Show down in Asylum Down :lessons from my Middle Sch by Prof. Kwesi Yankah

The launch of my book yesterday gives me the freedom to sigh, but also to steal
from its contents without looking over my shoulders. Yet even while the launch
was going on, we were missing a few notables who were a;ending mee<ngs in
‘Asylum Down,’ and bi<ng their primary school finger nails in search of solu<ons
to dilemmas.
And which ruling party has never carried thorny dilemmas. Should the issue of
who qualifies to be shortlisted for flagbearer in a party spin a crisis? Surprisingly
this has lingered awhile, triggering the type of headlines that remind us of
Mohammed Ali’s rhymes those days. It should now be possible for hip hop
musicians and rappers to even to coin phrases like ‘Show Down in Asylum Down’
(copyrighted). So for once, we are s<ll deba<ng who was First, Second, Third, last
and so on in a super delegates congress? Those days, to be last in school was
dreadful. Woawe, they would tease. But the teacher would merely announce the
results, and allow the pupils to freely apply ‘Last’ to whom it may concern.
To be first was great, and rare. To be second or third put you in the running for
excellence without being declared a wizard. You could of course be an assistant
wizard of sorts, and s<ll a;ract cheer leaders. In our middle school however, our teacher’s logic would have completely overruled the current controversy which
is paralyzing the ruling party. Read page 34/35 of my book just launched, The
Pen at Risk. Without looking over my shoulder, let me copy:
At school our favorite teacher was one cane-happy gentleman in his forties;
slim, stern, and tough talking. He was so fearsome when he was sighted
from a distance coming to class, a typical alert signal would be sounded to
ensure all talking ceased before terror arrived. The signal was although,
although, although, which simply meant oreba ooo, oreba oo ‘he is
coming.’ That indeed became a signature alarm; it simply meant danger
was looming. ‘Although’ had an additional uniqueness. His results
declaration after exams defied laid down practice. He would sometimes
declare the best student in the exams as First, and the next best as Third
(not Second). Second would have meant the student’s raw marks were
fairly close to the First. If the numerical gap was not marginal (but
extremely wide), no student had any business boasting he was Second. His
position was Third which would leave him whipping his fingers and aiming
higher next time. In three successive terms I spent at Kwabena Nkrumah
school, no pupil was ever Second at Form Three. We were indeed lucky
anybody at all was First in the scheme of Although.
Which school was this? It was Kwabena Nkrumah Middle School in Akim Achiase,
near Oda.
NPP, if you cannot locate the place, Ace Ankomah will take you there. That’s
where he comes from.