It was in February when I got a message from the German Embassy to meet with the deputy ambassador. At the meeting, the diplomat and his special aide told me about an upcoming programme for bloggers from around the world and asked me if I would like to attend.
They said they had searched the Ghanaian blogosphere and found no blog as worthy of the programme as atokd.com. I was flattered. I felt honoured. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. And so I said “yes”.
But since it was such a big programme for a few people, I had to go through a selection process supervised by the German Foreign Ministry. Today, I am pleased to announce that I am among the selected few.
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And so for ten days in May, I will be the guest of the German government, receiving training on the use of the internet to promote democracy and expand the frontiers of free speech. About a dozen bloggers from around the world will also be participating in the programme.
On afrigator.com, where African blogs are ranked, atokd.com is currently ranked number 3 in Ghana and number 55 in Africa. The top two blogs in Ghana are run by an American and a Nigerian respectively. Ethan Zuckerman (www.ethanzuckerman.com) and David Oluniyi Ajao (www.davidajao.com) are veteran bloggers. Together, they have been dons of the Ghanaian blogosphere for more than 10 years. Considering that I’ve been a blogger for just a little over a year, I am not ashamed to be trailing them.
My selection for the programme in Berlin is yet another testimony to the success of atokd.com over the past 18 months or so. It isn’t much to be proud of. But I want to use the opportunity to express my gratitude to all those who religiously visit this blog, contributing to making it the irrepressible arena of free expression, where people are not afraid to think out of the box.
Like they say in Germany, “Danke”. Thank you and keep visiting.
