A day after the Black-Stars lost to the Indomitable Lions of Cameroun in the semi-finals of the just concluded AFCON 2017 in Gabon, a Nigerian journalist, temporarily resident in Accra, came to me in the house for some discussions.
In the course of our chat we veered off our tracks to look at the latest developments at AFCON. Then, he asked me, all of a sudden, what was happening in Ghana? He said he couldn’t believe it when immediately after the end of the Ghana – Cameroun match he saw many Ghanaians troop out from their houses to jubilate at Ghana’s loss.
My visitor told me he couldn’t believe his eyes. He again told me he thought Ghana was a more united country that should solidly stand behind the Black Stars.
“In Nigeria, in spite of serious ethnic and religious differences, which Ghanaians don’t have, Nigerians are always united when it comes to sports, especially football” he added.
It was then I explained to him that what he saw the night before was a recent development, the result of the rivalry between the two main political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He agreed with me, judging by the what he had seen since he relocated to Ghana and especially during the political campaign, in the run up to the December 2016 elections.
“That cannot be good for Ghana, a leading light in Africa over the years, an oasis of peace, not used to ethnic tensions, that have retarded the progress of many African nations,” he thought aloud.
After my friend had left I started thinking about what was going on in Ghana, with politics affecting everything we do.
Going down memory lane I realised that it was only in the last few years, maximum a decade ago, that the Black Stars have not enjoyed total support from Ghanaians.
As I tried to explain in the concluding parts of my piece last week, the players must partially be blamed for the apathy Ghanaians are showing for the senior national team. Can we ever forget their demand to be paid their various bonuses in cash at Brazil 2014 and their refusal to play the next match unless they had the money? Was that not what forced the government to fly thousands of dollars to the players? Did we not become a laughing stock in the comity of nations?
That was when Ghanaians became terribly annoyed with the Black Stars. That was when they told the players if they were playing for money and not ready to die for the nation, then they should go ahead without their support.
As a result many supporters have refused to go the stadium to cheer the players, leading to the loss of morale on the part of our players. The players appear to have shown some remorse and have stopped making the payment of bonuses an issue, but the supporters are yet to be assuaged. They don’t care whether the Black Stars win or lose as a result of the indiscipline among the players and their craze for bonuses before they play.
Then I also mentioned that the most serious and dangerous factor responsible for apathy for the Black Stars by a section of the populace is the political factor.
Now since power started alternating between the NPP and the NDC in the Fourth Republic all has not been well with the polity called Ghana. There is too much politicisation and marginalisation. The winner – takes- all syndrome, which is the result of this, has left half of the population feeling that they don’t belong.
Whichever party is in power, half of the population cannot wish the government well. It is the prayer of the opposition that the government falters, fails or commits serious errors of commission and omission.
There is no government that has come and has not thrown its weight behind the Black Stars. The victory of the Black Stars over the years, beginning from 1963 when we won the first of our four Nations Cup has definitely brought joy and pride to Ghanaians of all generations.
After winning back to back in 1965 it took us 13 years before we won again in 1978. Even though there had been a change of government in 1966 Ghana appeared in the next three finals in 1968, 1970 and 1972 with full support from Ghanaians.
Many believed that we lost in those three finals because of manipulation by CAF to stop the Black Stars from dominating the Nations Cup. We lost to Congo DR. in 1968 after beating them in the group stages but it was a day light robbery in the finals. In the 1970 finals in Khartoum the Black Stars again controversially lost to Sudan and were deported from Khartoum on the orders of Sudanese strong man Gen. Numeiry for refusing to collect their silver medals.
It was the same story in 1972 in Yaounde, Cameroun, when back at home we saw the Black Stars being chased by security forces on the field following a stalemate with Cameroun.
Throughout these unfortunate years Ghanaians stood solidly behind the Black Stars. They were not denied total support in the regimes that came after 1972, the NRC, the SMC, the AFRC and the PNDC.
Ghana’s last triumph in 1982 came as a complete surprise to many. The PNP government had decided to boycott the Libya tournament, following pressure from the USA. But after Rawlings seized power on the last day of 1981 he said Ghana must go to Libya.
With little preparation and without funds Ghana went and conquered, with the support of all Ghanaians.
What then can be the problem when we have become a beacon of democracy in Africa with so much stability?
In the past we saw Ghana flags being sold everywhere whenever we were participating in any tournament, AFCON, World Cup, Under 20 and Under 17. Now we don’t see any flags being sold.
In the past one could hear the noise all over the place anytime the Black Stars scored a goal. Today, no more.
I believe the divisive cycle must stop. But I must also admit that it is easier said than done. The time has come to declare the Black Stars a national asset. We must remove politics from the support we give to the Black Stars and all other national terms.
The problem we have faced in the recent past is the belief by the opposition that in the event of a Black Stars success, the glory would go to the government of the day. It is also a fact that any government would like to take the credit if the Black Stars are victorious.
May be a way could be found out for government to make prouncements that will appear to show that any success of the Black Stars is a victory for the entire nation.
It does not mean the government should withdraw support for the Black Stars. It does not also mean that the Black Stars after victory should not go and show the trophy to the president of the day. The victory must be victory for all Ghanaians.
Nana Adoo Dankwa Akufo – Addo indeed has a herculean task to unite the whole country, for everybody to have a sense of belonging. The winner – takes – all syndrome has really affected the unity we used to boast of in the past. It is eroding the sense of patriotism Ghanaians used to have for their country.
Certainly when a new government is put in place it would like to put its loyal members in positions of trust, to be able to carry out its agenda. But how this could be done without creating a coup situation, where some will be seizing toll booths, toilets and other institutions, as spoils of war, is what we must avoid.
In the same way our political leanings should not affect our support for the Black Stars.
Source : Razak El-Alawa
