Ghana’s Solar Eclipse 2006: It Came to Pass

SOLAR ECLIPSE IN GHANA
By Mawutodzi K.Abissath

Ghana's Solar Eclipse2006,
And it came to pass!
It was a Wednesday,
March 29, 2006.
It was a magnificent day
In the true sense of the word.

And it came to pass!
Scientists predicted it,
And it came to pass!
Philosophers foresaw it,
And it came to pass!
Mystics knew it in advance,
And it came to pass!

Oh Divine Intelligence,
The Universal Mind,
How omnipotent art thou!
How omniscient art thou!
And how mysterious art!
Thy ways!
Thou art SUPREME
Glory be to thy name
Now and evermore!

The Solar Eclipse in Ghana was spectacular in the true sense of the word indeed!
It happened as was predicted by scientists. It was almost near to perfection. Scientists indicated it would occur between the hours of 0830 and 093 UT.

However, by 7.30 hours GMT some parts of the country, especially in the Western Region about 400km west of the capital city Accra, the lunar journey across the solar pathway had actually started in Ghana.
In the Ghanaian capital itself the magical movement was spotted around 7.45 am. That was the precise time this writer noticed the event for the first time with the solar eclipse goggles, purchased for that purpose.

The much anticipated eclipse of the sun and its resultant anxiety and eagerness was no longer a speculation .It happened on 29/03/06 in Ghana where it set off as its gateway to Africa. Scores of excited and enthusiastic overjoyed citizens viewed the phenomenon. At the time Ghanaians were enjoying the sight of the celestial romance between the sun and the moon with the planet earth acting as an eye witness, some selected other African countries were experiencing memorable event as well.

Those other nations included Benin, Nigeria, Niger and Togo, all in West Africa; Egypt and Libya in North Africa and Chad in Central Africa.The event attracted scientists and tourists from all parts of the world who trooped in to Ghana to witness once- in- a -century event. It was telecast live on the National Television for the world to behold.

Records show that the last time a total solar eclipse occurred in Ghana was in 1945.There was no television at the time in the country. Thus, in the next 50 years or so time, when the miracle is expected to occur again, our children's children would be privileged and likely to view what we watched today.

Interestingly virtually all hotels in six out of ten Regions in the country where the total eclipse was experienced were booked in advance. The regions included the Greater Accra, Eastern, Central, Volta and Western Regions. The rest of the Region experienced a partial eclipse.

Along the country’s coast, some high grounds offered unique spots such as hill or mmountain tops, in towns like Anomabo in the Central Region, McCarthy Hill in the Greater Accra, Shai Hills and Aburi Hills in Eastern Region. Tourists who came to Ghana enjoyed themselves to the blue heaven. They experienced the proverbial Ghanaian hospitality that would be engrained in their store house of memory forever.

In some hotels for instance, organised, special traditional drumming and dance programmed to entertain tourists while they were watching and snapping pictures of the natural phenomenon. In Accra, the usual traffic-jammed streets were deserted. Workers abandoned their desks for once and rushed out of their offices to experience the romantic relationship of the two celestial bodies.

And at about 9.10 a.m, when the moon succeeded in blocking the view of her superior astral sister, the sun, a Siren was sounded in Accra to alert the citizenry that some miracle was about to occur. Multi-coloured flames of fire works decorated the skies of the city. There was an extraordinary blissful breeze from the sea.

The atmosphere instantly changed to that of autumn-like-season in Europe. It was fantastic but sublime, indicative of the handiwork of some Divine engineering. Then a mini-Night fell during broad day time! While human beings were enjoying the scene, some poor birds and other creatures in the animal kingdom were thrown into some sort of semi-confusion.

I saw a vulture on top of a nearby storey building that had no choice but to go to bed prematurely. That was how the March 29, 2006 Total Eclipse of the Sun came to pass in Ghana. When shall we experience it again?

How wonderful and beautiful is Nature! Oh, Supreme Creator of the universe, You are the Divine Intelligence indeed! Oh, the Universal Mind, Your greatness is beyond human comprehension. It is only by Your grace that we mortals are privileged to be breathing the breath of life. Unfortunately, mankind prefers to terminate its own existence through the manufacturing of nuclear weapons and other instruments of mass destruction .

Please, Have mercy upon humanity, Oh Divine Love!