Sports and poverty elimination

By Kofi Akordor

THE euphoria of victory, especially in a major sporting event, can be very stimulating. And this explains why the country is still basking in the glory of lifting the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in far away Egypt. The victory in a way took away the nation’s pains over the Black Stars’ poor showing in the last two World Cup qualification matches.
The young men and their handlers who brought international glory to the country drove home brand new vehicles, which some of our top professionals, including medical officers and engineers, working in the public service would take probably their entire working life to acquire.
Apart from this, the Black Satellites players, having a bright future ahead of them, have been secured a solid foundation by the state with a GH¢10, 000 life insurance package each to mature between 10 and 15 years.
It must be stressed that this is just the beginning, coming from what could be described as locally-generated funds. There is more for them beyond, if they remain consistent and take their chosen careers seriously. Already we have been told that the star of the Egypt tournament, Dominic Adiyiah, has landed a lucrative signing with Italian Serie A giants, AC Milan.
In a short period of time, the lives of about 20 young players have undergone a dramatic change – a change that will take them and possibly other members of their families from poverty and place them in a world of wealth and prosperity.
If they play their cards well and manage their affairs with stringent discipline, their children will not trod the rough path they came from and their fortune will surely reflect on the lives of other people who are closely associated with them.
A few other sportsmen and women like Abedi Ayew Pele, Anthony Yeboah, Azumah Nelson, Ike Quartey and Samuel Osei Kufuor, who have taken the lead by undergoing positive social transformation in their lives, have proved that sports is no longer just a game but a profession, which holds the key to the social and economic emancipation of the youth of this country.
We have always heard of various strategies for job creation and poverty alleviation, which at the end of the day leave very little impact on the economy in general or brings just some solace to the large army of unemployed youth roaming the streets like zombies.
We cannot wait for the establishment of big factories to create employment for our youth because that day will never come.
Second, the factories alone cannot guarantee them decent living and a sound wealth since salaries will depend on various factors, including qualification, skills and market forces. Since most of these young men and women are unskilled, with some of them being stark illiterates, we may give them jobs without necessarily improving their social and economic conditions.
Out of desperation, the youth are engaging in all sorts of dangerous activities with devastating consequences just to make ends meet. About two weeks ago, the newspapers, including the Daily Graphic, had no option but to bring the full impact and dangers of illegal mining (galamsey) in pictures to Ghanaians. That was when 18 people, 14 of them women, lost their lives in a galamsey operation at Dompoase, near Wassa Akropong in the Western Region, which went tragic.
Internet fraud, which has gained notoriety as ‘Sakawa’ in local parlance and armed robbery are some of the evils eating into our social fabric, because as it is said, the devil finds work for idle hands.
Until the oil money begins to flow and the factories begin to spring up everywhere, we , as a nation, still have a pool of talents to exploit to make this nation prosperous and to make the youth useful to themselves and the nation. That is through the magic of sports.
It has now been proven that we do not need to destroy the forests of this country, degrade the environment through mining activities and entangle ourselves in the production of raw cocoa beans to generate wealth and create employment in the country. A little more investment in our human resources by improving upon sporting facilities will give a tremendous boost to sports development in the country.
We can take the development of soccer in the country to a more scientific level by establishing more football academies in many parts of the country to unearth more talents that abound all over the country. These talents can be groomed to nourish the national league and later exported to play professional league in Europe and other parts of the world to bring hard cash into the country.
Apart from soccer, there are raw talents in other sporting fields that are waiting to be discovered and developed. What we need is a more serious approach to their development. A standard basketball court, tennis court and boxing gym in every neighbourhood can turn the scale from joblessness and vulnerability to accomplished sportsmen and women prepared to rake in the millions of dollars beckoning them.
So far our success in football and boxing has been reliant on the natural talents of the young men and women with very little effort to add any scientific grooming. That is an indication that we can do better still on the international stage if we can make investment by way of expanding existing facilities and adding more at the regional and district levels to encourage the youth to take to sports which can easily make them competitive on the international market.
As the success story of the Black Satellites has proved, many years of galamsey, with its attendant dangers, can never bring the returns that a successful footballer, tennis player or boxer could bring to himself and his/her community.
The revival of the Academicals and other college sporting competitions could be the beginning of an aggressive sports development at the youth level. Facilities at the community level will be a booster. That is why the neglect of the Azumah Nelson Sports Complex at Kaneshie is an apology for a country that claims to have made sports a cornerstone of its youth development policy.

fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com