This is a letter to my generation in its 30s and 40s. Good people, the country needs us. And our summons of change is simple: Less talk, more walk. We talk too much and do too little. In fact, we are a generation of cowards. But remember that courage is not “… the absence of fear: It is the conquest of fear”.

The fact that we are afraid is ok. The tragedy is to remain afraid. And if we choose to coy in fear, the country will snap. In sum, Mother Nature is calling us to take over the country.

If we don’t respond to her summons, she will hand over to the generation in its 20s. This is a generation whose “… hormones are pumping like a disco”. They are ruthless, angry and in a hurry.

Back in high school, they were known to burn down their schools. And if they disagreed with their leaders (prefects), they burnt them too. My point? We have no choice; we have no time.

But how shall we take over? I have some thoughts. One, we need more than courage: we need innovation. Let me explain using the story of Gorgon Medusa, the most destructive monster in Greek mythology.

When I read this story, it described our leaders, the monster before us. Instead of hair the Medusa had large spitting snakes crawling over her face. The face itself was so ugly that anyone who looked at her turned into a stone.

No amount of courage would dislodge her. But one warrior by the name of Perseus came up with an innovation. He polished his brass shield to the point that it looked like a mirror and then approached her with his face covered by the shield.

All the Medusa could see was her ugly image with snakes slithering all over her face. And the more she looked at this image, the more irate she became. At the height of her rage and confusion, Perseus emerged from underneath the shield and promptly destroyed her.

We have held the mirror against the ‘‘medusa’’ over the maize and oil scandals. This monster is irritated beyond. There are enough symptoms of this if one looks closely.

But it is not enough to irritate the ‘‘medusa’’ and its corruption enterprise. Like Perseus, we need to capture the moment and destroy it. The question, however, is this: Can we?

My second thought regards the moment. And the question here is this: how shall we know that Mother Nature is angry? That she is calling our generation to action; to a new order of things? Honestly, I have no idea. But we can borrow from history.

When God sent the plagues to Pharaoh, he met a stubborn man. He turned water into blood, Pharaoh was unmoved. He unleashed frogs, lice, and boils but the King soldiered on. It took 10 plagues for Pharaoh to succumb. And the 10th plague was personal: his first born son was killed alongside those of all Egyptians. This is when he let the Israelites go.

As a country, we have experienced the IDP plague, the corruption plague and the plague of untrustworthy leaders. But this is not a sign of anger from Mother Nature. Like in the case of Pharaoh, the plague has to be personal. And, in my view, the idea of The Hague will give us the sign.

In the past, I have opposed The Hague. Well, I was wrong. This is my revised position: The ‘‘gods’’ brought us The Hague. Seriously! We gave our leaders the opportunity to avoid it through a Special Tribunal, but they blew it.

Like Pharaoh, their hearts are hardened. Their 10th plague must, therefore, be personal, painful and bitter. It must involve their children, their mothers, and sundry.

In sum, our leaders can only be fixed by The Hague. And this is why we must serve notice to the Chief Mediator, Mr Kofi Annan.

We must remind him that Mr Justice Waki put deadlines in his report for a reason. He knew that our leaders would be sloppy and play politics with time. This is why he must not give them an extension.

He must forward the envelope to The Hague pronto. And should he choose otherwise, we will know that he is not serious. Instead of naming our children after him, we will burn his effigies in town!