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‘NeHo’ Dogboe, what next?
• Dogboe – Can the nation still wait for another world title from him?
Ghanaians a fortnight ago woke up Sunday morning to the upsetting news that the nation’s world title boxing hopeful – Isaac ‘Royal Storm’ Dogboe, had lost in his intrepid bid to become champion again.
Dogboe staggered and slumped to two-time Cuban Olympic gold medallist Robeisy “El Tren” Ramirez 117-110, 118-109 and 119-108 for the vacant WBO featherweight title at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tulsa in the United States.
After losing his super-bantamweight title few years ago – specifically on December 8, 2018, in back-to-back defeats to Emanuel Navarrete, the Ghanaian vigorously bounced back to blow out the likes of Chris Avalos, Adam Lopez, Christopher Diaz and Joet Gonzalez in his last four fights. Remarkable feats!
A new Dogboe was born, supposedly. It was not difficult at all for a generous prediction to be posted in favour of the Ghanaian aggressive boxer – with many pencilling him down for greatness again.
At least, scores of the sport’s experts favoured him to punch his way to reclaiming his belt, especially when
his nemesis – Emmanuel Navarrete, had moved up in weight, and was entirely out of his path to another stardom.
It was a huge set-back, therefore, when Dogboe failed heavily in his bid to become champion again after losing unanimously to Ramirez.
Watching the fight closely, it seems – even though Dogboe has improved prettily well under top trainer Barry Hunter, he is still short of endurance, power and ring-craftiness.
In most of his bouts, you see a boxer that begins ferociously and runs out of steam as the fight progresses. His stamina level has been suspect; his guard impressively powder-puffed and his ring-craftiness a bit dawdling. He throws an avalanche of punches with many going astray – and it is a worry that never gets settled.
That notwithstanding, though he lost against Ramirez, the wide difference on the scorecards of the judges, looks a bit questionable. He did enough to get a close call. But that should tell Dogboe that he needs to take his ‘judges’ into the ring through a more convincing performance than what he demonstrated two weeks ago. He must not leave anything to chance.
Indeed, it is high time Dogboe sat and took a good look at his fight-style and perhaps re-strategize if he still wants to be relevant in the sport – especially at the fiercely thrilling featherweight division.
He must work his tail off and live by his special motto: “NeHo!”
NeHo, in the Ewe language, means to uproot, to lift oneself through adversity.
“NeHo is something I use because, regardless of the situation in the ring – or any situation – you have to keep coming forward; you never give up. You uproot and accomplish your mission,” Dogboe told The Ring magazine recently.
“Neho, to me, helps psyche myself up. You’re going to go through difficulties in the ring but how do you do that?
“You have to psyche yourself up to where you think nothing can get in your way. People may misinterpret the word, that to uproot and destroy everything there. But if the military is going on the battlefield, your soldiers are scared; believe me. But the leader will give them something to recite and that’s the word that I use to keep coming forward and digging deep – and I keep saying that my head, ‘NeHo, NeHo, NeHo.’”
So, it is time Dogboe take a firm decision either to do the ‘Neho’ now or think about hanging the gloves. And, that decision must be fast because at 28 years, age is steadily but speedily catching up with him in the featherweight category.
By John Vigah
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Focus on more pressing issues like Galamsey, not hate speech – Ellen Ama Daaku to Mahama
An aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,Ellen Ama Daaku has advised President John Dramani Mahama to shift his attention from social media hate speech to more urgent national issues such as illegal mining.
Speaking in an interview, she noted that the President’s recent comments about tracking the IP addresses of people who spread hate speech were unnecessary.
According to her, President Mahama must first define what he considers to be hate speech before seeking to punish people for it.
Ms. Daaku argued that the President himself had benefitted from hate speech and social media attacks in the past when he was in opposition.
She said even during his time in government, he described his opponents and their tribesmen in unpalatable terms, which later drew complaints from former President Nana Akufo-Addo to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
She stressed that harsh criticism of leaders on social media should not automatically be considered hate speech, adding that former leaders, including former President Nana Akufo-Addo had all been subjected to it.
“He is only feeling what Nana Akufo-Addo went through for eight years,” she remarked.
While acknowledging the need to regulate misconduct online, Ms. Daaku insisted that going after social media activists should not be a priority.
She noted that many political activists, including herself, had been insulted and attacked online but never called for arrests.
She concluded that President Mahama should focus his energy on solving pressing problems such as galamsey and the economy instead of concentrating on critics on social media.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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Prof Alidu Seidu files nomination for Tamale Central seat
The newly elected parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Tamale Central, Prof Alidu Seidu, has submitted his nomination forms to the Electoral Commission.
As of 10:00 a.m. today, he was the only person who had filed to contest the seat.
Nomination of candidates will close at the end of the day.
Associate Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana Legon, Prof. Alidu Seidu won the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the Tamale Central constituency with a landslide victory.
The elections, supervised by the party’s Elections and IT Directorate in the Northern Region, saw Prof. Seidu poll 840 votes out of the total valid ballots cast.
His closest contender, Lawyer Hanan Gundadow Abdul-Rahaman, secured 536 votes.
The other aspirants could not make significant gains, with Dr. Seidu Fiter obtaining 44 votes, Aliu Abdul-Hamid 23 votes, and the rest recording fewer than 10 votes each.
In all, 1,500 ballots were cast, with 6 ballots rejected and 7 spoilt ballots recorded.
The results were signed and declared by Dr. Arnold Mashud Abukari, NDC Northern Regional Director of Elections and IT.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) held parliamentary primaries in Tamale Central to choose a candidate for the upcoming by-election following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed. Dr. Mohammed, who also served as Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, tragically died in a military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District on August 6, 2025, alongside seven others.
His passing left the Tamale Central seat vacant, as required by Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled the by-election for September 30, 2025. While the NDC moved quickly to open nominations and vet aspirants, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) announced it would not contest the seat, citing the need to respect the somber circumstances and promote national unity.
By: Jacob Aggrey
