2014 Final Video Transcript
Most of the youth today are into a lot of things that are more geared towards the West. It has infiltrated into our music, our movie industry, so many other things. They are trying to be like the Americans. They are dressing like them, talking like them and socializing like them on all kinds of media. The arts or entertainment dominate a lot so you get a lot of music, modern dances like “Azonto”, “Alkayida” and “Skelewu” dominating the scene. Once in a while politics comes in, but then it is not a topic that the youth care about… mostly the arts.
Ahh so how do we get the youth to care about what is happening in the oil industry at this point? That is a very interesting question. … To tell you the honest truth, I do not see this happening because people have tried this over and over again. I would say get rid of the corruption. If people actually felt the trickle down from the oil issue and saw good things happening because of the oil money, they will definitely be interested in what is going on in the oil industry. That requires eliminating a lot of corruption, nepotism, and bureaucracy … we’ve been trying to do these things since independence and none of this has happened. At this point, it is going to take a whole paradigm shift and I personally do not see that happening. Another way actually is to make it lucrative to the youth because that’s what everybody wants. Everybody wants to make it big and make money. The petroleum engineering class [in Ghana] has exponentially grown since Ghana discovered oil but that is just a very small cross-section of the population so how to make it lucrative to the youth? I don’t really know … offer them jobs connected to oil? I have no idea. To tell you the truth, as a Ghanaian youth, I do not see this happening. Let me give you an example — Cocoa has been Ghana’s major source of revenue since independence and before independence. Ghana and Ivory Coast together produce more than half of the world’s cocoa. Ask a typical youth who has gone to the best schools till university and gotten their degree anything about the cocoa industry and they will not even know anything about it because there is no trickle down. We do not feel it as young people.
Now the amount of corruption in the current oil industry is unbelievable. From the marketing, to those who win the contracts, to the whole procurement process … is heavily corrupted and is al so some people go up and we have basically given up most of our rights to the oil. It is inconceivable that a country that actually found oil ends up having petroleum shortages every now and then. In the end, you do ask yourself what is happening, where is all that going … and it is just this whole lack of confidence in the management, government and all the stakeholders involved basically.
In terms of the African countries, I do not believe in the government of Ghana and the change they actually preach. This is the case whereby we discovered oil, most exciting, but as a country we are in a situation whereby we do not have the resources to actually tap this oil which leaves us in a predicament. So we’ve had companies from the West, such as Tullow and Kosmos Oil operating these oil rigs in Ghana. I would say that I am saddened by the fact that the government went into an agreement which actually puts us at the losing end from actually benefitting from these resources.
I would say we’ve not actively explored all aspects of the oil find and how to use it. Based on the political climate, people look at the oil find through the political lens as well. So it usually said that either the NPP or NDC is not managing stuff well, maybe when we change the government, things will get better. We need a more national approach to managing our oil and such conversations and discourses should not be based on political affiliations and what not. It should be a national issue. The youth should be involved in it. I feel these conversations should trickle down to high school discourses, our discourses in our universities, even middle school.
The point or the concept of making the energy topic shift from the political scene to making it cultural or social will start from home — parenting. Then through the classroom, the teachers or school will also teach the students to make them aware or make them get the whole fact that this is what it is and everybody should be aware of it and try as much as possible to put something into it for the whole benefit of the nation.
I think in future generations to come, I actually do expect that to be the case. I go to school with a bunch of Nigerians who have had oil and gas be a big part of their economy for a long time and what usually turns to happen or what I heard from some of them is that, from a young age, they have been told you are going to go into chemical engineering, you are going to go into the oil sector because it’s the best career path and you are going to have a very comfortable life. So in that sense, from a young age, it is already sort of engrained in you that that is the path you will take so in that case it already becomes a cultural aspect to your life. I think as this generation passes by and if we are able to better manage our oil and gas, we will see good results coming out of it, it then becomes something that young kids will aspire to and they will take on positions in the oil and gas fields, marketing, sales, all in the oil industry.
The power of the youth in our country is not necessarily strong. We do not have too much say… I mean coming over here and even being in this small community, I see how students organize town hall meetings just to have an input in what the school decides because it always affects the students in general. So, I guess the Ghanaian youth really care about it but they just do not have the say so… I have not read anything saying that the youth have taken measures … maybe they are taking measures but it is probably not even covered in the press so … yeah.
- Cindy Coffee, Fall 2014
EDITED VIDEO
Edited Video Transcript
Most of the youth today are into a lot of things that are more geared towards the West. It has infiltrated into our music, our movie industry, so many other things. They are trying to be like the Americans. They are dressing like them, talking like them and socializing like them on all kinds of media. The arts or entertainment dominate a lot so you get a lot of music, modern dances like “Azonto”, “Alkayida” and “Skelewu” dominating the scene. Once in a while politics comes in, but then it is not a topic that the youth care about… mostly the arts.
Ahh so how do we get the youth to care about what is happening in the oil industry at this point? That is a very interesting question. … To tell you the honest truth, I do not see this happening because people have tried this over and over again. I would say get rid of the corruption. If people actually felt the trickle down from the oil issue and saw good things happening because of the oil money, they will definitely be interested in what is going on in the oil industry. That requires eliminating a lot of corruption, nepotism, and bureaucracy … we’ve been trying to do these things since independence and none of this has happened. At this point, it is going to take a whole paradigm shift and I personally do not see that happening.
It is inconceivable that a country that actually found oil ends up having petroleum shortages every now and then. In the end, you do ask yourself what is happening, where is all that going … and it is just this whole lack of confidence in the management, government and all the stakeholders involved basically.
In terms of the African countries, I do not believe in the government of Ghana and the change they actually preach. This is the case whereby we discovered oil, most exciting, but as a country we are in a situation whereby we do not have the resources to actually tap this oil which leaves us in a predicament. So we’ve had companies from the West, such as Tullow and Kosmos Oil operating these oil rigs in Ghana. I would say that I am saddened by the fact that the government went into an agreement which actually puts us at the losing end from actually benefiting from these resources.
I would say we’ve not actively explored all aspects of the oil find and how to use it. Based on the political climate, people look at the oil find through the political lens as well. So it usually said that either the NPP or NDC is not managing stuff well, maybe when we change the government, things will get better. We need a more national approach to managing our oil and such conversations and discourses should not be based on political affiliations and what not.
The point or the concept of making the energy topic shift from the political scene to making it cultural or social will start from home — parenting. Then through the classroom, the teachers or school will also teach the students to make them aware or make them get the whole fact that this is what it is and everybody should be aware of it and try as much as possible to put something into it for the whole benefit of the nation.
I go to school with a bunch of Nigerians who have had oil and gas be a big part of their economy for a long time and what usually turns to happen or what I heard from some of them is that, from a young age, they have been told you are going to go into chemical engineering, you are going to go into the oil sector because it’s the best career path and you are going to have a very comfortable life. So in that sense, from a young age, it is already sort of ingrained in you that that is the path you will take so in that case it already becomes a cultural aspect to your life. I think as this generation passes by and if we are able to better manage our oil and gas, we will see good results coming out of it. It then becomes something that young kids will aspire to and they will take on positions in the oil and gas fields, marketing, sales, all in the oil industry.
The power of the youth in our country is not necessarily strong. We do not have too much say… I mean coming over here and even being in this small community, I see how students organize town hall meetings just to have an input in what the school decides because it always affects the students in general. So, I guess the Ghanaian youth really care about it but they just do not have the say so… I have not read anything saying that the youth have taken measures … maybe they are taking measures but it is probably not even covered in the press so … yeah.
- Cindy Coffee, Fall 2014
