Cultural Heritage of Ghana CAN 2008

Traditional Horn Blowers

By Mawutodzi K. Abissath
Do you know that a nation without culture is like a man without soul? And a man without soul is as good as a still-born baby? And a still-born baby is that entity which could not take in the first breath of life at birth? That first breath of life is the soul which is part of the Almighty Creator Himself, without which, no human being can
survive?

Perhaps the Holy Bible will help to better illustrate the point I am trying to make here. Just open the Bible, (King James Version) and see Genesis Chapter 2: 7. It reads: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.”

On Sunday, 20^th January, 2008, the MTN 26^th Africa Cup of Nations, dubbed Ghana 2008 kicked off in the capital city of Accra. The tournament would be running in four cities, namely Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi and Tamale until 10^th February, 2008. The object of this piece is to try to review the Grand Opening Ceremony of the event, where Ghanaian culture was planted like a flourishing rose flower in the centre of the earth for humanity to behold, relish and cherish. It was fantastic and “extraordinaire” as the French will say. Analogically, that cultural pageantry which heralded the event was the breath of life infused into the veins of the games like the living soul to make Ghana CAN 2008 a living tournament.

First of all Ghana and for that matter Africa must be proud that there are citizens of the continent whose creativity is beyond imagination. For the person or group of persons who sat down, or stood up or were in motion and through attunement and meditation, received inspiration from the Supreme Creator and were able to transform their visualisation into the realisation of what was displayed at the newly refurbished Ohene Djan Stadium for over 4 billion people to witness globally, merit acclamation. In fact, one would have wished that at the end of the show, at least the directors and coordinators of the entire episode should have come to the centre of the stadium to receive thunderous and endless applauses and ovations. They did fantastically well! Bravo for all performers and their directors.

I do not know them per se. But I learned that some of the cultural gurus in whose fertile wombs the baby was nurtured and given birth to included, Prof. F.Nii Yartey, Prof. Anku, Prof. Martin Owusu, Prof. Kofi Ansah and many, many others. May Jesus bless them all. Be it known to them that their reward is guaranteed in heaven! But those of them who want their pay instantly may have to kick the bucket any way. I permit myself to bestow the title of Professor upon all those who participated in that historical opening ceremony. And if anybody dares subpoena me before any lawful court of the land, because of professorship saga, I shall soberly plead for clemency, leniency and mercy. Period! I don’t want any palaver!

For the benefit of non-Ghanaians, who enjoyed the beauty of the cultural pageantry but might not have grasped the actual import of the denouement of the drama, here is the gist of what transpired that day. In the first place, it is important to know that there are ten administrative regions in Ghana. And every region is endowed with unique magnificent cultural heritage in terms music, dances, songs, festivals, cuisines, drumming and artifacts. There is no cultural or religious discrimination in Ghana. Therefore, any time there is an event of national dimension, Traditional Priests, Christian Priests and Muslim Priests are all invited to say prayers to God for the success of the event. Whether they call God, or Mawu or Nyankupong or Allah, He or She is the same Supreme Creator of all.

So, too, whenever, a national event is taking place in the country and cultural performance is organised, dances and songs from all the ten regions of the country are staged. For example, when the National Orientation Sensitisation Programme was organised by the Ministry of Information and National Orientation where the Five Pillars were officially launched in August last year at the Accra International Conference Centre, little kids from all the ten regions of the country performed cultural dances of their respective regions. This is what has made Ghana a unique land of cultural diversity in unity.

Thus, the mammoth cultural pageantry performed at the Ghana CAN 2008 opening ceremony was the superb representation of Ghana’s culture from all the ten regions as well as a symbolic representation of all the 16 African countries participating in memorable tournament in the country.

First, the helicopter that flew Ghana National Flag across the stadium symbolises that we are all Ghanaians first before any other ethnic consideration. The colourful fireworks represents the modern form of our tradition gun salutes when a great national event is about to take off. The three majestic ladies draped in treasured kente, who sang the National Anthem depicts the trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit whose presence must be acknowledged before any national event.

The over an hundred traditional horn blowers who carried the sparkling elephant tusks colourfully ornamented, was the highest point of the creativity of the originators who conceptualised the ceremony. Up till now this author is wondering where they obtained all the numerous gigantic elephant tusks from. Unless they are some artificial plastic improvisation, I would imagine that there would no more be elephants in the Bole National Park at Bole in the Northern region or in other forest reserved in Ghana. The marvel is the creativity that went into the creation of that traditional musical instrument used by traditional horn blowers in Ghana. The symbol is what can be found in the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park in Accra.

The cultural significance of traditional horn blowing is that; in chiefs or kings palaces in Ghana, it heralds the beginning of an event of great importance. Horns are used to announce the take off of an event. Like the talking drums, horns serve as traditional communication tool to send messages across people in towns and villages. So, the hundred horn blowers at the opening ceremony were symbolically announcing to the Africa and the rest of the world that the 26^th edition of the prestigious African Cup of Nations was about to kick off in Ghana, so the entire globe must be alert and ready to embrace the event. And the horn blowers emerged from the four cornerners of the stadium symbolising the four cardinal points of the earth, namely, East, West, South and North. And by providence, Ghana itself is positioned in centre of the earth. Again, symbolically, Ghana through the opening ceremony was radiating Light, Life and Love to all corners of the globe.

Another mind blowing aspect of the opening ceremony was the acrobatic display by the youth of Ghana. Besides various magical formations was the African Map with and Madagascar created by human beings with human bodies. The design was incredible when viewed on the television screen. As for various national dances performed, the least said the better. We witnessed dances ranging from Adowa, Atsiagbekor, Dambai , Kente, Borborbor, Kpanlogo just to mention but a few. They were performed with artistic finesse with fantastic colourful costumes to mach. It was simply great!

The final cultural aspect the opening ceremony which cannot escape mention in this review was the parade of national flags of various countries taking part in the tournament. Many people did not notice this aspect of the ceremony. I remember when I pointed out the flags to spectators around where I was sitting near the Scoreboard at the stadium, they marveled. Again the creativity that went into the creation of those flags was beyond compare.

The national flags of the participating teams, including Ghana, Angola, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Egypt, Guinea, Mali, Morocco Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia, South Africa, Senegal, Sudan and Zambia were transformed into colourful umbrellas, held with reverence in for the parade as it is done in the solemn procession for a grand durbar of Kings and Queen mothers in Ghana. The scene was soul moving indeed!.

If for nothing at all, Ghana has used her rich culture through the opening ceremony of the 26^th Ghana CAN 2008 to project the beauty of African culture to the blue haven. I suggest that the Local Organising Committee (LOC) should adopt and adapt the opening ceremony on DVD and CD in any modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as African Cultural Heritage for the cultural advancement of mankind to the glory of the CREATOR.

Ghana: Winner Nation of African Cup of Nations 2008

By Mawutodzi K. Abissath

There is this inspirational Tanzanian proverb which says: “He, who trusts in God or Allah, or Mawu or Nyankupong, does not lack anything.” Therefore, all patriotic and faithful Ghanaians who trust in God should please rise, face the geographical East, raise their hands towards heaven and sing praise to the Lord; for Ghana, our beloved country is already a winner for merely hosting the 26^th Africa Cup of Nations tournaments (Ghana 2008) slated to kick off on Sunday, 20^th January 2008.

Beloved humble and noble fellow Ghanaians, in March 2007, when Ghana was celebrating her Golden Jubilee anniversary, President John Agyekum Kufuor, made a very simple but profound statement which must not be taken for granted. He said, “It is a great time to be Ghanaian!” This writer wishes to implore all Ghanaians to pause for just a moment to concentrate, contemplate and meditate on this simple statement by the President as we embark on the next 50 years journey of our nationhood.

On Thursday, 10^th January, 2008, the DAILY GRAPHIC wrote yet another nationalistic editorial under the heading, “NEW ERA DAWNS WITH GHANA 288.” That editorial comment was based on an article, titled “Ghana will gain a lot as host,” published on page 16 of that day’s issue. The article itself was based on an interview granted the author, Lucy Adoma Yeboah, by the Hon Minister for Information and National Orientation, Mrs. Oboshie Sai Cofie in Accra. The purpose of this review is to encourage the media in Ghana, both print and electronic to emulate the example of the “Daily Graphic” by discussing issues of national interest with some touch of patriotism, especially at this time of the forth coming tournament, no matter what. After all, we have no other nation to call our own. But constructive criticisms are always welcome!

The opening paragraph of the said editorial read: “If there was nothing to be gained from hosting sub-regional, regional and global tournaments, countries would not go to the extent of setting up committees to lobby sporting authorities for the right to host those tournaments.”

The next paragraph went on: “Indeed, countries go all out to build new stadia, rehabilitate existing ones, put new infrastructure and build roads, all at great cost, in order to win the right to host tournaments.”

The paragraph three stated: “Ghana’s hosting of the 26^th Africa Cup of Nations tournament (Ghana 2008) cannot be delinked from the benefits that accrue to hosting countries of sporting events.”

The paper continued, “It is in this regard that we agree with the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mrs. Oboshie Sai Cofie, that Ghana was already ‘the winner of the tournament’ for the mere fact of being the host.”

The fifth paragraph of the editorial quoted the Minister, thus: “Ghanaians should recognise the fact that we have already won in prestige, revenue generation, in showcasing our beautiful country and its people; we have won because of the fact that our children will grow to acknowledge that their country is considered important in the global environment,” Mrs. Sai Cofie said in an interview.

Commenting on what the Information Minister had said in the interview, (see page 16 of Graphic of January 10, 2008), the paper wrote: “These are fine sentiments which the DAILY GRAPHIC would want every Ghanaian, male and female, young and old, to share, since they capture the very essence of hosting an international tournament of this nature.

“If for nothing at all,” it continued, “The tournament will bring with it commercial and economic gains which will permeate all sectors of the economy, not to talk about the exposure the country will get from TV screening of the matches worldwide, especially the opening and closing ceremonies, the rebranding of the country’s image abroad and potential to the outside world.”

The paper then gave the following advice: “We at the DAILY GRAPHIC can only advise our compatriots to put our best foot forward during the period of the tournament, so that our visitors will have a confirmation of the legendary Ghanaian hospitality, culture and tradition.”

Another vital point which Hon Oboshie Sai Cofie made in the interview with Lucy Adoma Yeboah, which, this writer deems imperative to mention here, was that, there was no need for any Ghanaian to feel down-hearted because of one reason or another, “but rather go all out and feel good because the tournament was taking place in Ghana and nowhere else.” The Minister advised that people should stop complaining that there was no excitement in the air, adding that it was left for individuals and groups to come together to create the needed excitement.

The Minister further pointed out that the government had played its part by providing the entire necessary infrastructure for a successful tournament, stressing that, “It is left to us as a people to make the best out of the event.” As a matter of fact it was stated that an amount of $157.2 million had so far been spent on the rehabilitation and construction of four stadia to host the tournament in the country. It was explained that the amount was said to have been exceeded the $152.1million initially projected by $5.1million.

It was very refreshing when the Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Hon Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, recently stated emphatically in Parliament that it was Ghana Government and for that matter the people of Ghana whose money was used to build the modern stadia for the tournament. If you are a Ghanaian and you are not proud of this achievement, then what will you be proud of? Every body knows that the rehabilitated stadia are the Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra and the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi, while the newly constructed ones re in Tamale and Sekondi. As was promised by the President when the Ohene Djan Stadium was commissioned recently, all the ten regions of Ghana will have a magnificent modern stadium each in due course.

Furthermore, the Information Minister made a very creative suggestion in her interview with the GRAPHIC that, “If for nothing at all, individual and groups should hang national flags on their property and make the right noises in readiness for the tournament.” She opined that the issue was not about winning but the need to look at other opportunities that would come along with the tournament.

As a matter of fact, if this tournament were to be taking place in any European country or in Nigeria here in Africa, inspiring and motivating noises such as “Oooyee oooyee oye oye oye….” would have been on everybody’s lips from January to December non-stop. In Ghana, we should be shouting “GHANA, GHANA, and GHANA OSEE-YIEEEEE!!!!”and “BLACK STARS, BLACK STARS, BLACK STARS, OSEE-YIEEEEE!!” from now until the hour the covetous trophy is handed over to the winner of the 16 participating African countries.

This author would want to add his voice to those of the Hon Information Minister and the DAILY GRAPHIC, which Ghanaians must be proud of being Ghanaians and be grateful and thankful to God that they are Ghanaians There are many nations in Africa and beyond whose citizens wish they were Ghanaians.

With Ghana’s oil discovery in commercial quantity within this same period in the history of our beloved country, the sky cannot even be the limit for the prosperity of Ghanaians in the next 50 years. Ghana indeed, is poised to become a glorious land on the continent of Africa. As for Ghana 2008 tournament, we all pray that the gallant Black Stars will lift the trophy at stake. But whether they win or not GHANA IS A WINNER by merely hosting the tournament.

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