Independence Day: God bless our homeland Ghana

Words are powerful, therefore be mindful of what you say. Blessings and curses are the products of words. Perhaps, it is because of this reason that motivational speakers admonish us to speak positively, to bless and never curse no matter how bad the circumstances are. Words are spirit and life as our Lord Jesus remarked. Whatever you say frequently becomes a reality. In short, what you say is what you see. It is quite recently that it dawned on me that Ghanaians have been praying seriously since the day of independence for God to bless our nation. And what we say in our prayers has become reality. You may have your own doubts, but the fact is that our national anthem in itself is a prayer we offer to God. The first verse of the first stanza says:

God bless our homeland Ghana. This is a constant prayer we have been praying to God. It is therefore not surprising that God is blessing our nation indeed. God has blessed us with cocoa, cotton, gold, bauxite and other mineral deposits. Furthermore, God has blessed us with a very rich land which supports agricultural activities. For instance unlike some countries, wherever you put cassava in Ghana it grows well. Besides, God has blessed us with heavenly peace. It can be said that Ghana is one of the nations under the sun where there is peace. The level of freedom of speech and expression, which includes the freedom of the press and the media, is exceptional. There is freedom of association, freedom to practice any religion and to manifest it.

Coupled with these, God has also blessed us with oil. I strongly believe that Ghanaians must be grateful to God for His blessing bestow on us. This oil will bring to pass our prayers for God to make our nation great and strong. It won’t be long when Ghana would emerge as the most powerful, strongest and greatest nation under the sun. The people of Ghana would experience socio-economic emancipation. The aged and the youth would no longer travel outside in search for greener pastures. Many nations would form political alliance with us so as to be partakers of the blessing of God for the people of Ghana. Ghana would be an icon to be reckoned. Our visionary leaders might have seen this and therefore chose as a theme for our jubilee celebration: “Championing Africa excellence.”

Our development would be in peace and not in pieces. However, we must be bold to defend these resources especially this oil that God has given us. Else some developed countries, organizations, institutions, companies and individuals through their canny and crafty ways cheat upon us as a nation that at the end, the purpose we all anticipate this oil to bring may not materialise. Bold to defend forever, not only the oil but also the other mineral deposits and the nation at large.

At times it may not be a foreign person or a country that would try to cheat upon us. The challenge could be internal. As remarked early, it is the expectation of the citizens that this blessing of God would create more jobs, bring more foreign investments, alleviate poverty, and promote peace and development so that we would be free from all economic and social hardships in order to enjoy our rights fully without fear. But in a situation whereby the freedom and the rights of the people are dismayed and not defended by our own people who manage these mineral deposits, it would generate a lot of problems (The cause of Freedom and of Right). For instance, there are many countries which are noted for their oil but peace has eluded them. This is because the citizens feel cheated by the managers of such resources. The managers use the money for their own selfish purposes to the neglect of the interest and the development of the people and the nation at large.

It is against this backdrop that we must intensify our prayers so that God will fill the hearts of all Ghanaians especially our leaders with true humility. They must have a heart full of compassion for the masses that are suffering and therefore need an exigent help (Fill our hearts with true humility).

We must also intensify our prayers for our leaders so that they would be honest. Without honesty, although we have a lot of mineral deposits, they wouldn’t amount to anything. For where corruption is the order of the day, a nation finds it difficult, if not altogether impossible to shrug itself from poverty and also lags behind in development (Make us cherish fearless honesty).

To this effect, we must pray for a government whose aim is to maximize the natural resources for the benefit of all Ghanaians, so that each one of us would have a fair share of the national cake. We should pray for the ability to resist any government that will share the national cake according to political affiliation thereby putting the rest of the citizens who are not part of that party in perpetual affliction and oppression. Also we should pray against any government, who because of the wealth, may try to manipulate the constitution of the nation in order to stay in power beyond the stipulated period (And help us to resist oppressors' rule).

Since there are more indicators that Ghana is getting better, we must keep on praying, at least by the means of singing our anthem often and not only on occasions. I wonder if the usual habit of students singing the national anthem every morning at parade is still been done in all schools. Those schools that have stopped this practice should go back for it since it is one of the means we pray for our beloved country-Ghana.

I would like to also appeal to all TV and Radio stations in the country to play the anthem before and after work, and if possible at mid-day. Our national anthem is a unique one. I may be wrong though but perhaps, it is the only anthem of prayer in the whole world. Let us therefore cultivate the habit of learning the words in our anthem, teach our children and also sing it as often as possible. As often as we sing the anthem, we pray to God to bless our Homeland Ghana and so shall it be for us.

God bless our homeland Ghana,
And make our nation great and strong,
Bold to defend forever
The cause of Freedom and of Right.
Fill our hearts with true humility
Make us cherish fearless honesty,
And help us to resist oppressors' rule
With all our will and might for evermore.


Gyan Eric
University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
[email protected]