LIVING AND LEAVING A LEGACY

LIVING AND LEAVING A

LEGACY

The Younger Generation’s Perspective

 BY: SAKYI-GYINAE KWESI

 

More Than an Expedition

“Our days are numbered. One of the primary goals in our lives should be to prepare for our last day. The legacy we leave is not just in our possessions, but in the quality of our lives…The greatest waste in all of our earth, which cannot be recycled or reclaimed, is our waste of the time that God has given us each day.” -Billy Graham ¹

On May 29, 1953, New Zealand’s explorer, Edmund Hillary, and his climbing partner Tenzing Norgay for the first time reached the summit of Mount Everest². This record shook off the limitations of mountaineers and several people who hitherto regarded such feat as impossible. The achievement was not only a phenomenal conquest of the highest 8,850m spot on earth, but also a breakthrough in the world of expedition after decades of failed attempts to summit. Later that year, newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II whose coronation was met with the raving news of the British-led expedition triumph, knighted the thirty-four year Edmund Hillary for his display of courage and confidence³. Sir Edmund Hillary subsequently was involved in the exploration of the Antarctic, and other mechanized expedition to the South Pole.

Almost forty years later in 1990, legacy was relived. Peter Hillary, son of Sir Edmund Hillary, also climbed to the top of the Everest, making him and his dad the first father and son to have accomplished this pinnacle of adventuring achievement⁴. According to young Peter, his actions were motivated by the quest to follow the unique traits of his dad. In 2003, National Geographic, commemorating Sir Edmund Hillary’s historic ascent 50 years ago, sponsored Peter to again summit the Everest. This was incorporated in National Geographic’s biggest film of that year, Surviving Everest⁵. What’s more, Peter who was keen on pursuing the legacies set for him also explored new routes to the South Pole; again making him and his father the first two generations of one family to have reached the South Pole overland from the Antarctic Coast.

Now, Peter combines his rich experience of adventure with acute articulation to propel people to achieving their dreams.

Finding the Pitch

The concept of reliving legacy triggers an avalanche of thoughts for both the young and old. Webster’s dictionary defines legacy as “money or property left to someone by a will” or “anything handed down from an ancestor”⁶. This resonates the verity of young people succeeding worthy footprints engraved years ago by the older generation. In contemporary times, however, legacy is not so much about the money or property, but the lives touched; the impact made on society. This quest to make an impact cuts across a wide array of pursuits; from business to family, academia to entertainment, religion to politics, inter alia. For instance in business, first generation, brand new leaders have the vivid responsibility of charting organizational course for other generations to inherit it⁷. Also in the family unit, parents have the onus of both exemplifying and instilling healthy mannerisms and values worth emulating by the younger generation⁸. Ideally, parents must teach their children the life lessons they learned, so the mistakes could be avoided and the successes complemented⁹. Implying the concept of digging into the portfolio of predecessors and reliving their success stories, the idea of legacy sparks up the participation of two key players: the one who sets the standard and the other who lives up to it.

Who Passed on What?

For many of us in Africa, reliving legacies would have more to do with the two-sided question, ‘who passed on what?’ The reality of this query is imperative to consider as our history has been damaged by European imperialism and disguised forms of liberation even by so called forefathers, leaving us with a proportional twist in legacy. Several writers (including Nunn, 2005 and Houngnikpo, 2006) have identified the crooked African history as a factor in the continent’s current disposition. Explaining the genesis of such a legacy, Houngnikpo (2006) explains that because African leaders were too eager to gain independence, they gave much to campaigns against colonial rule, with little thoughts about their countries’ post independence¹⁰.

Ghana is no exemption of this legacy crisis. Fifty-two years after independence, it is difficult to trace the ideal legacy to be pursued. Quoting the Ghana Drum (March 12, 1992), Houngnikpo (p.28) wrote:

“Some people will blame our colonial oppressors. Well in some cases part of it is true but a whole lot of the blame should be put squarely on our own shoulders . . . Independence was thought to be the beginning of the golden era where political freedom and expression, freedom of association, free enterprise, economic prosperity, less ethnocentrism, responsibility and accountability of each and every one prevailed. These lofty ideals never happened because we replaced white imperialism with the black one.”¹¹

The leaders who were supposed to grow and guard a worthwhile legacy, not only tempered with their own destinies, but also succeeded in denting the visions of the unborn. The myriads of military usurpers with disparate opinions associated with the era of political, economical and individual instabilities are witnesses of our motherland’s subverted legacies, legacies that the younger generation cannot afford to hold on to. The 1992 Constitution which came into effect in January 1993¹² should have been the point of intervention where the leaders would reshape and realign the vision of the country towards a worthwhile legacy. It was the point leaders should have put the axe to the roots and encouraged the populace to put their hands on deck too, to fix the country’s vision. But governments succumbed to amassing the wealth of the people through corrupt practices and general leadership malfunctions. For example almost a decade after adapting to the constitutional rule, the 2000 Ghana Governance and Corruption Survey indicated corruption as a major problem in both public and private sectors¹³. Obviously, the legacy is not straight and unlike the Hillarys, young people in our country today cannot identify with what legacy to live up to. Perhaps, the new generation would have good reasons to live a life of their own.

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