Ghana 2010 - my top 10 memories

2010 to me has been a fruitful year, I look forward to a more aggressive 2010. I usually don't stick to my New Year's resolutions, so I won't make any for next year. I however have some memories of 2010 I want to share with everyone, especially my readers in Ghana.

1. The earthquake wake-up call

In January 2010, I received a call at dawn from a family member warning me of an impending earthquake. I was advised to get out of bed run to a safer haven. I got out of the building and was amazed to realize there were dozens of others who had received similar alerts. Apparently it was a hoax! Someone, somewhere had fooled a good number of Ghanaians and believe it or not, it worked. Days later the government authorized the national security agency to look into this matter. It's been close to a year, they are yet to reveal their findings.

2. Pigs came to our shores
In April there was lots of 'fear and panic' when the Ghana Health Service (GHS) warned Ghanaians that H1N1 (Not Swine flu) had infected three persons. Not too long after the announcement, the situation was brought under control and I guess that was the last we heard of the pigs. Bravo to all health professionals.

3. Ghana takes a head-count, I was left out
This year in October the Ghana Statistical Service conducted a Population and Housing Census. The exercise which was scheduled to take two weeks ended up taking longer than that. Personally I think the service could have done a better job. Many enumerators, weeks after the activity complain of non-payment of their stipend. To me this certainly didnt look like a GHc 70 million exercise.

4. The rains came again; Accra got flooded..again!
During the rainy season, some parts of the country especially the Northern regions and the capital, Accra experienced torrential rainfall. Lives and property were lost, and NADMO could only do as much as their resources could allow.

5. South Africa shames critics, Asamoah Gyan disappoints Africa
In June-July South Africa, proved its critics wrong by staging a very colorful and memorable World Cup. This was the very first time an African nation had organised a world cup event, I just hope it wont be the last. Africa got another opportunity to make a mark by qualifying for the semi-finals of the competition for the first time. However Asamoah Gyan, Ghana's number 1 striker, broke the continent's heart by missing the penalty kick that could have made us champions of the competition.

6. Ghanaian miners go down as Chilean miners came up
About 50 Galamsey operators in June got swallowed by the earth as their were busily engaging in the 'illegal' mining activities. No one in the team survived. I was surprised when I heard that people in the area believed this was an act of the gods as a way of increasing the quantity of gold. No wonder they didnt bother to rescue victims.

7. Nigeria's Independence was a bomb....really it was a bomb!
Nigeria celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2010. President Goodluck run out of luck when when two bombs exploded at the event in Abuja on October 1st. Nigerian insurgents were believed to be behind the attack.

8. Ghana attained middle income status, lower division
With a GDP of GHC 44.8 billion, statisticians thought it was time we started calling ourselves a middle income nation. So one morning we woke up and we put on our new tag, nothing else changed, only the figures in the books did.

9. EOCO knocks on GFA's doors, FIFA bares its teeth
In November, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) one morning raided the Ghana Football Association Offices and seized files, hard drives and other documents. They smelled corruption! Fifa issued a 'soft' warning to Ghana advising the football-loving nation to refrain from interfering in the FA's affairs.

10. Professor lets the Oil flow. Warns us not to expect anything spectacular
On December 17th, President Mills turned the wheels for the official production of oil in commercial quantity on board the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Kwame Nkrumah vessel. This was a very memorable event. Many Ghanaians watched the event live on national television, others streamed it online and a handful followed reports of twitter. At last Ghana now produces oil in commercial quantities. Ghanaians were however warned to manage their expectations, the oil wont change much they said, at least not immediately. I found that to be a very sincere statement. I just wished the sincerity had started long ago.