Celebrated playwright and CEO of Roverman Productions, Uncle Ebo Whyte, has challenged the long-held belief that Ghanaians are naturally hospitable, arguing that the kindness often praised is largely reserved for foreigners rather than fellow citizens.
Speaking on The Career Trail on Joy Prime with Irene Adubea Aning, he lamented how Ghanaians often make life unnecessarily difficult for one another while going out of their way to support outsiders.
“People say Ghanaians are hospitable. That is not true. We are hospitable to foreigners,” he said. “It is about time we become hospitable to our own. Because if we don’t, what happens is that foreigners will look down on us. They come here with nothing, we make life easy for them, and they succeed. Meanwhile, we are busy sabotaging our fellow Ghanaians.”
‘Ghana Will Make You Sweat Unnecessarily’
Uncle Ebo Whyte described life in Ghana as a struggle for locals, saying it often feels like punishment to be born Ghanaian.
“Ghana will make you sweat unnecessarily. Sometimes it’s almost as if Ghanaians are determined to punish anybody who allows himself to be born a Ghanaian,” he remarked.
According to him, Ghanaians are quick to uplift foreigners but reluctant to celebrate or support their own people.
“If I were a Nigerian, a South African, European, or American doing what I am doing in Ghana, it would be celebrated. But because I am Ghanaian, I have to struggle. That is Ghana.
We don’t want to see our own prospering. We don’t want to see a Ghanaian doing well. Yet, if it’s a foreigner, we don’t mind,” he stressed.
Why Ghanaians Leave the Country
He warned that this mindset is a major factor driving many citizens to seek greener pastures abroad.
“The day we change that mindset, no Ghanaian will have to leave Ghana. All the people queuing for visas, all the people risking their lives through the desert to get to Europe, it will stop,” he said.
“Because the truth is, you can’t get the quality of life you can have in Ghana anywhere else. Ghana is a blessed place, but unfortunately, the people are not making it easy for each other.”
A Call to Support One Another
Uncle Ebo Whyte urged Ghanaians to change how they treat one another, emphasizing that the country’s progress depends on collective support and celebration of local talent and effort.
“If there’s one thing we must change, it is this: a Ghanaian supporting another Ghanaian, rooting for another Ghanaian, celebrating another Ghanaian. Until we do that, we will go nowhere,” he said.
“More seriously, we will create an environment where foreigners will always be ahead of us and will never respect us.”
He concluded with a powerful call to action. “It’s up to you and I. If you see a Ghanaian doing something, that’s your brother, that’s your sister. Whatever you can do to help that person, do it. That is the only way we can keep faith in this nation.”