Features
Vikings stir up
The Viking Spirit is Holy Spirit. It is a cool, quiet, powerful spirit. It descends like a dove on official residents of Mensah Sarbah Hall and they prophesy. The tutors are likely to speak in tongues and the honourable hall master may do signs and wonders.
Unlike the Holy Spirit, however, the Viking Spirit can be rebellious. The Vandals of Commonwealth know it. The only hall Vandals are uncomfortable with is Sarbah. The Vikings have often used wits and chicanery to tame the wild Vandals.
When I was a young Viking, I was a strategist of the hall. I was also the hall astrologer and told the fortunes of the hall when it came to war with the Vandals. My room-mate, Akortey Anaara, was at the time a numerologist who used figures to read the outcome of conflicts.
It often turned out that sometimes the Vandals saw it fit to sue for peace. And peace was granted. I must admit, however, that when it came to football, the Vandals thrashed us bad.
Today, we can all be grateful that the Viking spirit is still intact. A little sign of it emerged recently when Vikings rose against their senior tutor. It is rebellious and unacceptable. But it means the spirit is very much alive.
Anyhow, it was not exactly a coup d’état. Far from it. Just a stir, a harmless mutiny. They’ve been asked by the senior tutor to send out all refrigerators from the rooms of the hall. Wallahi! You lie bad!
Well, in our time, the students would not have over-reacted, probably because life was a bit more manageable. Today life is difficult for the students. They are over-crowded, they have to get their own food, and there is no romance because one student cannot ‘narrow’ five or six others without precipitating in a civil war.
The last time I visited Legon, I was sad. No breathing space! When students were paired, life was good; today, the rooms are like secondary school dormitories, when some students are senior citizens with children and grand-children, and even great grandchildren.
To live with five or six others in a tiny room can have its own social, religious, economic and political implications. For all you know, there can be political alliances formed, and this can be interesting until it degenerates into a boxing showdown in the corridor or balcony. The NDC guys are specialists in upper-cuts. With the NPP ones, you certainly have to watch your balls. Asee ho!
However, the most dangerous is religion. A Muslim student must wake up at 5:00am to say his prayers. Allah Ku Baru! Allah Ku Baru! The guy next to him might be a Bahai who enjoys his sleep only at dawn. Moreover, he is macho and does not tolerate nonsense. The other guy on the far east may also be a born-again who can only catch the Holy Spirit over-speed at exactly 4:00 am. When he speaks in tongues, the building shakes.
The paddy-man sandwiched somewhere in the mezzanine west has a problem with his alimentary system. He easily develops gas in his colon, and he is only comfortable when he releases the gas on regular basis. So the rook is always air conditioned in a manner that can cause nausea, vomiting and nightmares.
So it turns out that every student contributes his quota to the general discomfort, and this is bound to affect academic work in a very radical way. When some of the students want their peace to sleep, others want to cram throughout the night. The next morning everyone is restive, sleepy-eyed, furious and ready to punch. And the good news is that Madam Amoakohene wants all refrigerators out, defaulters to face revolutionary action.
Well, students are supposed to be obedient. In our time, we were very obedient. May be, it was because we were not ordered to send our refrigerators out and we were not as frustrated as today’s students. We were very nice with the hall tutors and often shared lagers with them.
I am sure the senior tutor means well, except that she did not understand the viewpoint of the students and, of course, their frustration with life on campus. One refrigerator could be allowed in every room for the common use of the inmates. Of course, more than one refrigerator per room can create space problems, and every student cannot bring his own refrigerator.
I hear the hall is thinking about a common room for refrigerators. The students aren’t pleased with that. You can’t trust others – stealing and poisoning are cited as possible.
Whatever it is, the hall tutors will have to sit down with the students and find a compromise bearing in mind that the students are already suffering and need some comfort to cope with academic work.
Fact also is, some of us old Vikings aren’t pleased with the bad publicity about the hall. It went to the extent that, the issue had to be discussed on a radio station with Madam doing a lot of elaboration and some damage control.
She is intelligent, very articulate and sounds like a Beijing activist. May be she is the best person for the job, after all. A bit of patience on her part would do, though. The students need it. They need love and understanding because they are highly-strung and in tight corners.
If you hear them complaining you’d be sad. A Volta girl was complaining to me the other day. Her mates are just not neat at all. They are noisy, unkempt and disgusting. Some bring their boyfriends to the rooms. Sometimes the boys sleep and snore hard. Jesus Christ of Nazareth! If the girl fails her exams no one should blame her.
The university needs lots of hostels to cope with the current situation, I bet.
This article was first published on Saturday April 7, 2001
Today, I focus on the Apostolic Church International in Finland, as I continue with my description of institutions and personalities and their accomplishments as members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Finland.
The Apostolic Church International, Finland (or, Apostolic International Association Ry) was established in October 9, 2023. The Church in Finland has seen significant strides and accomplishments within the short time that it has been established in Finland, which must be highlighted.
History of the Church in Ghana
The Apostolic Church Ghana originated from the 1904–1905 Welsh revival, officially established in Ghana (then called Gold Coast) in 1935 following connections between a local prayer group in Asamankese (a town in southern Ghana), led by Peter Newman Anim, and the Apostolic Church, UK. There were historical splits in 1939 and 1953, but the Apostolic Church attained autonomy in 1985.
Today, the Church is headquartered in Accra. Last year (2025), it dedicated its new 10-storey headquarters, “The Apostolic Church Tower,” in Frafraha, Adenta West in Accra.
Activities of the Apostolic Church in Finland
The Apostolic Church in Finland conducts church service on Sundays. The service starts at 11a.m. in the morning and closes by 1 p.m. in the afternoon. There are no other activities during other days for now.
The Minister in charge of the church in Finland is also the Area Head of Italy Area. He is Pastor Daniel Kofi Addison who is the new Italy Area Head, and has just been transferred from UK South Area to Italy Area during the just-ended Council Meeting in March this year. Italy Area comprises Italy, which has 13 Assemblies, Germany, one Assembly, and Finland, one Assembly.
Elder Ebenezer Amoaning-Coffie is the Presiding Elder in charge of the Assembly in Finland. A Presiding Elder is responsible for day to day activities of the church (Assembly) and reports to the District Pastor, or in the absence of the District Pastor, reports to the Area Head.
Achievements
The Apostolic Church International, Finland was officially registered under the Finnish Law, guaranteeing freedom of worship and providing legal foundation for future growth. The church service is conducted in both English and Twi.
The church opens its doors to all people of every nation, especially Ghanaians who are in Finland and other African nationals. Now, the membership comprises Ghanaians, Nigerians and Sierra Leoneans.
The Church and the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland
The Apostolic Church in Finland plays a prominent role as a religious group that serves Ghanaian migrants and others in the Finnish society.
Thus, the Apostolic Church is a religious body for Ghanaian migrants in Finland and other nationalities who want to worship with them for diversity and better intercultural and multicultural understanding.
Elder Amoaning-Coffie said that the main and primary aim of the church is to bring people closer to God. “We aim to win souls for Christ. We aim to preach the gospel to the world. By propagating the gospel to the people, we are hopeful that they will turn away from any ungodly ways and be good individuals in the community and in society in general”, he stated.
He said that everything is going well so far. A key challenge, however, is how to get more members especially the youth. As a new Assembly, we are in need of instrumentalists, for example. We pray to God Almighty to help us do His work, the Elder disclosed.
Integration
By its activities, the Apostolic Church is helping to ensure integration of its members well into the Finish society. This is important since social interaction and citizens’ well-being are an important part of the integration process in Finland.
As I mentioned some time ago, the role of migrant associations and groups such as the Apostolic Church acting as bridge-builders for the integration and inclusion of migrants through participation in the decision making process and by acting as a representative voice is highly appreciated in Finland. Thank you!
With Dr Perpetual Crentsil
The landscape of the Ghanaian palate is shifting, and not necessarily for the better. In our bustling urban centres, from the streets of Accra to the suburbs of Kumasi, a quiet culinary revolution is taking place; one where the mortar and pestle are being replaced by the pizza oven and the deep fryer. This transition from traditional staple foods like fufu, banku, akple, kenkey, tuo zaafi, and ampesi toward “continental” dishes is more than just a change in appetite; it is a reflection of a deeper social struggle with identity and prestige.
The illusion of modernity
For many, “stepping out” for a meal has become synonymous with consuming foreign cuisine. There is an unspoken social hierarchy where a bowl of Abunuabunu is relegated to the village category, while burgers, pizzas are branded as prestigious choices. We have reached a stage where we equate foreign with modern and local with primitive.
This perception is a dangerous illusion. Our traditional dishes are marvels of culinary engineering complex, nutrient-dense, and deeply rooted in our history. When we choose a processed foreign import over a meal made from local tubers or fermented maize, we are not just changing our lunch; we are eroding the indigenous knowledge attached to our local ingredients and foods.
We need to turn the consumption of indigenous grains and tubers like millet, sorghum, and plantain into a statement of self-worth and national pride.
The cultural and health erosion
Every time a local dish disappears from a restaurant menu to make room for foreign fast food, we lose a piece of our cultural fabric. Traditional Ghanaian cooking is an art that requires patience and skill. By choosing the convenience of foreign fast food, we are raising a generation that may know the taste of a pepperoni pizza but cannot identify the rich, earthy profile of Prekese or the subtle tang of well-fermented dough dishes like corn porridge, banku, etew, abolo, agidi or kamfa, and kenkey.
Furthermore, we are at the crossroads of a nutrition transition. Replacing high-fiber, indigenous crops with calorie-dense but nutrient-poor foreign fast foods is driving a rise in lifestyle diseases such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and liver disease. We are trading our longevity for 15-minutes convenience or unhealthy diet.
A call for culinary patriotism
It is time for us to appreciate, preserve, and promote our indigenous foods and culinary traditions. We need to be proud of our local dishes, ingredients and cooking methods, rather than relying heavily on foreign or imported foods. We must stop viewing our local delicacies as low-class and start treating our culinary heritage as the high-end gastronomy it truly is.
True sophistication does not come from imitating Western fast food; it comes from innovation and adding values to our own resources. We see glimpses of this potential in the rise of branded Sobolo and the creative use of gluten-free plantain flour in modern baking of flour-based dishes such as bread, cakes, biscuits and others. This is the path forward. We must elevate our local dishes, making them as accessible, affordable, presentable and trendy as any foreign alternative.
To the hospitality industry: Innovate or stagnate
Our hotels and high-end restaurants must lead the charge. They must stop relegating local dishes to the “traditional corner” of the buffet, and apply the same culinary finesse given to imported dishes to our Fante Fante, apapransa, aborbi tadi, fetritoto, akple, abolo, yakayeke, fufu, ampesi, kokonte, wasawasa, tubani, apapransa, mpotompoto, kelewele, aliha, brukutu, pito, and other local dishes. The industry must enhance customer experiences making eating local dishes the ultimate luxury experience for both tourists and residents alike. We must elevate the presentation of our foods by using modern plating techniques to show that a bowl of light soup can be as visually stunning as a French consommé. We need to reclaim our Ghanaian plate before it is too late.
To the policy makers: Let us encourage buying of local ingredients to promote the local food industry and economy. There should be educational programmes and talks about the nutritional and cultural benefits of local foods so that people understand their value.
We need to encourage serving traditional dishes at school programmes, parties, and celebrations instead of only fast foods,
To the Youth: Let us value and appreciate our traditional dishes instead of always choosing foreign foods. There must be balance in our choice of local and foreign dishes. Confidence in our culture encourages others to respect it too. Our local dishes can also be promoted by sharing pictures, recipes, and videos on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp to make them attractive and trendy.
Young citizens must learn from their parents and elders how to prepare local meals to keep the knowledge and cultural relevance alive. Local dishes can be modernised to appeal to younger generations and tourists.
Conclusion
We cannot afford to trade our heritage for foreign cuisines which are gaining grounds across the country at an alarming rate. We must disabuse our minds of the perception that anything foreign or imported is better than those locally made. Our health, economy, and identity are tied to the soil. It is time to stop apologising for our local flavours and start celebrating them. It is possible to embrace modernity without losing ourselves and our cultural identity. Let us make the Ghanaian kitchen the heart of our modern identity once again.
By: Marilyn Gadogbe
