The Masters have Spoken

I just can not get this thought out of my mind, try as I may. I believe I've lived in a delusion, studied a delusion and become so immersed in a delusion that my life (and millions others) has become an illusion.

Is it true that I am free, as an AFRICAN youth, to decide which way of life I want to live (influenced only by the tradition and culture I was born in)? I've, all along, thought this to be the case until recent events have culminated in one final conclusion...AS AN AFRICAN, I AM STILL A SLAVE TO THE DICTATES OF SOME WHITE FOREIGNERS.

Are you shocked? Trust me, I was likewise shocked when I arrived at this conclusion. I've always celebrated the independence anniversary of my motherland with such fervent zeal and pride. Unknown to me, all that I celebrated was the anniversary of CHANGES IN MODE OF FOREIGN RULE; what was done directly, is now done indirectly, using my own people as tools of oppression. I blame no one but my own people for allowing this sad state of affairs to go on till now.

I heard on BBC radio this morning that the UK government had decided to deal with REBELS ( The rebel transition movement) of Libya and thus sacked all diplomats who were stationed there during the time of Gadhafi. The same initiative has been carried out by the French and American governments. Till date, the has been no stance from AU countries and the UN. When did the word REBEL ever signify the locus of a justified moral mandate to rule?

One thing which a lot of people have failed to take notice of is the fact that the guns which US, France, Uk and other NATO forces have brought into Libya will stay long after Gadhafi is dead and gone. Now it has been made clear by these SAVIOURS of the world..."if you feel that you are oppressed, it is perfectly OK to pick a gun and fight to be heard; just make sure you gain the sympathetic ear of enemies of your oppressor". A typical case of "the enemy of my enemy is my Buddy". Why...is Libya now a UN,US, FRENCH or NATO protectorate and no more Sovereign? Where lies the say of the Libyan people? Is this democratic?

Why do I think my own people have contributed to this sad state of affairs? United States of America (which consists of 51 states/countries, if you will) have made it a point to stress their unity as opposed to their diversity and thus become self-sufficient. You might argue that they have become a federation so it is logical. What about the European Union (27 countries)? Each maintains its sovereignty but each must meet its assigned quota while contributing to one another's maintenance so as to bring balance to the union. The AU has 54 countries and surpasses any other Union in natural resources yet we can't even feed our people, take active part in geopolitics nor become self-sustaining as a unit. When something happens on this continent, the AU is the last to react after the individual and collective countries of both the East and especially the West have already analysed, seen what they stand to gain from the present chaos and long since acted to satisfy their parochial interests.

If we are indeed free to determine our destinies as African States, then we had better live within our means, manage our resources better, breed patriotic citizens, and ultimately harness national leaders who are not greedy or allow their selfishness to be used as a snare to entrap the people they are sworn to protect.

If indeed we are free, we should not draw up budgets which have to be supported by foreign donations (donations which are used as baits to trap us). Development is a process and cannot be done in a single day or in a single presidential term. Leaders need to do the best they can with the limited resources at their disposal and opposition leaders need to lend concrete alternatives to present issues, but not to make it a habit to continually take opposing views to what is apparently a good course of action without providing better alternatives. Heads of states should play by the rules of the game, rules they knew way before they decided to engage in the game of politics. If a leader's term is over, it is OVER. Let another also manage the problem of the state.

If indeed we are free, why do ambassadors from western countries seem to hold more power on our leaders than the people who put them in power? Can any country within Africa fly a fighter jet into an EU or allied country experiencing rebel/terrorist attacks just because it can?

We, as Africans, are still under the command of foreign masters who have used all manner of means to keep us under check and servitude.

The masters have spoken on the Libyan crisis and chosen a leader for them just like in the colonial days. We await to see if other african leaders will follow the dictates of their colonial masters.

LIBYA

I think I got to express my opinion in relation to libya. I will do this by mere questions. Here we go:

What is the reaal issue at stake right now in Libya?

Where are the so called African Union Leaders?

What is their take on the issue in Libya?

Are the security council, NATO, and the so called allied forces oblivious of what is happening in Ivory Coast?

Can African countries form an aliance to invade any country in Europe and the States?

I am not judging anyone but just asking questions and the answers to these I believe will be your opinion as well.

If I manage to find out the answers to these my next questions will give me a clue.

Issues in Libya? They are people's opinions. As it is said, opinions are like noses and people have their unique ones.

LIBYA AND THE AFRICAN LEADERSHIP

The past couple of weeks have seen some of us totally shocked. Why, you may ask. And my reply, why not? A whole continent stood silent while one of its member States (which was probably the most peaceful, promising and progressive) is being laid siege to by hounds from the West under the guise of wanting peace in that country. Admitted, Col. Gathafi may have overstepped the bounds of leadership when he started killing demonstrators. But the question to be asked is “How soon can a band of peaceful and spontaneous demonstrators become a hardened gang of Rebels, wielding tanks and other sophisticated weapons?”

In recent times, a wave of demonstrations has spread through some Northern African States, most of which have turned violent. The commonest reason by the demonstrators irrespective of their origin has been the fact that leadership in their respective countries was either insensitive to their needs or had been in power too long. Often times, these demonstrators have succeeded in getting their way prompting a change in leadership, usually with very little violence. However, Libya appears to be an exception. Gathafi appears to have played directly into the hands of some unseen conspirator(s).

Gathafi has always not been the best friend of some Western States, especially the most powerful ones. He has always advocated for a United Africa, just like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah dreamed of. The obvious conclusion can only be drawn from the way the West handled/is handling these two.

Let’s take a moment to look at what USA did to Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah. He was the target of a series of assassination attempts which gradually pushed him to become paranoid and ended up making certain political decisions which later came to haunt him. First, he instituted the law that made it possible for a person to be arrested and held indefinitely without trial. Secondly, and sadly so, he made Ghana a one-party State. These same reasons were what his detractors cited as the reason for his overthrow. However, it is now common knowledge among Ghanaians that USA aided the coup makers to overthrow Nkrumah thereby overthrowing the dreams of Ghana becoming an industrialized Nation. Ghana has still not recovered, thanks to the puppet strings controlling most of her political leaders and the false promise of a better world anywhere in the world apart from Ghana, which the young and enterprising youth have been made to believe.

Gathafi has also been led to make the same mistake. He sought to use force to stamp out people who were portrayed by the media as “Demonstrators” but whom he saw as “Rebels”. The use of force was subsequently reported by these media thus winning international sympathy for the Demonstrators/Rebels. Now, Gathafi is made out to be the bad person. As is to be expected, USA has gotten UN to grant her permission to enforce a no-fly in Libya where only US and French, and now NATO fighters can fly and bomb Libyan targets at will (when anti-aircraft missiles could have been used to prevent Gathafi’s planes from flying and thus avoid the indiscriminate bombing of innocents).

If you ask me, this trick is as old as the vanishing coin act.

a. Plant people within the area you wish to destabilize, preferably co-opted, corrupted or disgruntled members of that same society.

b. As they infiltrate, give them the means to cause little, isolated acts which will only serve to incite established authority to action.

c. Make sure the media is readied to capture the reaction of authority, with a slant in favour of the inciters, who are to be portrayed as the disadvantaged minority.

d. The UN will be forced to take action. Guess who volunteers to help the UN (you got that right)…ALMIGHTY AMERICA, THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD.

If by this time African leaders have not grown the clout to deal with African problems, then I dare say we are still colonies and have no right to celebrate independence days across Africa. Why is it that America, France, NATO and indeed UN have not attached the same sense of urgency with which they are dealing with Libya? African leaders, be smart.

OUR GREAT KINDERGARTEN

Remember when years gone by when what mattered most in the world was to hurry to school in order to sing the alphabets as if they were songs and then hurry up home to play a game of crown-cocks? At that time, nothing else mattered except the things that friends said which got you agitated enough to take away your plastic ball before the football match was over; "m'agye me ball" .
Funny enough, that is what the whole political life is gradually becoming. We spend a lot of money and other resources bantering about the possible meaning of what someone said some days ago to some group of people, or possibly psycho-analyzing him/her in order to read meanings hitherto unintended when some speech was made. After all, we have a more than willing gossip crew who in the name of investigative journalism become serious threats to our national security without even knowing their error.
Nowadays, it is almost as if a current journalist is one who succeeds in getting a politician or his/her allies to lock horns in a never ending give and take of what some political figure did to cause the under-development of this nation and where the nation would have been had he/she not done what he/she already did. While it is good to get different sides of a story, journalists should understand that they owe it to the masses, most of whom depend on them for information, to report accurately what was said without adding their own flavors and seasoning to the facts. The whole issue of analysis should be left to experts who are expected to be impartial and unbiased. But it appears in Ghana, politicians and journalists have become experts in all areas of national life; from religion, through education, economics, medicine, and the list goes on.
What is achieved at the end of the day is that we have a lot of wrong versions of true facts out there that the listener is left totally confused. To make matters worse, radio and TV panelists are made up of representatives from political parties instead of analysts who are believed to be experts in their chosen and respective fields. Only in so doing can we achieve any value from the national political discourse. At the very least, when faced with facts, expert analysts agree unlike party faithfuls who would rather defend the indefensible. After all, who would ever want to be accused with pointing the left hand to his/her father's house?
Current events have saddened me to the extent that were I with super-human powers, I would immediately cause some serious discomfort to all responsible for completely diverting national attention from more important issues to banter about trivialities, such as the level of remorse the president had when he apologized to former President Kuffour and the Chief Justice, or what Akuffo Addo meant by "all die be die" and for that matter, which category of people make up Akans according to Akuffo Addo. As a people, is it not just plainly reckless to leave such issues as how to block the revenue leakages at the ports, improve education, energy, transportation, employment, etc. in order to talk about comments passed by one person or the other which, in the long run, would not be valid contributions to the main issues of national development?
We have become a nation of toddlers who have failed to see the necessity of keeping our country clean, respect our elders and leaders, think of making rather than consuming products, solve problems rather than cause them, show good initiative rather than thwart existing ones, and the most disheartening of all, allowing ourselves to be led astray by a few favor-seeking, fame-thirsty and power-hungry individuals who would do any and everything to see that they are the center of attention and none other.
If we are not able to change, then election periods will always become volatile moments when any little thing would plunge the entire country into chaos or worse still, war. The youth should know that they are better than they are made out to be by some unscrupulous politicians. They have what it takes to make it in life without tying in their lot with politicians to curry political favor. The Journalists whose careers are built on sensationalizing every bit of news item should be aware that the instability the court will affect them as well in the event that the nation bursts into flames. As for the few bad nuts within the political parties, the question is at what point is the state more important than personal interests?

UML

SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
QUESTION 1
The University is considering a new system to speed up the student registration process. As a systems analyst, you are asked to develop a plan for fact finding.
(a) List all the information gathering techniques that all systems analysts must be able to use.
(b) Explain any three of the techniques listed.
(c) Explain the criteria for selecting a given technique.

Solution
(a) Interviews
Questionnaires
Observation
JAD (joint application design)
Document Analysis

(b) (i)Questionnaires
This is the mode of gathering data from sampled participants in order to understand an existing system or know the expectations of a new one. The researcher sets off by firstly carefully designing the questions which would best reveal the desired information he so desires.

He, then, goes ahead to administer these questionnaires to his sampled participants and makes sure that they answer them. This is done through follow-ups. But care should be taken that the one administering the questionnaires has good inter-personal skills in order to have a successful survey of opinions.

(ii) Interviews
This technique also involves gathering information from people though in this sense, one would have to talk to his interviewees and ask them relevant and well-crafted questions in order to receive relevant answers. The interviewer is to be able to respectfully steer the conversation/interview to areas of his interest while sifting through all that the interviewee would say.
To engage in a successful interview, the interviewer must first select his interviewees (people he thinks are in a position to know what he needs to know). He can then proceed to formulate concise and relevant questions which he would use to both prepare and conduct the actual interview. It is necessary that after the interview, there be a follow-up by the interviewer in a bid to re-gather vital information interviewees might have forgotten to share, and also probably give them feed-back on the previous interviews.

(iii) Observation
Because people cannot always remember everything they do and the fact that they tend to act differently from their usual selves when they know they are being watched, there is need to independently verify information gotten from them through different methods. Observation is that technique of gathering information without the involved parties becoming aware of it. The Observer should make sure to be discrete, unpredictable and attentive to everything that happens regarding his subjects so that he can read trends which can be compared with information gathered through other sources.

(c) When choosing an information gathering technique, one should take into consideration
1. What type of information is being sought?
2. What is the gravity of the information being sought?
3. What is the scope of the information being sought?
4. Which technique can give corroborated information?
5. Is there need for users to be involved or they can circumvented?
6. What is the comparative cost in getting relevant information through the use of any given technique?

QUESTION 2
(a) What is UML?
It is the abbreviation for Unified Modelling Language. Since a model abstracts the essential details of the underlying problem from its usually complicated real world, it is necessary that there be a standard set of tools which can be used to organize/develop these models so as to allow many categories of people understand them.
Explain the use of the following diagrams:
(i) Use Case diagram:
They are UML diagrams that describe what a system does from the stand-point of an external observer. This is gotten from the fact that a use case, per se, is a summary of all the scenarios for a single task. It is made up of an actor (the user of the system), a use case (what the actor uses the system for) and an association (the actor’s relation to the use case). Thus a use case diagram is a collection of actors, use cases and their relative associations.
They are useful in that they, primarily, help in determining system requirements since new cases may elicit new system requirements as the diagram takes shape. They also aid communication between system developers and clients through the use of relatively simplified diagrammatic notation. Finally, they are useful in generating test cases in that the associated scenarios give a perfect collection of test cases for the system.

(ii) Class Diagrams:
A class diagram gives an overview of a system by showing its classes and the relationships among them. Class diagrams are static in that they display what interacts but not what happens when they do interact. This is from the background that a class is a template for merging attributes and behaviours into a single distinct entity, an object.