OUMUAMUA aka THE MESSENGER

By Nii B. Andrews

In October this year, an interstellar body or asteroid was seen for the first time in our solar system.

It was spotted with the University of Hawaii’s Pan Starrs robotic telescope that is used to scout space for asteroids that may collide with the earth.

This alien asteroid has been named Oumuamua- the Hawaiian word for “messenger”.

It is cigar shaped and estimated to be 400m long and about 40m across.

Oumuamua is red and dark – the color of carbon based molecules that are the building blocks of life.

Also of significant converging interest is a metal sculpture by Kofi Setordji titled, The Messenger.

The artist takes an anthropomorphic stance here since the piece appears to be in motion while standing upright on two legs…..perhaps even with an uplifted left wing albeit with a clipped right wing/arm.

Furthermore, there are multiple excrescences on all parts of the piece; it is rough, extremely uneven, parts appear missing.

Is Setordji suggesting that the object has had a rough time?

Is the object itself the message or the message is external to and separate from the object – perhaps a text that we have to search for, read and understand?

The same question is applicable to both Oumuamua (the interstellar asteroid) and the Messenger (Setordji’s sculpture).

At this time, the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia is monitoring Oumuamua for artificial radio signals – usually presumed to be indicative of extraterrestrial intelligence.

What should they do if they find any; should they respond or not; what should they say; what can they say?

If Oumuamua came from our nearest star (after the sun) called Proxima Centauri, then based on the object’s current speed of travel, it’s voyage must have taken 83,000 years!

Is that not a message all by itself?

Note that Voyager I launched from Earth will at its current speed take 400,000 years to reach Proxima.

Now back to Setordji’s “roughed up” piece, The Messenger. Perhaps it is a veiled warning from astute observations of our contemporary society.

In contemporary Ghana, what happens to those who ask searching questions or offer robust, constructive and balanced critiques of the status quo in our tottering institutions in order to improve them?

Honestly, do we listen to or engage them appropriately; or do we become loud or clandestinely belligerent towards them; calling them “know it alls”, trouble makers, rebels and purveyors of disharmony?

Does our Amen corner not readily taunt and jeer them while saying, “you will change nothing, you will achieve nothing, you complain too much”?

We should know our stock in trade and why Dunning-Kruger offers a highly plausible explanation.

What is the fate of these messengers and their message?

The answers should indicate important reasons for the stark differences in development parameters between our country and others, sixty years after independence.