BANKER TO BANKER

Two posts in one week. I think I’m catching the writing bug again. Weather is terrible, harmattan and all. Ghana is Ghana. Football boots are now GH¢85 at kantamanto (signs of the Apocalypse). Still though if you are reading this please try to be at Soccer Lounge III on the 28^th of December at Astros Sports Centre, Dzorwulu. All monies collected will be donated to an orphanage. Fun and games towards a worthy cause. Now to today’s post.

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The tension in the room was palpable. The look on Mr. Asante’s face was enough to let his 3 children know that for their own safety absolute silence was a sudden requirement. “….. 5, 87, 70, 17 and 51. Those are the winning numbers for the Monday Special national Lotto.”

A slow grin started to pull at the corners of Mr. Asante’s usually firmly set mouth. Joy started to color his always stern face. All of a sudden he erupted. “Ma wiiiiinnnnniiiiiiiiiiii ooooooohhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.” He had waited years for this moment, burnt through countless lotto calculation papers and worked more maths than the whole actuarial science faculty in KNUST. And finally, finally he had struck gold. He had won, beaten the system. GH¢500,000 all his. Poverty was no longer his portion.

That was 6 months ago. Mr. Asante had burnt through the money so fast by the time he thought of saving some there was nothing to save. He had actually managed to overspend into the meager savings he had before he won the lotto. Party after party, sponsoring the boys at various pubs and clubs accompanied with assorted drinks and meat (Mr. Nigel Amegatcher’s term) sprees. The good life had been short lived and he was back to poverty again.

The End.

 

Well not quite. You might be wondering what the story above has to do with anything (that is if you haven’t figured it out already). I always found the subject of lotto and betting intriguing. Not least because the odds always seem to be skewered against the person who places the wager. A bit of mathematics then, if u were to bet on a rolling die your odds of winning on one roll will be 1 out of 6. Your odds of losing, on the other hand, 5 out of 6. See my point. No? Okay.

In the national lottery, to hit a jackpot you need 6 numbers out of a possible 99. That’s a 6.060606% ad infinitum chance of winning. That gives the you a 93.9393% ad infinitum chance of losing.

Now to make my point, I see people stake lotto on a daily basis. From “Sure banker” to “2 Sure” to “Banker to Banker” and the likes. These same people will tell you Ghana is hard and there is no money in the system. Now I am not a maths genius (except core maths in which I’m a boss *insert sunglasses wearing smiley*) but lets do some more maths. There are roughly 230 working days on the Ghanaian calendar (this is an estimate I beg. This is for hypothetical purposes only). For the ardent lotto man who stakes on a daily basis, assuming a minimum of GH¢1 a day, that’s GH¢230 in a year. That may not seem like a lot but consider the person who has been staking lotto for 10 years plus. That’s GH¢2300 and we haven’t even added the cost of the lotto working sheets.

But all this was prevalent a couple of years ago. There’s a new trend now (menace or opportunity depending on which side of the line you are on), that of casinos and sports betting companies. Personally I pay no mind to them but I noticed a lot of my friends and acquaintances are dabbling in it. I understand them though. Most of us spend some time predicting score outlines of matches so why not wager a bit and get paid for it in the process?

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not here to force you to accept my beliefs and principals, far from that actually. After all “to each his own” and we are all adults. I’m just saying what I think. And I’m not saying all those who win jackpots waste them and return to square one. There are some instances (though few and far between) of people who actually win jackpots and use it to better their life. However it must be known that Lady Luck is a fickle mistress capable of desertion without prior notice. And free money has a tendency to disappear.

Well makasa aky3. I sincerely hope there was some semblance of sense in all that and that the appropriate authorities place some sort of regulation on these gaming houses to prevent exploitation of people especially the underage kids around.

And to my betting friends, when the day comes that PSG, Man Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United (though unlikely right now) help you hit the jackpot please remember to call me when its time to chill. After all no money is sweeter that free money.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Lotto Doctor

Kwaku Ayisa

THE ART OF CATCHING FISH

It has been a long time. I am truly sorry *bows head in shame*. I wish I had a foolproof excuse as to why but I don’t. The honest truth is I have been lazy and a rut I hit left me with half stories in my head which I kept getting stuck on halfway. I promise to work harder and have a story for you guys by next week. For now tho here’s something to ponder about.

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I once heard somewhere or rather read, can’t seem to remember which it was, that “It is better to teach a hungry man how to fish rather than to give him fish”. These sentiments have been echoed by Jiqqa himself, who apart from being a rapper owns interests in quite a number of businesses, implying some semblance of truth in the statement. I have come to agree with this after some much deserved thought myself. This is explained as if you keep giving someone fish the person will just become dependent on you and on the day you don’t have any fish the person will go hungry.  However if you teach said person to fish, the person becomes self reliant and can thus survive without you.

You may all be wondering what my raving in the previous chapter is about and why I am explaining obvious proverbs. In the past month and half or so I have walked past the supreme court of Ghana on my way to my posting as a humble National Service Personnel each morning. I walk past a man who uses clutches who greets me in an attempt to solicit for alms. I have resorted to turning up the volume of my music in order to not hear him and as such not trouble my conscience by ignoring him intentionally.

Now before some of you accuse me of being evil, not having feelings and seeing his plight allow me to explain myself. Day after day I see a multitude of beggars roam the streets of Accra. Some look genuinely physically disabled. Others look fine. Some are our own people whilst others are from foreign lands some of us have never been to. I’m sure there are a multitude of different and similar stories as to how they ended up there. Now I ask this, does the continuous giving of alms to them actually help them?? Or it just gives them a meal from day to day??

Reason for all this is I once saw a physically disabled man in one of their vehicles (the one that looks like a tricycle with hand operated pedals). I was so impressed by what I saw that I started to question the excuse some of these so called beggars have for roaming the street. He had draped his “vehicle” with banners and stickers of the various network service providers. Wearing a distinctive MTN vest he was pedaling through traffic selling credit. I realized at that point in time that no matter how desperate your situation there was always something that you can do about it if you were willing to try.

Now take note I’m not saying that don’t give alms or that beggars don’t have a right to be there. I’m just sharing the thoughts that entered my head. Give alms if your heart tells you to, I know I will. I’m just saying that it is sometimes better to teach people to fish rather than to give them fish.

Kwaku Ayisa,

Aspiring fisherman