I did not know her and we never met! But, the news of Bernice Offei’s passing on Saturday, September 12, 2026 hit me like a thunderbolt! Why? At the time of my retirement from the Ghana Armed Forces in 2014, after over 43 years’ service, her song “Life is short” resonated deeply with me.
Not surprisingly, my first article on retirement in the Daily Graphic published on January 1, 2015 was titled “Life is Short.” As a tribute to a kindred spirit I never met, below is a reproduction of my article.
Names like Sir Gary Sobers (West Indies), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Sir Ian Botham (England), Imran Khan (Pakistan) and Brian Lara (West Indies) are not known by most Ghanaians.
This is because cricket is not a popular sport in Ghana. Indeed, even at its peak in the 1960s and 1970s, it was played in only a few secondary schools.
Cricket
Rightly or wrongly, it was/is still considered an elitist game. In Accra, only Achimota School played cricket. In Kumasi, Prempeh College and Opoku Ware were the two schools which played cricket.
Cape Coast had Mfantsipim and Adisadel playing while in the Western Region, only the Ghana Secondary Technical School (GSTS) played cricket.
In effect, all Ghana’s cricketers came from the half a dozen schools mentioned.
Incidentally, cricket was a legacy bequeathed by Britain to its former colonies of Ghana, Gambia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
For my classmates and I who entered Mfantsipim in the mid-1960s, cricket was the first sporting activity we were introduced to in the first term.
Naturally, it made a great impact on us with cricket becoming a passion.
Not surprisingly, on account of cricket’s unpopularity in this country, the sudden death of the 25-year-old Australian international cricketer Phillip Hughes did not make headline news in Ghana.
In the cricket-playing world ,however, Thursday, November 27, 2014 will forever remain a dark day in cricket history, a day of tragedy for the game.
Two days earlier on Tuesday, November 25, 2014, while playing in a match in Sydney in his native Australia, the 25-year-old rising star in international cricket was struck by a ball on his neck.
He fell immediately and lost consciousness. In spite of being promptly lifted by helicopter for surgery, he did not come out of unconsciousness.
He died on Thursday, November 27, 2014.
Bernice Offei
Somehow, in recent times, I have developed an extra liking for the gospel musician Bernice Offei’s song “Life is Short”. Apart from the impact of the melody on me, I find the words so apt.
In a very simple way, she reminds us and emphasises the shortness/transience of life – from birth, through adolescence to adulthood, old age and inevitably death.
Philip Bliss/Spafford
The tragic death of the 25-year old Australian cricketer, Hughes also reminded me of a regular song often sung during funeral church services, “It is well with my soul”.
The song, composed by Philip Bliss, was based on a tragedy that befell an American family in the early 1870s.
Horatio Spafford was a very well-known and wealthy lawyer in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
In 1870, he lost his only son, aged four, to scarlet fever.
Soon after that in 1871, a fire incident which became known as the Great Fire of Chicago, completely burnt out his real estate property.
All his investments got wiped out.
To take a break from these misfortunes, Spafford decided going on a holiday in England with his family in 1873.
At the appointed time for departure, he got delayed by business.
He, therefore, sent his wife Anna and their four daughters ahead.
On November 22, 1873, while crossing the Atlantic in their ship Ville-de-Havre, they were struck by another ship, the Loc-Ean.
Two hundred and twenty-six people lost their lives, including all the four daughters of Mr and Mrs Spafford.
Anna Spafford miraculously survived.
On arrival in England, she sent her husband a telegram beginning with the words, “Saved Alone…..”
Spafford then set sail for England himself. It was when their ship got to the point of the accident and subsequent drowning of his daughters that Spafford wrote the words of the popular hymn, “It is well with my soul”.
The first verse and the refrain are as follows.
“When peace like a river attended my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll,
Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say
It is well with my soul.”
REFRAIN: It is well (It is well,)
With my soul (With my soul,)
It is well, it is well with my soul”.
2014
The year 2014 has not been a kind year.
Too many times, I have heard Bernice Offei’s “Life is short” as well as Horatio Spafford/Philip Bliss’ “It is well with my soul” at funeral services.
Among the many who left us in 2014, my good friend and mate, Brig. Gen. Richard Debrah was called to eternity at the age of 65.
Another mate, Maj. George Sarpong, lost his elder brother, Maj. Charles Sarpong.
He managed the biblical three score and ten!
Perhaps, more painful on account of their relative youth were the deaths of two 35-year-old youngsters. ‘Chief’, the son of my mate, Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Okyere (Rtd) was called to eternity.
In September 2014, my wife “Manager” and I had to travel to Warri, Delta State of Nigeria for the funeral of the 35-year-old daughter of our family friends, Brig. Gen. and Mrs Dominic Oneya.
She was cold-bloodedly murdered by armed robbers!
This was only two weeks after she had visited us here in Accra.
The deaths of the two 35-year-olds, ‘Chief’ in Ghana and Frances in Nigeria, as well as that of the 25-year-old Australian international cricketer Phillip Hughes, in a routine cricket match, brought back memories of our son Nana Osei (Apoot), who was called to eternity in 2008 at the age of 27.
It also reminded me of the words of Bernice Offei’s song, “Life is Short,” which says;
“Life is so short… It passes so quickly and soon is gone……
Life is like a little flower. Today it’s here, tomorrow it’s gone
So don’t chase after riches and power… Because they will fail you…
So remember your Creator while you have breath…. “
Greed
The question that has constantly baffled me is what Bernice Offei alludes to in her song………..Greed!
Why has greed taken over our lives with the endless chase after riches and power?
Why do people steal and accumulate wealth as if they would permanently remain on this earth and never die?
Why the arrogant show of power and total disrespect for fellow Ghanaians?
As Bernice says, “Life is short…….. So remember your Creator while you have breath….”
As 2014 has passed and we have entered 2015, may the souls of all who departed for higher glory during 2014 rest in peace.
Richy, Charles, ‘Chief’, Frances and Phillip Hughes in faraway Australia, as well as the many who are not mentioned here, Rest in Perfect Peace!!
And do not forget to send our greetings to our dear son, Nana Osei (Apoot or Boloo ) for us!!
Like Horatio Spafford, we will be consoled by the hymn:
“When peace like a river attendeth my way…
When sorrows like sea billows roll…
Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say…
It is well with my soul.”
Gospel musician Bernice Offei’s death at 63 should remind us of the transience of life which she sang about!
Why do we spend life grabbing everything in sight at the expense of fellow Ghanaians?
Why do rich city-dwelling Ghanaians sponsor poor villagers with excavators to dig into the earth with expensive excavators /equipment for gold while poisoning our waters and degrading the land and vegetation in “galamsey?”
For the rich with seared consciences for whom money matters more than life of Ghanaians, remember the three-score-and-ten God has given us. Bernice Offei fell seven short of that at sixty-three.
Remember, we came with nothing and will go with nothing as Alexander the Great said in 323 BC on his deathbed at age 32 after all the fame he enjoyed.
May Bernice Offei’s soul RIP!
Leadership, lead by example/integrity/humility.
Fellow Ghanaians, wake up!
The writer is a former CEO, African Peace Support Trainers Association Nairobi, Kenya; Council Chairman, Family Health University, Teshie, Accra. E-mail:
