Hmmm….Very controversial right?… Two topics that I refrain from blogging about are Religion and Politics. I refrain from religious debates and political opinions because I desire to reach all kinds of readers all over the world. Religion in particular, instead of uniting the human race, has rather divided all parts of society.
However, I could not resist because of the traction this story has gained over a few hours, and days as well as the impact it has had on the Ghanaian media and society in general. I was also tempted because Turkey is a place I visited back in May 2022 and barely nine months later… Boom !!! a 7.5 magnitude earthquake 449.2km or approximately 5 hours’ drive from Aksaray – where I stayed. I spent just a week in Turkey and really enjoyed my stay. But the fact that I was away from home got me homesick just about 5 days into the trip. I actually was booked to spend 2 weeks in Turkey, but after just 5 days, I decided to do just one week and return home. I really couldn’t cope with the cold weather on a few occasions after a downpour. The weather really got hostile on some occasions and the language was not favorable. Very few people spoke English, so you’d struggle just a bit to go about your business.
Now back to Christian Atsu. I was petrified when I heard about the sad news of the earthquake in Turkey. I could just imagine the agony and misery the Ghanaian footballer would be drenched in after being “buried” in the abyss of hard concrete thousands of miles away from his home country. Then I remembered the eerie feeling I had a few days it rained in turkey and I had to cover my whole body in a thick blanket and remained locked up in my hotel room. I bet his whole life flashed right before his very eyes imagining the worst that could happen.
At this point, you remember the good times you had with loved ones, friends, and family. Then you ask your lonely self. Is this how my life is going to end? Why did I even come here in the first place? Why? why me? what if?… My heart was touched when more people poured out positive and good messages hoping that the player would be safely found. Most of the people who wrote messages focused on the fact that Christian was a good man and didn’t deserve to die. By far, the majority of Ghanaians who have had any contact with the footballer unanimously talked about the good deeds of Christian Atsu.
If ever I have seen any man whom Ghanaians have prayed in recent times for his life to be spared, it has to be this footballer – Christian Atsu. Since prayer, faith, and hope are inextricably interwoven, many wish that their prayers would be heard and the Ghanaian footballer’s life would be spared.
By far he was a generous and good-hearted man who went all out to help the poor, needy, widow, etc. The highlight of the good deeds he had done for most people in Ghana is/was his CSR program of freeing most prisoners after they couldn’t either afford an attorney or pay fines for their release.
As a PR consultant, I’m persuaded to believe most people are fond of him because of his team’s effective use of CSR, but I’ll talk about that at another time.
Perhaps, to most of them, Christian Atsu is too good a man to be involved in such a tragedy or better still disaster. Do good people deserve to die early or deserve to live longer? Should bad things happen to good people? May I take your minds to the scripture in Eccl 9:5 for those who believe in the Bible (Time and “unforeseen occurrence” befall us all). I have not been sent from heaven to interpret scriptures, neither am I claiming to be a deity who knows it all, but I clearly understand this scripture in simple terms: “bad things can happen to anyone irrespective of your good deeds, age, gender, etc.” Life happens, and accidents happen, though sometimes our inactions may contribute to hasting casualties or our deaths. We may happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
I began to think to myself, what happened to all the good men, women, innocent children, and people who have had casualties or died uncertain deaths in the past? Then I began to think again: with the hope and prayer of most Ghanaians relying on celestial powers and hopes that the footballer would be found and his life spared, what if (God forbid) he is not found? Would we then blame God and say he never listened to the prayers and pleas of the millions of Ghanaians to save Atsu? Or would we have relied on the statement “It is God who gives and it is God who takes- Job 1:21? Well, that statement was made by the Patriarch Job in the bible who initially misunderstood the real situation and later regretted making those remarks Job 42:1-6 (those who are familiar with the story of Job). But at least for the first time, a celebrated Ghanaian personality involved in a heavy casualty had not been attributed to any of his close associates but instead wishing and hoping to hear good news.
Although there are conflicting reports as to whether or not the footballer has been found and is alive, there is still hope that good news would come from Turkey.
It would be wonderful to see Atsu safe, back and fit, and on the pitch with his powerful left foot and scoring beautiful goals. Â
