“Football apocalypse?”
Introduction
For the first time in sixty years since 1958, four times Football World Cup Champions Italy will not be present at a World Cup Finals in Russia in 2018. Monday 13 November 2017 will be a day Italians would wish they could forget. That evening in Milan, Italy lost a playoff to Sweden and thus stumbled out of the Russia 2018 World Cup.
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Apocalypse
Listening to fans on TV, one could easily sense a deeply pained football loving nation. One daily newspaper simply called it Italy’s “football apocalypse.” By the way what is an apocalypse? One dictionary definition describes an apocalypse as a “cataclysmic event.” So I went looking for the meaning of cataclysmic. Cataclysmic was said to be synonymous with catastrophic. As for catastrophe, I understood it easily. Another dictionary described apocalypse as the fire and fury that will accompany the destruction of the world in the end times.
So, not qualifying for a World Cup Finals is deemed by Italians to be the equivalent of the biblical Armageddon where the forces of good and evil will fight in the end times to destroy the world? Amazing!
Before the Italian exit, Ghana, another passionate football loving nation which had featured prominently in the last three World Cups, also stumbled out of the competition. Priding herself as the first African nation to win the African Cup four times, Ghana was equally pained at not qualifying for the Russia 2018 Football competition.
“Tailboard Philosophy”
For the younger generation of Ghanaians who mock and call my generation “BBC” (Born Before Computer) because of our limited computer skills, if any at all, you also did not see the wooden bodied “(Tso lorley in Ga)” Bedford and Austin vehicles we used as passenger vehicles still called “trotro.” The interesting thing about these vehicles was that, they had amusing inscriptions on their rear tailboards. Some read
“Sea Never Dry”
“Future is unknown”
“Fear Woman!”
“No condition is Permanent “
“Dzi wo fie asem” (Mind your own Business)!
Naturally, for both Ghana and Italy, it has been made clear that, the condition of qualifying for the Football World Cup Finals is not permanent. One must work hard at all times towards it. Lots of effort will therefore be invested into finding out what went wrong. The aim will be to diagnose the ailment and proffer treatment so that, come 2022 World Cup, we shall qualify.
Ghana, the ‘Black Star’ of Africa, on 6th March 1957 became the first African country south of the Sahara to attain independence. There was great hope as we led Africa out of colonialism. Sixty years after independence however, we are the first to admit that we have not done as well as we are capable of doing?
The Whys
Why is our capital Accra ranked one of the dirtiest cities in Africa?
Why do we have one of the highest costs of living in Africa?
With our fertile lands, why do we import vegetables, plantains, eggs, onions from nearby countries and rice, sugar, day old chicks as well as frozen chicken from far away countries?
Most painfully, why do we import bamboo tooth-picks from far away countries with all the wild growing bamboo in Ghana?
In the early 1970s, “Operation Feed Yourself” as an agricultural policy, ensured we had so much food that, we became a net exporter of food! So what went wrong and how can we correct it?
“Ghana’s Apocalypse”
Like the Italian “football apocalypse,” Ghana underwent an apocalypse of a bigger nature less than a generation after independence whose cataclysmic consequences have caught up with us today. Values of respect for elders, decency in speech even in disagreement, and discipline were thrown overboard. These were replaced by disrespect for authority, vagabondism, indiscipline and general lawlessness. The fiery language of those days and disrespect for Ghanaians has blossomed into the culture of insults and invectives of today. The disrespect and indiscipline have exploded exponentially.
Insults
Today, INSULTS have assumed a world cup status! Unlike our failure to go to Russia in the 2018 football competition, Ghana would easily have qualified for the finals any Insults World Cup considering the ease with which we insult one another at all levels! Young men appear to be rewarded for their mastery of insulting language, and how they deploy this talent against perceived opponents on behalf of their masters. Sometimes, I wonder what homes these young men come from and what discipline their parents, particularly their fathers instilled in them.
As I write and get distracted by BBC TV by the developing situation in Zimbabwe, I pray for Zimbabwe. My mind goes to back to President Laurent Gbagbo and his wife in Ivory Coast. It even goes further back to Romania in 1989 when President Nicolae Ceaucescu and his wife Elena were executed on Christmas Day, 25th December 1989.
The latest update in Zimbabwe says Mrs Grace Mugabe was granted exit to Namibia last night after failing to be granted permission to South Africa where she is wanted for criminal charges. As the “trotro” tailboard said, “No Condition is Permanent!” Unfortunately, power intoxicates us so much that, we forget that we are ordinary mortals with a finite life span.
Solution Leadership
In her address to the graduating summer class of officer cadets at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Queen Elizabeth said “the best and purest form of Leadership is EXAMPLE, and the command ‘come on’ is better than ‘go on.” Something I read recently stated “what I see you do rings so loudly in my ears that, I cannot hear what you say you do!” A child who sees his father beat up his mother on a regular basis will not be impressed with his father’s preachment of high moral standards. Leaders must lead by example.
Impunity
Years ago, I lived in a country where screaming newspaper headlines gave graphic accounts of gruesome murders virtually on daily basis. When I asked a colleague the reason for that, his answer was one word……Impunity! He explained that, people killed easily because they knew they could get away with murder. Murderers who were arraigned before courts were back on the streets in no time to wreak vengeance on innocent people they accused of reporting them to the Police. For most normal human beings, it is only the fear of punishment that will deter them from going against the law. Leaders, please let the law work!
Conclusion
Four times World Champions Italy and four times African champions Ghana have both failed to qualify for the 2018 Football world cup finals in Russian. For Ghana , Leadership has lesson to learn. Let us stop majoring in minors by rewarding young insult consultants who insult everyone in sight perceived as an opponent, and minoring in majors by reducing merit to the back-burner! Please bring History back as a subject to enable Ghanaians learn from history, and Civics to remind us of our values of courtesy, respect and decorum. Ghana is a respected nation. We must respect ourselves!