Nation in View: Ghana
THE LAND OF THE WARRIOR KINGS
A king is not just someone that carries a crown of gold or reed on his head, sitting on a throne of gold or wood, but one who either intentionally or unintentionally searches out and carries out the hidden matters of God for their lives and nation.
Samuel Phillips
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2.
The above scripture was on my mind as I reflected one early morning on the cover story for this issue, which speaks of Ghana as the land of the kings. This is not just some made up story or sensational ideas designed to stir up some reactions or whatever, but a true reality which is also found in the literal meaning of the name Ghana. Ghana literally means a young warrior king. This is the truth about Ghana’s identity as allowed by the Creator Who puts people in the various places on the earth. But to give a little more depth to this reality, I will shortly share an experience that I had with the Lord in 2014, which I believe will give more strength to the reality of Ghana being the land of the warrior kings.
Ghana’s Independence
On March 6, 1957, the British Gold Coast (Now known as Ghana) became the first colony in Sub-Saharan Afrika to gain independence from European colonial rule.
In honor of the ancient empire from which some of its people had migrated, the newly independent nation chose for itself a new name: Ghana. This Soninke word for “warrior king” is a fitting tribute to the region’s rich history and to the fierce persistence that led its people to independence.
There is so much to learn from the little story shared about the independence of Ghana, but I particularly love the fact that the newly independent nation chose her own name. A name with a deep meaning which resonates with the true destiny of what every nation in Afrika is. Names are very important in telling the true destiny of a person or people. And Ghana simply bears a most beautiful name that truly reflects a great destiny. The simple truth is that, anyone who has the ability to create his own reality by the name chosen, definitely is one who can stand tall for a chosen purpose.
Another thing about Ghana that is worth noting is, she was the first colony in Sub-Saharan Afrika to gain independence from the colonizers. By simple law of nature, anything that comes first becomes a model for others to follow. So for Ghana, you are truly a model and a land of warriors whose destiny propels others to take a good stand for purpose.
My experience at Badagry
In 2014, around September or so, the Lord asked me to go to Badagry in Lagos to carry out an assignment, which clearly was very dear to His heart. I spent a week in Badagry in a friend’s family home. It was an assigment which I only got the details of when I arrived there. Badagry is a border town between Nigeria and Benin Republic. It’s a former slave route town and even still has the various ports and buildings used for the dreadful Atlantic Slave Trade. So basically, Badagry is a very popular and important historic site in Afrika.
I got to Badagry and started my one week stay. It was actually fun for me because I naturally enjoy historical places, especially for the stories and events they portray. So on this particular day during my visit, I remember it was the day of the Jewish Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement), the Lord asked me to go to the old slave port to make a declaration. So I went there with one of my friends who took it upon himself to take me around. We followed the slave route that led to the seashore where slaves were carried into boats and transferred onto the slave ships anchored in the sea. The entire journey was very surreal; the kind that makes you feel like the souls of those lost slaves were looking at you as you passed the various monuments that depict their suffering. We passed an old well with an inscription on it that says “Attenuated well” or something to that effect. Not so sure anymore. It was the well the slaves being transported were made to drink from and by which effect they were made to forget their places of origin. We passed that well, got to an arch formerly called “The Point of No Return”. I say formerly, because while there, the Lord asked me to change the name of that place to “The Point of The Return”. That particular monument was the last marker for any slave going through that Badagry slave route. It was the point from which no slave returned. Meaning that once a slave passed that point, there was no hope of coming back home either dead or alive.
As I received the command to change the name of that place from “The Point of no return” to “The Point of the Return”, the Lord showed me a stone and asked me to throw it as far as I could into the sea. He then commanded me to command everything that has been stolen from Afrika be returned to Afrika. I did as He asked, threw the stone as far as I could, made the declaration about the return of all things stolen from Afrika. Remember, like I had already mentioned, this particular day was the Jewish Yom Kippur which is the Day of Atonement.
It was much later I began to understand what the Lord made me do at Badagry that day and how the next few years of the Afrikan narrative would be determined by its spiritual outcome.
Now, you may be wondering what Badagry has to do with Ghana as the land of the warrior kings. Let me show you.
Ghana’s Year of the Return
Exactly four years after that declaration in Badagry, in Washington, D.C., on September 2018, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo declared and formally launched the “Year of Return, Ghana 2019” for Afrikans in the Diaspora, giving fresh impetus to the quest to unite Afrikans on the continent with their brothers and sisters in the diaspora. Was this a coincidence that it was the same September that this declaration was made? I do not think so. Do you know how much Ghana generated through activities related to the year of return? About US1.9Billion Dollars with about 500,000 tourists from outside of Afrika. Certainly that’s a strong indication of the coming to pass of the declaration for all that was stolen from Afrika to return.
Now why was 2019 very important for the year of the return to begin even as the word and declaration was given in 2014? 2019 made it the 400th year from which the first slaves from Afrika arrived in America in 1619. And what picture does this paint in your heart? The event of the 400 years of Israel’s slavery in Egypt. Are these things coincidences? Not at all.
The question now is this, having said all of this, how does it relate back to Ghana as the land of the warrior kings?
The answer is found in the scripture that started this article. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2.
And that’s why when the elders in Revelation 5:10 said “And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”, what they were saying was that “You God have made us kings (those who search out the hidden matters of God) and priests (those whose lives are dedicated at the altar of God’s truth) and we shall rule on the earth. Meaning we shall live out the truth of our destiny on the earth.
Beloved Ghana
In as much as this article is written about Ghana, just like every other article we have written in this magazine about any nation in Afrika, it is also about the reality of Afrika as warrior kings.
I have never been to Ghana before, although I hope to visit soon, but from the different news coming from that beautiful country, I am clear in my mind that because they have stepped forward to actualize the mind of God as regards the return of all stolen things back to Afrika, they truly are worthy to be called warrior kings. And did I tell you I love the ancient Adinkra symbols of Ghana? I absolutely do.
I saw a YouTube video which talks about the pooling together of resources by Afrikans in the diaspora to build what they call the Wakanda City of Return in Ghana. The city, which name is inspired by the technologically advanced fictional African country portrayed in “Black Panther,” aims to be a pilgrimage for the people of Afrikan descent to learn about their history, culture, the civilization of Afrika, and its role in the creation of the new world economy.
According to an article I read online, there are five phases to the city project. Once complete, the city will feature a one thousand-bed teaching hospital, a university and technical college, five-star hotels and resorts, a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, parks and green spaces, a shopping center, roads that are ready to support self-driving electric cars, and more.
It is expected that the project will create approximately 3,000 jobs in Cape Coast.
2020 will surely be remembered for what each one will remember it for, but 2021 is a year in which each person, having learnt from 2020 what works and what should be discarded, will now live life going forward putting their best foot forward. However, how else can a person live their best lives except to live out the truth about their purpose and destiny just like Ghana did and still is doing?
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