The saying “time is money” has come to be known as just plain talk by Ghanaians as the saying is not practiced but remain just “mere talk.”
Apologizing for late start of programmes particularly has become the new norm as people report to functions they were supposed to attend as late as two to three hours while organisers keep guests hostage with the usual excuse of “oh we will start in a minute or soon.”
It is not just only social events that suffer this “menace” but workplaces and other business meetings suffer this same “Ghana time” attitude which does not exist in other parts of the world.
An early morning programme that should start at 9am can start as late as midday, indicating three hours wastage of time and subsequently dragging the programme a bit further.
Most Ghanaians have normalised going late for occasions because it’s either the organisers are not ready themselves or people are not in for the commencement of the programnme.
This is impeding individual and corporate growth and has eventually left the country lacking behind in a lot of things across the world.
The country’s slow growth and gradual clamp down of productivity can be attributed to the disrespect to time, prevalent across the country.
The respect other countries in the likes of the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland amongst others have for time which has immeasurably aided their development should be emulated.
In his “The Swiss derive genuine joy from the fact that life unfolds and in a highly efficient manner,” published in July 2016, Eric Weiner indicated that he experienced a “punctuality reaction” whenever he visited the Switzerland.
“At first it delights me, especially if I’m coming from neighbouring Italy or France with their rather more flexible approach to timekeeping. By contrast, life in Switzerland is sturdy and dependable, like a Saint Bernard dog. If someone says they will meet me at 2 pm, they arrive at 2 pm not 2:05 (or 1:55, for that matter),” Weiner said.
However, this is not the case here in Ghana, as the approach to time cannot be termed, making the experience always terrible and uncalled for.
Last year, I had to meet someone at the Mallam Market to pick a cake for someone and I got there at the agreed 12pm only to wait for an extra 4 hours with the excuse of “Oh I am just here, stuck in a bit of traffic.”
It seems it has been forgotten amongst the Ghanaian populace that time takes centre stage of everything in life as it is the never-ending order of events that takes place in an unalterable sequence from the past, through the present, and to the future.
We should bear in mind that time is related to everything around us and as such, it is an essential element of life. It represents special milestones, including birthdays, anniversaries and helps us organise our daily lives and activities, so we can live a more organised and productive life.
More importantly, time can be said to be our lives’ measurement as through it we know the year, month, week, day, hour, minute, second and shapes the present stage of a person since everything around us changes with the passage of time.
If we get to understand the value of time better, the country would do better than it is doing currently because we would all get to perform our individual and collective roles as and when they should be done without any excuses.
Furthermore, because time is the most valuable resource on earth which when wasted can never be gotten back, we would all get to experience and develop our skills over time.
WHY THE NEED TO RESPECT TIME IN 2022 AS GHANAIANS
It is imperative that we as Ghanaians guard time and make the most of every second of it rather than waste it without any proper utilisation and benefit to us.
The year 2022would never be reached again neither would none of the passing second be gotten back. It is therefore better that we turn over a new leaf since we are still in the early days of the New Year and make amends.
We need to enjoy and make the most of every moment that we get and never waste time. Time accelerates as a person ages, which is why people do not gain an appreciation for time until later in their life.
By respecting time and not wasting it, we could improve our career and personal lives and that would affect the country at large by adding to her economic growth more particularly and “help bail it out of its hardship.”
Embracing this new attitude of punctuality as Ghanaians would significantly teach us the value of life and make us happy. Also, a difficult or painful situation will seem less bad as time passes.
This is because our attitudes as Ghanaians can be blamed for the stagnant position the country has chalked for so many years now.
Let us therefore be each other’s keeper in ensuring that time is highly respected so that we can have the Ghana we so desire and deserve.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!
TIME IS MONEY!!!!!!!
LET’S CHANGE!!!!!!!!
BY ABIGAIL ARTHUR
