WHAT WILL GHANA DO TO HELP THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN - IN THEIR HOUR OF NEED?

The Japanese people have just suffered a most terrifying and horrific ordeal - as Japan experienced what has been described as one of the most powerful earthquakes recorded anywhere on earth, since records began. So powerful was the quake that the main Japanese island, Honshu, has apparently shifted some 7.8 ft according to the US Geological Survey - and it has also caused the earth's axis to shift some 9.8in, according to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.

Tragically, that "superquake" was followed minutes later, by pounding 30ft tall giant waves - as a tsunami swept across the north eastern coastline. Compounding the misery and devastation caused by both natural events, was the explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, on Saturday morning - another disaster that might eventually lead ultimately to an apocalyptic melt-down scenario, with consequences too ghastly to even contemplate.

The "superquake" and the tsunami, have caused widespread devastation, in what is one of Ghana's most generous friends, amongst the wealthy nations that have provided our country with development aid, over the decades.

The question is: what are the government and people of Ghana going to do to help our generous Japanese friends, in their hour of extreme need? They may not need our money, but they will doubtless welcome a widow's mite contribution from Ghana, made up, for example, of a plane load or two, of the products of the various cocoa processing companies in Ghana - for distribution to children in Japan (and any chocolate-loving adults who might crave them too).

A few that come readily to this particular old man's sieve-like mind are: Nestle Ghana's Milo; the Cocoa Processing Company's (CPC) Kingsbite dark chocolate (definitely one of the best dark chocolates in the world), and the CPC's equivalent of Nestle's Milo, the brand name of which escapes me; Cadbury Ghana's Richoco; and Cargill Ghana's chocolate milk drink (the brand name of which, alas, also escapes me).

Since the Crown Prince of Japan has visited Ghana before, and has met our current rulers, perhaps the donation from Ghana ought to be given to him to receive on the Japanese people's behalf. If someone from his family gives them out, one doubts that those receiving them, will be squeamish about making use of what they receive from us - simply because they have come from a poor developing nation in Africa that they know little about.

One hopes our current rulers will consult the Japanese Embassy here, and work something out quickly with them, to enable a donation of the kind suggested above, to be flown to Japan as soon as practicable. If we can pay for plane loads of Ghanaians to travel to watch and support our national football team, we can also afford to help our Japanese friends in their hour of need too, surely - despite our much-straitened circumstances?

Perhaps some Ghanaian troops from the 48 Engineers Regiment (and their equipment) could also be sent along with the consignment of cocoa products, to help their colleagues from the Japanese Self-Defence Force - as some form of practical help from the government and people of Ghana.

We must show the Japanese people that their tragedy touches our hearts. The amazing and inspiring story of how they rebuilt their destroyed nation, after the Second World War, and through hard work and discipline, turned it into one of the most prosperous societies on the face of the earth, is one that should inspire us too - as we seek to transform Ghana into an African equivalent of the egalitarian societies of Scandinavia.

Surely, we can fall on the US African Command for aircraft to transport the gift and troops - if we are unable to hire some quickly enough, for the usual financial reasons? Our hearts go out to the people of Japan - and our thoughts and prayers are with them. We wish them all well, and hope that things will return to normal again quickly, for such a hard-working and generous people, whom virtually all Ghanaians admire and respect so much.

Finally, and on a more personal note, I do hope that my Japanese daughter, Michiko Funayama, her mother Setsuko (and her grandparents, as well as all her Japanese blood-relations in the Akita area), whom I am unfortunately unable to reach yet, are all safe somehow. Incidentally, three days prior to the tragic events in faraway Japan, I had a dream that there had been an earthquake in Ghana.

Little did I know that a few days later, I would be full of anxiety for my own kin in Japan: which would be getting one of the most powerful quakes humankind has experienced yet. Life is indeed full of mysteries - and puny man completely at the mercy of the forces of nature: which we delude ourselves into thinking we have tamed. Unfortunately, the harsh and frightening reality, is that what little security there is in our fragile existence on this earth, is entirely in the hands of unpredictable Mother Nature, it would appear. How fleeting all life really is, too - come to think of it!


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