The forgotten white elephant

The ”forgotten” and the ”white elephant” would in this context defy the scientific rule that the touch between two negatives turns positive. It is clearer in the arithmetic operation where the multiplication of two negative numbers gives a positive number.

In this literature, the adverb only goes to accentuate the negative in the expression ”white elephant”. That only gives us a sense of hopelessness, as the tags are blunt condemnations.

Time was when crowds rushed on them, creating scarcities and queues, as people were damn interested in or bent on using the facility. Its arrival to the shores of Ghana was received as though a bouquet to a hero or dignitary, subsequently, the scenario that is the simile of the honeymoon of a new marriage.

It was the advancement of the status quo that was the preserve of blue-chip companies, key public institutions, and society’s well-to-do.  This innovation, invention, or novelty, engineered some decent space for ordinary people to ply, even if it was designed for communal use.

That was one of the sure signs heralding the collectively-embraced revolution, probably the third period on the modern calendar to have had such a frenzied reawakening and eye-opening after the political decolonization in 1957 and the military-led revolution of 1979, the second enforced in 1981. The third revolutionary wave in Ghana was this one- which sparked off in 1997. It barged in on the people when they least expected it, but then its presence a waft in their midst.

Today, the state in which it is looks like the most classical tale of negligence. This moribund is also like the process of a tree beginning a new life cycle from the spot of its decay. Fungi communities flourish on deadwood. And the end of phone booths also launched us into the realm of mobile phones.

A transition from the flickering illumination to klieg lighting for all.