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The obituary of Ghana soccer (Final Part)
Check out the African ringmaster, ‘Senior Professor Azumah Nelson, the man who regard his opponents as his son and thrashes them accordingly. Whenever he is going to fight anywhere in the world, he does so to win honour for Ghana first and foremost, and then himself.
Judging from his visage whenever the Ghana national anthem is being played and the way his muscles are tuned, not forgetting the look in his eyes, his patriotism can best be described as jingoistic.
Even the flag of Ghana stirs him on, transforming him to look like a tiger ready to kill for Mother Ghana, ready to die for the motherland. That can never be said of our soccer professionals who went to Tunisia just to go and quarrel and lose a vital match.
They even had to be begged and promised bonuses before agreeing to play. What treason! This is a classic example to treasonable felony against the State and Republic of Ghana.
At this juncture, I may congratulate the GFA Coordinator of the Black Stars for a good job done in saying everything in plain and lucid language. Mr Oheneba-Charles, a veteran sportswriter and one of the all-time best, said the whole truth in great detail and did not gloss over a single point.
We know what really happened and no one can speculate any longer unless the persons want to end up day dreaming.
What is worrying is that Osei Kofi’s Polos and Razaks did not behave like this? And there were better players in all departments of the game. Those glorious days of Ghana soccer when players were prepared to die to bring the Cup home are indeed over. There is no more dedication and love for Ghana, only MONEY, MONEY and MONEY!
After all, what does Ghana mean to our present-day professionals? They regard Ghana as a small poor African country dreaming of becoming a world football champion nation that can never be. So why should they worry their heads over a country with about 20 million whimsical citizen?
And we honour them yearly – SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR-with all the fanfare and pageantry. But do they care for Ghana? They care about their monies abroad. Damn Ghana!
No one can now gainsay the fact that Abedi Pele, Tony Yeboah and Prince Õpoku have in various ways contributed to the death of Ghana soccer by either having over-weaning thoughts of themselves, not being dedicated and creating division and forming cliques and alliances within the team.
Even if we are to use professionals again in international assignments, it would be very stupid on our part to include these old guards. They have done what Napoleon could do and have not helped us to win a single tournament. So enough is enough.
Young professionals like lightning striker Charles Akunnor, Kofi Mbeah and the budding, promising, guys who want to make a name and are showing dedication should be brought in alongside the locals.
What about the head coach and the technical men? The only problem with them is that they were scared of losing their jobs. At least what they were being paid took care of daily chopmoney, school fees and beer. So why would they want to incur the displeasure of their bosses and jeopardise the regular flow of their incomes? Perhaps one should not blame them excessively. ABRABO YE HARD!
However, on this occasion I think they deserve the sack, and I’d explain why? They stooped too low for their status. They allowed Abedi Pele and other self- appointed elements in the Stars team to virtually make the selection for the matches.
How can a coach make his selection and ask Abedi to approve of it and allow him to make alteration where he deemed fit. Any coach who does that is not worth his pay.
If Jim Amoah and Aggrey-Fynn were coaches worth a name, they wouldn’t have allowed the boys to blackmail them the way they did.
If Abedi wanted someone to play and he wasn’t allowed and he threatened not to play, it could only have been a threat anyway, and not an action.
And threats should not have cowed the coaches.
And of course when the Black Stars were playing in all their matches, our head coach did not behave like a coach at all. In contrast to the Malian coach, Jim Amoah looked like any ordinary spectator.
The Malian coach really pepped his boys on. At least he could be seen barking like a dog on many occasions and this kept the players in line and they got to the semi-final stage.
Westerhoff, the Nigerian coach, was worse and did more overtime than even the players, which paid off eventually. He was constantly wailing, crying, dancing and doing everything short of flying like a vulture, to keep the team progressing. They won the cup.
And from his demeanour, I don’t think even all the power of the Nigerian Armed Forces could have forced him to change his selection for the matches they played. Of course, he’ll tell you in any language, fair or foul, to “clear off” or “go burn the sea.” Perhaps, we really need a coach of his kind.
Yes, we need a coach who can tell Tony Yeboah to remove his cap during training or pack and leave if he defaults, or to tell Abedi to forget about ‘Vegebom’ and rally round the boys or tell Prince Opoku to start from the bench and to “sharrup” if he talks “rubbish”. In Tunisia the Stars team lacked discipline and this brought about the obituary of Sikaman soccer.
And now the Ghana Football Association (GFA). I don’t really know what to say of them. Normally they claim they do not “interfere” with the work of the coaches but rather “intervene”. It is doubtful which of the two words is more destructive to Ghana soccer.
The GFA boss, Nana Butler assumed the air and stance of a generallisimo and psychedelically dissolved the national team and fired the coaches and technical men right in Tunisia. That was too revolutionary for a democratic era.
He should first have come home to mourn and drink akpeteshie with fellow Ghanaians who are still mourning the death of Ghana soccer. Then after the wake-keeping and burial, he could proceed to dissolve the team and pay off Jim Amoah and Aggrey-Fynn
But it didn’t happen that way, because the man says he has thick-skin. And with this kind of skin, he wanted a so-called newly-formed Stars to play two friendlies in South Africa. It would have been the worst disaster Ghana has ever encountered.
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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