Accra the capital of Ghana is faced with a lot of sanitation issues, these issues have contributed largely to the perennial flooding in the city.
There have been efforts by current and past governments to curb the situation, despite steps taken by the government, littering and indiscriminate disposal of plastic waste is still on the rise in Accra.
In Ghana, recent statistics show that the country generates about 1million tons of plastic waste annually. Out of this, only 2-5% (22,000-55,000) is recycled. The rest end up on landfill (38%), land (28%), sea (23%), or burned (11%).
In a quest to contribute his quota to change the looks of Accra, Moh Awudu a graffiti artist and a painter who is a resident of Nima has decided to use his talent to tell the story of Ghana and also change the looks of the capital.
Speaking to PrimeNewsGhana, Moh Awudu said he identified his talent for drawing at an early age, and after his secondary education he decided to change the narrative of Nima where he resides, one of the slums in Accra noted for many social vices.
He said the GH Graffiti Association is trying hard to make Ghana the next destination for graffiti designs like Brazil and Paris.
Explaining further his work in Ghana and Brazil he said a lot of people are now appreciating graffiti and he intends to expand his works to most part of the city to help deal with the sanitation issues facing Accra.
According to him, he is employing ideas from history and societal issues to help educate Ghanaians to know their history and also desist from some basic societal wrongs like open defecation and littering.
He also called on the government to focus more on painting because it's a great avenue to solve youth unemployment.
About Graffiti
The term graffiti referred to the inscriptions, figure drawings, and such, found on the walls of ancient sepulchres or ruins, as in the Catacombs of Rome or at Pompeii. Use of the word has evolved to include any graphics applied to surfaces in a manner that constitutes vandalism.
The only known source of the Safaitic language, a form of proto-Arabic, is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt desert of southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD.
Modern-style graffiti
The first known example of "modern style" graffiti survives in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (in modern-day Turkey). Local guides say it is an advertisement for prostitution. Located near a mosaic and stone walkway, the graffiti shows a handprint that vaguely resembles a heart, along with a footprint, a number, and a carved image of a woman's head.
The ancient Romans carved graffiti on walls and monuments, examples of which also survive in Egypt. Graffiti in the classical world had different connotations than they carry in today's society concerning content. Ancient graffiti displayed phrases of love declarations, political rhetoric, and simple words of thought, compared to today's popular messages of social and political ideals[11] The eruption of Vesuvius preserved graffiti in Pompeii, which includes Latin curses, magic spells, declarations of love, alphabets, political slogans, and famous literary quotes, providing insight into ancient Roman street life. One inscription gives the address of a woman named Novellia Primigenia of Nuceria, a prostitute, apparently of great beauty, whose services were much in demand. Another shows a phallus accompanied by the text, mansueta tene ("handle with care").
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