FOOTBALL MADE IN GHANA!!!

And it’s a goooooooooaaaaal! You hear a thunderous roar and every Ghanaian goes gay. Loud music blaring all over the place, men and women from all walks of life dancing to Gborhe amidst merry making. Pubs and bars extending their closing time to as long as people will patronize the shops. All Political parties shedding off their party colors to clad in the national colors of red, gold, green and the black star. Drivers honk their horns and overload every space in their vehicles with people to which the police does not even raise any query, let alone demand their usual one Ghana cedis, and that is the extent to which the Ghanaian loves football.

We all will admit that football is the most unifying factor in Ghana even than the pervasive almighty religion. Currently Ghana tops the African football chart and ranks 16th in the entire world which is remarkable. However, there is a trend if not curtailed now and collectively as a nation will come to haunt all of us and  posterity will not forgive us.

I am mostly proud to say am a Ghanaian, not out of patriotism but because I have no option. There are times I wished I came from the UK’s and the likes, Countries with vision, direction, destination and above all a dream. I have observed per the information I gather around in my everyday walks of life that most of our policies are mostly are on adhoc basis and usually lack a long term plan and a ‘how-to’ to eradicate our problems, however there is a strong sense of individuality. Nobody seems to be thinking about the collective good of all. Those who tend to think along that line are rather castigated, insulted and possibly quarantined.

Ghana is a democratic state so most of the planning and implementations are supposed to come from the central government right down to the decentralized authorities who have been mandated by the people through the ballot boxes to ensure our safety, growth and above all our well-being.

However, all the government and his cohorts does is to find ways and means to perpetually be at post,  at the expense of  their core duties. They spend all their time building fortresses, amassing wealth, organizing thugs who would ensure their stay in power to the extent that, they hardly execute any meaningful project that will help the communities in which they live and Ghana as a whole. Instead, all they do is big talks, organizing tea parties, attending unnecessary meetings and when it is done and over, they come demanding their ex-Gratia.

Hitherto, I have always thought that ex-Gratia is a gratuity scheme that is awarded to civil and public servants after their end of service, but now a person can take his ex-Gratia and still be at post as if s/he is the only one who can do the job. Maybe, i need some lectures on that. Old folks who have seen it all are still in the offices, with their rigid and sophisticated ways of doing things while young and fresh graduates languish around because they don’t have experience. I wonder how one can gather experience when s/he has not been given any platform to prove his worth.

We always have a crop of team playing but don’t know where and who their successors will be. This is because we lack insight, foresight and vision. Maybe we don’t even have a goal. You visit most communities and there are no Libraries nor football/recreational parks. All you see are the Gas filling stations, mini malls, stalls, night clubs and a market because the government of the day wants to be retained in power. Everybody is buying and selling. All the lands have been sold to their cronies and investors.

If you live in a community devoid of all these amenities, what do you expect to see? Their homes are not usually conducive for studies because other members of the house want to watch T.V. No one indulges in any kind of sports because there are no resources.  You can at least be assured of wee-smoking, abuse of other substances, drinking sprees and other unproductive ventures because all they need to undertake these activities is a small hide-out which is always readily available.

Because they grew up in communities that prides in buying and selling or making money through any means necessary, they are bound to stop schooling which is a very arduous way of making money. They rather resort to arm-robbery, money rituals, sakawa and pick-pocketing just to fit in, and the same generation that brought them up turn around and start alienating and labeling them, and the next thing, the government sends his men on a raiding exercise which usually ends up in a shoot-out which possibly leaves behind much casualties.

I think the leadership of our nation; right down to our communities should come together and come out with pragmatic policies that will help us as a nation. Every community can at least spare some acres of land for a park and even hire a coach for the community who would always be available to train the youth. It is feasible because the government even pays body-guards, telephone bills, buys fuel and other freebies for its people which are not really in the collective interest of all.
 
In the past, we used to scout players across the nation but now all we do is go chasing any player in the Diaspora who has a relation in Ghana. Once you are related paternally or maternally to a Ghanaian, you will be coerced to don the Ghanaian jersey when there are equally good players on our soils whose parents hail from Ghana without doubt. We have failed to nurture the young ones to take up the mantle from the senior players. So many talents have gone down the drain in all facets of human endeavor. And what usually happens is that, the wasted talents channels their pent up anger into unproductive ventures and all we hear is ‘he was such a fine lad’, ‘he was intelligent’. And what happened to the talent?

We’ve had talents rising to stardom, people whose names become household ones and then fades away without making any impact. Stars like Charles Taylor, Dan Coleman, Eric Gawu and the Don Borteys. The last time I checked, Charles Taylor was playing Enugu FC in Nigeria. Where do they go? What happens to them when they leave the scene?

We need the football enthusiasts, the shakers and movers and pundits of the beautiful game to do more than analyzing and criticizing what is happening on the field of play and also tell us the way forward. They have to amplify our concerns to the government because it has woefully failed when it comes to youth and sports. I wonder what that Ministry has really been up to?  You don’t see Gala matches being organized in our communities by the ministry, no effort to nurture young talents. So what do u really expect if a player braces the storm to the top?  I can’t blame Michael Essien or KP Boateng anymore for their insolence even if they have enough reasons to behave the way they have.

There is no sense of national pride because it has not been inculcated into them. A typical budding player in Ghana goes through a lot to rise to the top just like any other person and all they need to be pushed is the potential of the player, his interest and character. Yet they train on their own till responsibility and old age sets in and the next thing they bow out of the game. How pathetic?

The players who have finally made it to the top should also be made aware that we are tired of wearing their replica jerseys they bring along when they come on vacation. With the kind of money they earn, the least they can do for their communities is to organize the youth and establish vibrant teams and also help the premiership grow and make it more competitive. They can also arrange for a few of their friends or top players to justify their inclusion in the second and first divisions abroad, instead of the boreholes they have been funding in their communities. They can do more than they are doing. The players also don’t have full time managers and it does not augur well for them.

Brazil is a force to reckon with when it comes to football and Ghana can do same to entrench its name on the soccer map. The country has to chart policies that are long term to churn out young players each season after season because it can also serve as a foreign exchange for the nation not to talk about their health and the opportunity cost.