Lydia Forson vindicated
The release last week of the OECD global school rankings which put Ghana at the bottom of the pile has put paid to a drawn-out controversy about whether or not Lydia Forson had gratuitously vilified president Mahama.
It will be remembered that the Sting in a Tale actress had in a proverbial language, likened the president to a student with bright promise but who nevertheless continues to bomb every single class.
What Lydia Forson only meant proverbially, the OECD school ranking has shown to be quite literal. The report showed Ghana comfortably occupying the bottom position of world schools. And since Ghanaians like to idealise their president as ‘the soul of the nation,’ the country has interpreted this ranking as an indication that the president indeed has come last in a global examination.
When Lydia Forson was reached for comments, she was pretty reticent, except to say, ‘I feel relieved that I’ve been vindicated.’ She, however, expressed her relief in an unexpected manner.
Apparently, her participation in the #DumsorMustStop vigil planning was a reaction to the attacks she suffered after she described Mahama as the last boy in class. ‘Now that I’ve been vindicated, there’s no need for me to stay in the protest. I’m going to London to chill!’ she is said to have told close friends.
On their part, Ghanaians are not pleased at all about the poor showing of the country in this global list. ‘I don’t agree with the ranking; it is unfair, it is neo-colonialism,’ said a pedestrian socialist interviewed at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Tourist Attraction, ‘I know our schools are under trees. But I still believe that if the rankings were fair, we could have at least beaten one school in South Korea, with all their internet-connected classrooms.’
But it is not only laymen on the streets who are unhappy with the report. The Minister of Education, Hon. Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has warned Ghanaians that ‘the report is a fraudulent document whose source the BNI has traced to some sakawa boys in Nkoranza, who want to extort monies from the government.’
But her deputy, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, spoke without consulting her. He indicated in an interview that the government was going to formally protest and ask for re-making. Using smart-sounding but out-of-context research methodology jargons like sampling frames and hermeneutics, Hon. Ablakwa said that he believed that if the survey is redone, he is sure that Ghana will place 74th instead of 76th.
Editor’s note: The ‘Inside the News by Mpakoo’ column, which appears every Monday exclusively on ghanabusinessnews.com is satire.