The craze for football is without regret and apology.  Not that footballers should say sorry for earning that much merely running after inflated leather, but that others far removed from that environment [several miles across the ocean] have the luxury to play spectatorship to this.

Not only is this sad, it points to a lack of priority for a continent that has serious issues to deal with least of which is how an inflated leather gets kicked several times in 90 minutes.

The people who developed football did so after they fixed their economy to afford their satisfied stomach the opportunity to exercise to eat again for good health and growth. 

But down here in Africa, in hunger, we prefer to bet our last Ghc to behave like those who can afford the luxury of keeping their factories manned by machines to produce food for them while they enjoy football.

Don't get me wrong. Football is ok. But so too are many other things in a man's hierarchy of needs.  For instance, just as football may not be bad, so too is visiting all sick people in Ghana or dancing 24 hours in a day or helping the police regulate the traffic. All those are not bad.

But when a sick, hungry and impoverished man has 24 hours in a day with limited energy, what should they spend their resources doing?

We spend it on football and condemn those who spend theirs on prayers and justify why football is a better option because it sounds sexy.

Granted the fallacy that too much prayer is responsible for Africa’s underdevelopment, then twice as much is the reason why football is why Africa is poor.

In our case, Africa is not involved in football for the business it generates.  Far from it. We are involved merely to indulge our weakness of laziness.

If this suggestion was outrageous, Ghana football would not be in theatre for the Whiteman in Zurich to set up a three-man business-oriented panel to resurrect what is remained of it following attempts to move it beyond a point of indulgence. 

Kwesi Nyantakyi and his team did to Ghana football what the others have done to our politics, entertainment, religion, culture and business.  But as individuals, we can do better and not by abandoning productive hours at work to watch football. That makes us no different from those we accuse of perverting our politics and economy. We should not be the reason why Africa is Africa and cannot be Europe.

Thank you.