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Stop the sloganeering! …four-time champions, and so what?
Blue-blistering barnacles! (apologies to Captain Haddock in the Adventures of Tintin).
So, it came to pass rather devastatingly that the Black Stars of Ghana crumbled like a pack of cards at the ongoing African Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
A lame loss to Morocco, disappointing draw to Gabon and an outrageous defeat at the hands of debutants Comoro Islands were enough to see Ghana crash at the group stage. The world stood in disbelief as the Stars only managed a single point from a possible nine.
The BBC, CNN, Aljazeera, Sky Sports, Supersport – name them, all had a field day with reports of Ghana’s unimaginable slump to the nation of 869,595 people (according to the 2020 World Bank population), with some of the ‘poetic-imageries’ making fun of the Black Stars.
Some African football experts like Mark Gleeson were startled, wondering whether they were really seeing the early departure of Ghana. It was a crazy moment, but that symbolizes the current standard of the nation’s football.
And, of course by now, we must be honest to ourselves and announce to the entire world that we are no longer one of the giants of African football.
Indeed, our football has sunk almost into the abyss and we can only resurrect from that unenviable tag once we recognize that we are no longer one of the best at the moment.
The sloganeering, the mantra and the shibboleth of four-time African champions that we often scream at the least opportunity, must stop henceforth. It means nothing now to anybody, especially majority of the youth who have never seen the Stars lift any trophy.
Is it not shameful and distressing that when Ghana won its fourth Nations Cup in 1982, Cameroon had not even set eyes on the coronet for once? Today, the Cameroonians have clinched it five times and has a team that is demonstrating an extremely promising future to the world.
In the same vein, the Pharaohs of Egypt had lifted the trophy just twice at the time Ghana won it for keeps in 1982. Interestingly, the Pharaohs have gone ahead to annex it a staggering five more times. Today, we are not only known as the sleeping giants of African football, but we have slipped into a nadir of shame and ignominy due to the disturbing level of mediocrity of our players.
Now, the Stars are rapidly gaining notoriety of qualifying for tournaments they cannot hope to win. And, this is the major reason why you no longer see flags flying when they play. This is not a matter of lack of nationalism, patriotism or loyalty. The let-downs are a bit too many to rekindle any love story.
Indeed, let us not be pretentious about that. If a team you support wholeheartedly makes it a routine occurrence to let you down when the expectation is all-too high, your support will naturally wane one day. That is the situation now.
The writings had always been on the wall even before our penultimate tournament where we crashed out at the last-16 stage three years ago in Egypt. The Sword of Damocles had always been hanging around the neck of our football all these while; but like ostriches, we plunged out heads in the sand. We blatantly refused to see when it was even visible to the blind.
Today, the beloved Stars have become a subject of revulsion and rejection. They are no longer appreciated. They are eulogized no more. Their mere sight even put people off! In short, they are not loved but loathed.
Truth is that until they lift up their game and start performing again, it would be difficult to get the love back. Maybe, that revival must start with getting the result over Nigeria in the impending World Cup play-off against Nigeria, this March.
Anything short of that would rather aggravate the situation!
By John Vigah
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
