS SECURITY CAPO, PRATT, OTHERS.”
I was overwhelmed by sadness with the realisation that we are so vulnerable, to the extent that the next second may bring all our toils for a successful life to an abrupt end, leaving behind aching and bleeding hearts of sorrowing relatives, friends, loved ones, etc.
In our desperation, we usually throw our hands into the air and shout in disappointment, “Oh, Onipa beye den wo wiase?” to wit, “What did man come into the world to do?”
Quite an appropriate question, for there are numerous, almost uncountable, cases to prove it. Diseases of both endemic and pandemic nature continue to mow down God’s unique creatures like grass. Influenza (flu), malaria, pneumonia, whooping cough, HIV/AIDS, etc., and recently, COVID-19, the reigning mowers of precious lives are all agents of Death.
People wake up in the morning and prepare to travel, saying a warm goodbye to matrimonial companions, their children, and other relatives. The next moment, some are heard no more, mercilessly devoured by mangled vehicles in road accidents, while many others are maimed. In similar cases involving plane crashes, rain and wind storms, landslides, and collapsed buildings, many souls are lost.
Some people travel to other countries to toil for their daily bread. Unfortunately,, those who wish to go by unapproved routes, such as by sea, may not reach their destinations. Their boats may meet unfriendly weather and they get drowned when wild storms sink their boats.
We are in this world to be at the beck and call of numerous agents of Death. That is our lot. We should, therefore, not be discouraged; we should fight back for the sake of survival.
Fighting back, means preparing ourselves to acquire knowledge which will keep us producing some antidotes, such as medical personnel finding appropriate vaccines for destructive viruses.
To make our fight against these malignant viruses, such as COVID-19, currently mowing down precious souls, all hands must be on deck. Already, there are protocols put in place to be followed to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Some of the protocols are washing our hands with foamy soap under running water, using sanitisers to clean our hands, distance keeping, coughing into bent elbows, and wearing nose and mouth masks.
Of all these protocols, the masks seem to be the most effective, since the COVIID-19 is a respiratory ailment. Very unfortunately, there is a high degree of indiscipline among us, which makes some people unwilling to wear the nose and mouth masks, despite the fact that it is unlawful to do so.
Now, out of desperation, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has been forced to advise the police to arrest recalcitrant people found without the masks all over the country, especially in the big towns and cities. This presidential order to the police is yielding fruits, since many people are now wearing the masks.
That is the exact way to go. There are others who, in a jocular mood, say, “Whether you wear masks or not, you will die!” I concede, however, since nobody knows when he/she will die, it does not make sense to fold our arms without making the least effort to toil for a living, till the final leveler, Death, arrives with his gloomy palanquin.
When you think of death and keep your arms crossed to await him without doing anything for survival, you harm yourself, your wife/husband, your children, and other relatives, especially, the little ones. You let them all starve.
Such an empty life is not Godly, for even God Himself advised us to sweat before we eat. Even though God said it in a fit of anger as a punishment, after our first parents jettisoned His instructions to them not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, it is to our advantage to toil to feed ourselves and other people, especially, the unfortunate ones in our midst.
Discipline in all spheres of our lives is an important spoke in the wheel of success. In the absence of it, everything is thrown into disarray. This was the reason why His Excellency Aliu Mahama of blessed memory, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Vice President of Ghana in the administration of His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, former President, seriously talked of indiscipline of all types in Ghana.
It is a pity that many Ghanaians have got stuck to indiscipline, like the leach, to the extent that they don’t find anything wrong with their refusal to help prevent this dreaded pandemic, COVID-19, by wearing the nose and mouth masks.
Perhaps, they feel complacent that internationally renowned personalities and bodies have been highly commending on the untiring efforts of President Akufo-Addo to subdue the pandemic. Yes, we all feel proud of our President’s achievements, but not to the extent of lowering our guards against the spread of the deadly virus.
The police swoop on recalcitrant members of society must be sustained till sanity prevails in the country regarding a halt in the spread of the pandemic, if not its eventual eradication.
The exercise must be extended to funeral grounds. To avoid any embarrassment to funeral attendants, families organising these programmes must make the nose masks available for sale.
Meanwhile, my deep-rooted condolences goes to the families of the four prominent victims earlier mentioned, together with the numerous others, some of who died of different causes other than COVID-19. They should rest peacefully in the serene Bosom of our God, with the realisation that, WE ALL TOIL FOR DEATH.
By GODFRIED K. ARHIN-KUMI
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance.
The post PERISCOPE: (Advocate against cheating and of peaceful co-existence) MAN TOILS FOR DEATH appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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