Of course we do not know. But we are not helpless victims of time. We can and should try to make the future respond to our hopes and aspirations. We cannot be completely successful. We cannot foresee all the future and many happenings would be beyond our control and influence. But we must learn from the past. 2009 ended on a brutal note as the Daily Graphic put it. It burnt even our children away in its last days. Earlier it drowned them. But we cannot blame time's ever-rolling stream for drowning our children in floods when we build on water-ways. And so when time bears its sons and daughters away we should not only mourn but reflect deeply. The year 2009 bore many of our great and famous men and women away. For the year 2010 to be a better year we should try to learn and profit from their lives. The end of the year witnessed the passing away of two Ghanaians who left us with much to think about and whose work encourages us to strive for a bet-ter future. Dan Lartey was a colourful politician with a simple message which goes to the heart of our ailing economy: Grow what you eat and eat what you grow. Col. I.K. Acheampong applied this maxim with admirable results in his first three years of office. Today we tend to drift without much aim and resolve. We beg those we recently called colonialists and imperialists to feed us with food which changes our taste and desires and makes us forever dependent. Dan Lartey was charming and simple in his delivery and was no threat to any ambitious politician. He, therefore, had few if any enemies and his message was not dismissed with the usual venom. But it was not treated with the seriousness it deserved. The message of "domestication" may be amusing but we cannot allow Dan 'Lartey's message to be rolled away with his death in the final hours of 2009. Among the others whose passing away in the closing days of 2009 deserves serious reflection was John Kofi Tettegah. At a time when many are not happy with the products of our schools, we should examine how the genius of the young Tettegah was nurtured in our poorly endowed schools of yesteryear. Born in 1930 John Tettegah attended the Roman Catholic Primary School at Borada in the Volta Region from 1939 to 1942. John continued his elementary education at Jasikan Roman Catholic School in 1943 and completed his schooling in 1947. This means that he started his elementary education at nine and had four years at Borada and five years at Jasikan. Those who argue so much about how many years should be spent at JSS and SSS should quieten down and reflect on what effect the age of entry and the number of years spent had on some of our great men like John Tettegah. It is interesting to note that Tettegah had no normal secondary school education. He enrolled at Ashley Secretarial College, Accra in 1948 and completed the course in 1950. Now secretarial schools like Ashley started long before the state established the Government Secretarial School. Ghanaians are enterprising and in education private schools met national needs with competence and dedication. What is the situation now? And if the striving after excellence in Tettegah's time is no larger the case in many government assisted or public and private schools, why is that so? And what can be done to change the situation for the better. John Tettegah made the best of his education. He did not moan that he did not go to any of the leading secondary schools or to a university. He was confident, self-reliant and healthily ambitious. At 24, he replaced the veteran Turkson Ocran as the Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress. John Tettegah received a British - TUC scholarship to study labour matters Britain. He regarded this as an opportunity to equip himself for greater service. These days the Pajero and other spoils of office make us lobby intrigue and fight for such opportunities. We return from studies abroad and we think mainly of advancement of self and are not that much concerned with improving the establishment or intuitions. To John Tettegah it was different. He used the acquired knowledge and insight to turn Trade Unionism into a formidable instrument for independence and social and industrial transformation. 2009 has robbed us of John Kofi Tettegah. But 2010 has more 24-year-olds who can rise to the top like Tettegah did and serve the nation. The young men and women can succeed provided we do not stultify genuine confidence, competence and healthy ambition. Leadership should recognise and use ability to achieve national objectives as Nkrumah did with John Tettegah. The year 2010 will certainly be a difficult one. But we should certainly be able to meet its challenges with vigorous thinking and purposeful action. We should be proud Ghanaians, determined to build on the great men and women whom the rolling stream of time has carried away. Credit: K.B. Asante Source: Daily Graphic (Voice from Afar)