#AbrahamAttah: The Curious Case of an Evidence-Based Actor.
I don’t know how John Dumelo is feeling right now.
No, the general elections (in Ghana) have not been held. And no, Nana Akuffo Addo has not been declared the next president of Ghana.
At least not yet.
But the curious case of Abraham Attah and his dramatic rise, coupled with his globetrotting ‘antics’ has been in the media for a week now.
So am thinking John is relaxed now.
One thing is for sure though. Abraham Attah is a household name now.
When he landed at Kotoka, after his escapades, the media was there to greet him. Then he was whisked away by state protocol (am guessing here) to meet the Veep. So yes Abraham is a celebrity and his case is curious.
Not because he has made a politically incorrect statement, which usually gives you traction on the nation’s biggest breakfast shows but because he has starred in a movie. Just one movie.
A movie which I have not watched and I don’t intend to (thank you Wikipedia).
I don’t know why some of you guys were angry with Jay Foley and those radio presenters said to have made some derogatory comments about Abraham’s speech or accent.
If it was true, then they spoke the mind of our celebrity actors and producers.
In fact, they spoke the mind of John Dumelo, Majid Michelle, Nadia Buari, Jackie Appiah and even our neighbours the Nollywood actors who have made countless movies but have not seen the reward and global attention a boy who has starred in only just one movie has garnered.
But you see, any anger and jealousy for this boy’s rise would be misplaced. No one should be angry with Abraham Attah. They should be angry with the movie producers who gave this boy the chance to show his ‘one talent’.
They should be angry with the environment they found themselves. The environment that says despite your talent and hard work, you cannot still put a decent meal on the table for your family not to talk about your mother in the village.
The environment that says that you can work for 30 years but you cannot reward yourself with a decent home-used Toyota Yaris.
Then again, Jay Foley should be the last person to try and mock this young boy. He is a testament to how difficult it is to get an interview on the red carpet. And as a presenter, how your last resort would be getting artists who are passed their glory days so much so that nobody remembers their last hits.
Am not going to talk about how Sarkodie, our biggest hip life star was put in a room and made to record his acceptance speech (with an iPhone) and when Jay Foley’s rap god after gathering all the hype, showed up at the BET Awards in 2012 and on the famous cypher show, all he could come up with was about drinking some ‘Amarula’ Irish cream sh*t after his last meal…smh.
So, please!!!
Nobody should insult our stars for voicing their disdain for this boy. And considering all the pains they go through even just to get an American visa, I wouldn’t fault them one bit.
And you, such a small boy!! Would just come noor and what? Be posting pictures on your social media timelines with Morgan Freeman, Sylvester Stallone and Will Smith?
Will Smith!!!
Are you mad???
It took John Dumelo, Sarkodie and Yvonne Nelson to descend into the gutters with our politicians before President Mahama could mention them in his interviews.
But check His Excellency’s twitter handle.…his team raving on about how this boy is an example of which we need more to position Ghana (59-year-old product). For what? I wonder.
How ironic, that the same time the President’s team were praising and demanding more of Abraham Attahs to carry ‘Brand Ghana’ high, a renowned preacher was talking about our environment and how it is stifling growth and potentials.
For all those who were too deep in their slumber to get what the good old preacher was talking about, he was referring to the likes of Abraham Attah; who featured in a movie that had nothing to do with Ghana, was not made by Ghanaians and certainly wasn’t meant for us but still got an instant global recognition from it.
The leading star was Idris Elba.
Yes, he is half Ghanaian.
But the environment that gave him the opportunity to star in great movies such as Mandela (Long Walk to Freedom), American Gangster and the Beast of No Nation had nothing to do with this (sulfuric) environment. Rather the ‘clean’ environment that allowed him to exhibit his God-given talent is the same one that is rubbing off on this young boy and taken him to places which some of us can only dream of in our lifetime.
So yes Mark Zuckerberg is not smarter than Derry Dean and the guys at Dream Oval or Alex Adjei Bram of SMS Ghana and his team.
Neither is Abraham more talented than John Dumelo or Majid.
Not even close.
But the same environment that catapulted Zuckerberg to be a multi-billionaire in less than 10 years is the same environment changing the life of Abraham Attah and making us all brim with envy and got him invited to the Flagstaff House straight from the airport.
My Request
So, Mr. President next time request that your social media team confirms with you whatever they tweet with your handle even though we are aware your tweets are signed off with JM.
For you, I humbly request that you get the Otabil ‘Dare to Dream’ tape and listen. Ask Ibrahim, your brother to listen with you. I know he would relate better to all the scenarios the preacher was talking about since he is an entrepreneur and a businessman.
He would understand how some of us are pretending to be big shots on social media whiles we do business from our mothers’ bedroom. How some of us have lost our jobs despite all the degrees and MBAs…whatever we call them these days.
And then maybe.
Just may be. You would understand why Abraham Attah cannot be used as a yardstick for measuring and demanding the more of his likes in Ghana since the fame he has attained has nothing to do with this sulfur-ridden environment called Ghana.
NB: Otabil was right, as an entrepreneur struggling to find investors for my startup, this sulfuric environment I found myself is not helping and it certainly wasn’t going to help Abraham until you-know-who came along.
Jerry Adu-Asare is a social media consultant, brand journalist and a freelance writer. Would appreciate if hit the recommend button after reading this article. We can also connect on Twitter @JerryAduAsare.
