At the just ended 2026 World Cup Tournament in which Ghana participated, something about our national anthem and our players revealed a deficiency that is worth talking about.
At the world stage, the 2026 squad failed to project our national anthem with pride and dignity when the opportunity came for them to do so.
Let’s start with this question: Why has FIFA found it necessary to play the national anthems of competing countries at the stadium?
Note that FIFA does not have its own international anthem. Rather, it commissions official songs which are played at major tournaments.
FIFA, however, projects the sovereignty of nations by reserving the pre-match anthems to the competing countries, which is a beautiful thing to do.
So, even if the country is eliminated at the group stage, at least by singing their national anthem, they would have sung the praise of the country’s history, traditions, and values.
Embarrassment
Unfortunately, when it was time for the Ghanaian squad to sing our national anthem, they could not! While their competitors sang their anthems with enthusiasm, our players simply mumbled on!
They had forgotten, "God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong . . ."
The embarrassment was glaring. Our boys could not even mime Ghana’s most celebrated anthem, let alone sing the lyrics.
Therefore, they failed to carry high the symbol instilled in the anthem.
Anthem abandoned
But the footballers are not the only people who seem not to know the lyrics of the Ghana National Anthem—at least, the first stanza.
If FIFA’s spotlight cameras were focused on each of us and if we were asked to sing our national anthem to the whole world, many of us might be found wanting.
Why is it so? Could it be that we have forgotten the value of our national anthem? Or have we abandoned our national anthem and the national pledge the way we have abandoned many national assets and values?
Don’t we realise that the national anthem of a nation is unique and sentimental, and can psyche the citizens to a lifelong pursuit of patriotism, and the upholding of national dignity?
Does it matter if we cannot sing our national anthem? Or, as Ghanaians are prone to ask, "Does the national anthem place food on our table?" What a shame to ask such a pathetic question!
Well, if we do not know our national anthem, let us hide our deficiency in our small corners but not display our shame to the whole world at a World Cup tournament!
Lasting aspirations
In 2016, I wrote a book and titled it, God Bless Our Homeland Ghana—about the Ghana National Anthem. While writing the book, I discovered that the anthem’s patriotic musical composition carries the embodiment of our aspirations as a people.
Like most written and oral literature that have the force and power of effective communication, our national anthem particularly expresses the national identity of our beloved country.
With the opening statement, "God bless our homeland Ghana," the anthem immediately acknowledges our reliance on Almighty God for His divine help while lauding the importance of hard work in achieving our goals.
For we are a blessed and a God-endowed nation, with human and material resources that have enriched us and that have been the root of our development.
One people, one nation
When we recall the positive lifestyles of Ghanaians who upheld the dignity of our nation, we see a pattern: patriotism, hard work, loyalty, and right living.
They were bold in defending the cause of the freedom and of the right that we enjoy today. Many hearts were filled with true humility, not the pride we observe around us.
One of the deepest thoughts in our national anthem is asking God to help us cherish (that is, treasure or value) honesty fearlessly— "Make us cherish fearless honesty!"
It is a bold appeal to the Almighty to help us be honest (that is, be truthful and trustworthy) without being afraid that someone might persecute us for being law-abiding.
Without remembering, understanding, appreciating, and living by the principles of our national anthem, we will continue to undermine our patriotism and dignity as one nation and one people with one destiny.
The time has come
The time has come for the national anthem to be made a national educational programme to enable all sectors of our national life to study it.
This includes students, workers, security personnel, civil society, parliamentarians, religious bodies, prison inmates, and even Ghanaians in the Diaspora. That would be one of the most relevant reset agendas to embark upon.
For many years, we have maintained this anthem, composed by Philip Gbeho, not seeking to tamper with its lyrics and music.
But, unless we revisit our national anthem, study it, and put its tenets into practice, we risk losing this rich heritage bequeathed to us by our forebears.
The writer is a publisher, author, writer-trainer and CEO of Step Publishers.
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