Hot!
Ayekoo, gallant Black Stars!
Pockets of Ghanaians across the country were on Tuesday night thrown into delirium when the Black Stars booked their ticket to the Qatar 2022 World Cup tournament.
You know what; the Thomas Partey-led side upstaged no less an opposition than sworn rivals Nigeria’s Super Eagles – who had vowed to flush the Ghanaians out of their way for a seventh World Cup berth.
Indeed, 24 hours ahead of the gut-wrenching tie, the government had announced that public servants in the Nigerian capital of Abuja be given a half-day, whilst free transport arranged from the suburbs to ensure a capacity 60,000 crowd to cheer on the Super Eagles at the Moshood Abiola Stadium.
The directive was obeyed to the letter, and the stadium was filled to the rafters by an intimidating crowd who disrespectfully decided to jeer at Ghana’s national anthem.
Clearly, the Nigerian fans’ behaviour may have infuriated the enterprising new-look young Ghanaians whose stand-in skipper Partey stunned the packed stadium into petrified silence with an 11th-minute right-footed thunderbolt that tore under goalkeeper Francis Uzoho for the opening goal. At that point, even the drop of a pin could be heard by the dumb. Absolute silence!
However, Captain William Troost-Ekong dispatched from the penalty spot after 22 minutes, following a VAR check on Denis Odoi’s challenge on Ademola Lookman. But the Super Eagles failed to score again to keep the game at 1-1 heading into the break.
The second stanza saw a couple of tactical changes by Ghana coach Otto Addo as Jordan Ayew took an early rest. The three changes saw the team switch from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2. This gave them greater midfield control, able to protect their defence and move the ball forward with something approximating to aggression.
As a matter of fact, the team became more stable, resolute, composed, relaxed and impenetrable under pressure from their West African rivals – who had thrown everything at the Stars.
Indeed, Ghana could have killed off the game even before the Tunisian referee’s final signal, had substitute Osman Bukari taken a begging chance from a fierce counter in the dying moments of the eventful half. But never mind, the away goal rule had guaranteed a place for the visitors.
Sadly, the final whistle triggered ugly scenes from the livid home crowd who did not believe what they were seeing. The incident left the image of African football badly bruised.
As a matter of fact, Nigerian security forces had to fire tear gas to disperse the angry fans who stormed the pitch, obviously in reaction to Nigeria’s failure to qualify for Qatar.
The fans plunged into a demolition mission – smashed benches and anything in sight, while others chanted “Pinnick must go! Pinnick must go!!,” referring to the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick.
Black Stars players and Ghanaian journalists had no choice but to take an Usain Bolt-like sprint into the tunnel and straight into their dressing room for safety, cutting short their celebrations.
Similar scenes happened in 1973 during the West Germany ’74 World Cup qualifier when Ghana beat Nigeria 3-2 in Lagos with Stars’ Kwesi Owusu banging home a hat-trick.
The man who engineered Ghana’s famous qualification, Otto Addo – and his technical team, deserves lots of plaudits for fashioning out a system that caged all Nigerian forwards including the dangerous Victor Osimhen. Addo has been around for barely a month but shown great derring-do in team building. Of course, coaches CK Akunnor and Serbian Milovan Rajevac were all part of the qualification process and cannot be forgotten to carving a return to the World Cup, after missing out on the Russia edition in 2018.
The likes of goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott (put up a magical performance in both Kumasi and Abuja), Issahaku Fatau, Mohammed Kudus, Baba Iddrisu, Denis Odoi, Daniel Amartey, Alexander Kwabena Baidoo Djiku, Jordan and big brother captain Andre Ayew among others, have all contributed massively to the success story.
After that dismal showing at the Cup of Nations in January, with the embarrassing loss to minnows Comoros condemning them to a humiliating first-round exit, Tuesday’s Qatar qualification in Abuja, should give Ghanaians something to cheer home about.
PlainTalk with John Vigah
This present team is showing more desire and passion than what we saw at the Cameroon Nations Cup.
Whilst we congratulate the entire team and the President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kurt Okraku, for a good work done, let us begin to sit and plan for what lies ahead of us in Qatar.
Black Stars, Ayekoo!
Madam Sandra Seyram Kpedor, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Anloga in the Volta Region, has emphasised the importance of parental involvement in children’s education, stating that education is free, but parents need to do more to support their children.
She said parents, teachers, and students must be involved in addressing the challenges facing the district’s education sector, particularly the poor Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results.
Madam Kpedor outlined some key roles parents should play to promote their children’s education, including providing a conducive learning environment, monitoring their children’s progress, and supporting teachers.
The DCE highlighted some challenges the district faced such as inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of teachers, which have also contributed to the poor BECE results and called on well-to-do parent to help solve the situation through and other supports.
To address the issues, she also announced that plans have been taken to utilise the district’s common fund to implement educational projects, such as constructing school blocks and teachers’ bungalows at Sodzi community, and 2-unit classroom blocks each at Akplorwutorkor and Tegbi-Afedome respectively, among others.
Madam Kpedor also noted that her office had earlier notified the Ministry of Education to deploy more teachers to the area to improve teaching and learning, and encouraged students to work hard and strive for excellence, and work beyond their limit to succeed.
“To my wonderful and beautiful girls, you have to know it clear that women and girls have equal opportunities to compete with men for greater achievements,” she indicated.
The DCE cited her own achievement as a testament to the fact that women can excel in leadership positions, alongside Vice President Nana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, and stressed that girls were no longer limited to domestic roles but can pursue their dreams and become leaders.
Additionally, she mentioned that a meeting was held earlier with assembly members, and other stakeholders to address the district’s educational challenges and improve academic performance.
She promised that the district’s education oversight committee and stakeholders would work together to address the challenges and improve the district’s BECE results and called for parental involvement and support to boost the district’s education sector for children to chase their dreams to become future leaders for the success of the district and the nation.
She urged parents not to leave everything to the government but rather help in the provision of some necessary materials such as textbooks, exercise books, pens, pencils, food, and guidance to children for the successes of young learners. –GNA
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The spokesperson for Dr. Bawumia, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has criticised the implementation of the NDC government’s No Fee Stress policy, arguing that the programme has failed to deliver on its core promise.
According to him on Starr fm, the policy, which was introduced to ensure stress free payment of fees for level 100 tertiary students, has rather turned into what he described as post stress support.
He explained that students are required to pay their fees first before applying for reimbursement, a situation he believes defeats the purpose of the policy.
He questioned claims by government officials that the policy has been successful and that citizens are happy.
In his view, such claims do not reflect the lived realities of many Ghanaians. He stressed that while some people may appear satisfied, many others continue to struggle.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye pointed to the situation of trained teachers and nurses who have been picketing for nearly six months, demanding employment.
He noted that government responses suggesting it cannot accommodate all of them contradict claims of economic stability.
He further argued that economic indicators such as a stable currency mean little to people who are unable to secure jobs or access promised support.
He observed that telling an unemployed teacher or a struggling student that the cedi has strengthened does not address their immediate challenges.
On the issue of tertiary education, he maintained that no level 100 student benefited from stress free fees in 2025, despite the policy being announced.
He added that in 2026, students have already reported to school without receiving the promised support.
He insisted that asking students to pay fees first and seek reimbursement later amounts to support after hardship, not stress free education.
According to him, this approach goes against what was promised during the policy announcement.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye questioned why a government that presents the economy as strong is unable to fulfil what he described as simple and clear promises.
He added that there is a fundamental problem with the way the economy is being managed and indicated that he is prepared to explain his position further.
By: Jacob Aggrey
