Field Notes, Day 9

Nicholas “Nico” Wayo and Accra SOUP

A small group of us accompanied Dr. Hart to speak to Nicholas “Nico” Wayo who immediately introduced himself by saying “I am Anas.” He told us about his knowledge of Anas, a well-known masked investigative reporter based in Ghana who notoriously wears a mask at all times in public and is dedicated to fighting corruption. Nico, an artist, told us that when he met Anas he was asked to become an ambassador for him. Meaning, he would use his art to spread Anas’s image and raise the public’s awareness of his work. Nico often says he is Anas, because we all are Anas. He says this because he believes anyone who is against corruption and believes in accountability empowers Anas and can act as Anas does. Dr. Hart conveyed to us that corruption is so often a two-way street. Yes, there are judges and officials that take bribes, but there are also the actors that do the bribing. Nico agreed that if all Ghanaians were against corruption, Ghana would be different, Ghana would be better - and he thinks that with people like Anas, this ideal is possible. Nico also spoke a lot about the power of art, because the world cannot exist with expression. He works with organizations like PITO (Paint in the open) to create pieces all around Ghana as well as teach students and support artists in order to facilitate creativity and education. Driving or walking along Oxford Street, I always spot one of Nico’s paintings. It’s a depiction of Nkrumah with the saying “Forward Ever, Backward Never.” Nico told us that he will not be voting in this upcoming election because he does not feel like his vote will make a difference. He says that people will wait in queues for up to 24 hours, but the promises that candidates make while campaigning still won’t be upheld when they are in office. However, Nico says that if there is a Ghanaian leader to celebrate it would be Nkrumah, Ghanaians still love his message of Pan-Africanism and nationalism, and they even still honor him on his birthday by watching movies or - in Nico’s circles - making art. Nico also showed us the other types of paintings he does, he is incredibly versatile. He can go from painting realistic portraits and advertisements, to bright, expressive, and organic metaphorical pieces with deep meaning. Nico is a part of a community of Ghanaians that want to see change and feel as if their voices matter in their communities, hence his support of Anas and his dedication to art.

After meeting Nico in the morning, we met with two representatives from Accra SOUP. Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu and Goddy Nana Mens. Accra SOUP was actually developed after its organizers were inspired by the work done by Detroit SOUP. Much like its American counterpart, it combines food, community, and discussion. Community members are invited to have some soup with one another and discuss developments and current events happening, so that established businesses can give updates, start-ups (business, tech, etc.) can make pitches, and citizens can bring up concerns regarding institutions and issues (politics, healthcare, accessibility, mobility, etc.). On both hemispheres, SOUP serves as both a forum and a vehicle for change. However, Kwasi and Goddy shared that some of the things Accra SOUP is struggling with are connected to resources, funding, and publicity. They told us that as students of journalism they have been looking towards local media outlets and social media to help promote their dinners, as well as attempting to look into crowd-funding measures to help raise money. Both men attend the Ghanaian Institute of Journalism with interests in covering issues of social justice, their work with Accra SOUP is their way of reaching out to their communities and instigating palpable changes within the populace that they seek to write about going forward. They also took the time to share with us what kind of writing they want to do when they finish school, which really interested me as a fellow communications student. Kwasi told us about his work researching gender in the newsroom and Goddy told us that he is interested in covering national news that will affect all Ghanaians. I collected their information with the intention of conducting interviews with them about journalism as they understand and pursue it, for the benefit of my own research.