Whether or not you are a lover of our local Ghanaian gospel tunes, I am sure you might have heard gospel artists refer to God as a thumb which can’t be without in the tying of the knot” in their songs. This goes to say how potent God is.
And if a potent God can be likened to the thumb, then the Thumb is powerful as well. Try doing many things manually without the thumb and perhaps you might better appreciate what am talking about.
But if afterwards you are still not convinced, perhaps you might want to find out from a politician how important “the thumb is especially during elections.
The cocky ones might not come clean on this issue but the honest amongst them I know, would blatantly tell you “Apart from their lives, the most valuable asset to them is the thumb; especially one that is appended in their favor on a ballot sheet.
It would amaze you how much and to what extent they would go just to get the thumb.
Yeah, I call it the power of the Thumb.
Funny though, here in Africa, some politicians during elections suddenly turn magicians and are surprisingly able to fix roads that they have failed to fix for so many years. There are those who for the lack of resources to fix roads, pound fufu instead, some turn into acrobats to entertain others, some who haven’t been to the Mosque or Church in a while suddenly become ardent believers who frequent the church and the mosque, some born in silver and golden cradles suddenly claim to be natives of Zongo community just to garner votes.
Whether poor or rich, tall or short, handsome or beautiful, educated or illiterate, we all have equal voting powers so far as you have the thumb and in special cases those without these features do as well.
But it’s quite unnerving to come to terms with the fact that people place no or very little value on their thumb and would sell them for a moment’s pleasure all to regret for the next four years. Instead of wielding its power when it comes to the choosing of genuine candidates as representatives to lead them.
Forgetting that the act of exchanging their thumb for money or some other item relinquishes their authority to wield the “Thumb power” to the politician.
Don’t be swayed by some of these politicians and their 9-day wonder.
Don’t be wowed by their cheap sweet talk.
Don’t allow the fufu they pound to deceive you.
But rather before you give them your thumb, assess them holistically.
Who they are
What they stand for
What they can do and have to offer
Ask yourself how much value they are willing to put on your thumb throughout their four years in office and not for the brief moment of elections.
Learn to put value on your thumb
Your vote is your power.
Theresa Oppong, ([email protected])Ultimate Fm