See the light


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I took this the other day on the way home from the field as dusk was falling.

Football, the national religion of Ghana





It was watching the MTN football academy challenge that I learnt this is called 'Joggling'.


We have a new site www.g-lish.org where you can read all articles from This is Ghana in a much more organised fashion. Read Football, the national religion of Ghana there.

This was an afternoon of practice at the local field. Whoever turns up is invited to join in. These kids and the young boy who was off injured taught me my first passes that afternoon. They were patient. No matter where you go, every afternoon all over the country games like this are being played on spare land.

Godwin Talks: If Ghanaians’ enthusiasm for football touched other aspects of life we might be truly great.

We have a new site www.g-lish.org where you can read all articles from This is Ghana in a much more organised fashion. Read Godwin Talks: If Ghanaians’ enthusiasm for football touched other aspects of life we might be truly great there.

"There is nothing that unifies Ghanaians like soccer. I don’t know if I told you this before, but a Ghanaian woman would leave her stew to burn on the stove just to watch a football match. A young guy who has just found a new lover wouldn’t mind not picking her call and upsetting her just to watch Michael Essien take a free kick or The Blackstars celebrate a goal in the famous Kangaroo dance style.


The politicians would put aside their busy schedules to watch The Blackstars train for a World Cup qualifying match. This gives you an idea of how crazy Ghanaians are about football.

What makes me sad is the lack of same enthusiasm and commitment to other important aspects of our national life. For example, politicians being faithful to the electorate by not promising heaven and actually doing what they can do instead of talking so much on radio and TV. I wish the District Chief Executives would be faithful to the ordinary people on the streets and not award contracts based on party lines. I wish the ordinary person would be as committed to doing their work well as they are to following the Blackstars.

And getting personal, I wish the government and other stakeholders would show the same commitment and enthusiasm towards finding a lasting solution to the Chieftancy conflict in Bawku, my home town, as they do to rubbing shoulders with our football teams."