THREE LESSONS I HAVE LEARNT FROM MY “ROUGH ROAD”

I live in a fairly new vicinity on the hills of Kwabenya, close to the Akuapim Range. One important characteristics of this area which is called Bank of Ghana, is its bad road network. The place is called so because, according to the first settlers, the estates were built by the Central Bank for its staff. However, they failed to come and live in because of the lack of amenities of which water and road is inclusive.

Coming in from a relatively plush community in Adenta, where the roads are all networked and tarred, I wondered why my parents would settle such a place as Bank of Ghana where one would have to walk miles before setting eye on a taxi. And woe bêtise you if you hire the services of a taxi driver who is not used to the rocky and steep nature of our road.

On one such occasions, when I picked a taxi from Ashongman Estates (which is a walking distance but for the steepness of the road that leads to Bank of Ghana), I wished the ground would open and devour both the driver and me. I was getting sick of his complains for close to ten minutes that I had sat in his taxi till I got to the gate of my house. (As though his car had just arrived from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority)

His bone of contention as I would expect was that, “your road is not good. If I knew this was how your road was, I wouldn’t have picked you for just GHC4.”

To a large extent, I thought he was right, owing from the fact that it was late, thus making it difficult to see and causing his car to scratch on the rocks. But then he was also getting me irritated making it seem as though the construction of the road was my responsibility. I tried to make him understand that the road had to be constructed by the Estate Developers but I guess his naivety made him think otherwise.

One particular thing I noticed about this driver was his haste to get me home and get back onto a “better” road. It was then it dawned on me that, he could have “enjoyed” driving on this road if he had applied some three principles in life.

First, the need for PATIENCE. Weeks after my encounter with this driver, I have come across several drivers who have given me the same complains when I hire their services. Once I told one such driver that just as life, this “rough road” teach us one lesson; to be patient. I explained to him that, because the road is rocky and steep, it was important for him to exercise patience in order not to destroy any part of his car. I told him that patience was a virtue if well exhibited could one to places because exercising patience as a driver meant cautious driving.

Secondly, I told him that driving on a “rough road” teaches one the need to SLOW DOWN. Once again I explained to him that, there have been many instances where we have to slow down in order not to hit our heads against the wall. I told him that, slowing down doesn’t mean one is a fool rather; one is wise and taking life a step at a time. I used a scenario where the youth of today want to get rich quickly and would take whatever means faster to make those riches. And that is why “sakawa” has becoming common among the youth of today. I told him that when we slow down in life or even in the event that we are driving; it helps us prevent a lot of accidents.

The last but not the least lesson that I told him about driving on a “rough road” was the need to PAUSE or WAIT in life. I explained to him that, at certain points on a “rough road” we are compelled to stop, wait or pause in order to allow an oncoming vehicle to pass as a result of some parts of the road being completely lost to erosion. I told him that, it was necessary because if we failed to pause, stop or wait and try to manoeuvre our way through the narrow road paying no regard to the coming vehicle, we end up causing an accident, which could result in the loss of lives.

When I had almost reached my destination, I explained to him that, these lessons or principles is what applies to our daily lives and that by observing them, doesn’t make one foolish, but wise.