LESSONS FROM THE STADIUM DISASTER

By Mawutodzi K. Abissath

Thursday, November 15, 2001

PHILOSOPHICALLY, life itself is an eternal school of learning. And there are two principal ways of learning a lesson in life; either through experience or by the hard way.

So, too, it is common place that there are two kinds of disasters - natural disasters over which, man has no control and man-made disasters, which can be prevented or avoided by prudent living. 

      

Ghana is such a blessed land that hardly experiences some catastrophic natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricane Michelles and Mozambican-like- floods and so on. The nation must be grateful to the Creator for this blessing. But it seems Ghanaians have taken this kind of "cosmic benediction" for granted and have been living reckless lives leading to some of the man-made disasters that have been befalling the nation.

Records from the National Road Safety Commission show that last year (2000) alone, 14,650 motor accidents occurred in this country. Out of this 10,518 people injured and 1,159 souls perished just like that. Why? Simply because some of our people are either ignorant or have deliberately refused to learn from experience or to adhere to a simple instruction that, "If you drink don't drive and if you drive don't drink." Christmas is at the corner and the nation is watching motorists.

On Wednesday, May 9, 2001 in the afternoon, after a downpour in Accra, the two most glamorous teams of the land, Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko, went to play a football match at the Accra Sports Stadium. That simple game of sports, which was supposed to be enjoyed by all and sundry, turned out to be the most disastrous tragedy in the football history of the nation claimed 126 lives within a twinkling of an eye. This was a man-made disaster that could have been avoided.

The government must be commended for the matured and wise manner in which the entire stadium disaster has been handled from the day it occurred to the day the Government White Paper was presented, precisely on Tuesday, November 6, 2001, by the Minister for Information and Presidential Affairs, Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, at the International Conference Centre  in Accra.

First of all, at the time the disaster occurred, the government had been in office for only five months, no previous experience crisis management of at tragedy of that magnitude whatsoever. Yet, the President of the Republic swiftly exercised his constitutional powers of article 287 (1) and appointed a commission to inquire into the disaster and make a report.

The seriousness with which the Okudzeto Commission went about its task was beyond compare. They must be decorated with national honours for a work well done. The truth is that no human being is perfect, so Ghanaians should not pretend to expect whatever the commission did or whatever recommendations the Government has adopted will be totally perfect.

What is important is for us as a nation to learn how to learn from our mistakes. The day the nation will attain perfection we shall all cease to be human beings. Let's accept the tragedy as a collective karma and deal with it as such.

Another group of people who deserve commendation for the way the stadium disaster was handled is the mass media, especially the FM stations with particular reference to Joy FM and Metro TV: It is recalled that that night it was Joy FM that was covering the event live and calling on people who have cars to move to the Korle-Bu Hospital to convey doctors, nurses and other paramedical volunteers who were ready to assist but were stranded.

When people do well, they must be recognised and appreciated. We should not only take delight in condemning people when they go wrong. Ordinary taxi drivers who helped to convey some of the victims to various hospitals that day must be commended for their spirit of fellow feeling. Above all the generosity demonstrated by individuals and organisations in response to Government's emergency relief fund in aid of the relatives of the victims of the disaster was highly commendable.

Ghanaians are sympathetic "creatures", you know!

The purpose of this piece is not to go over all the recommendations as stated in the government White Paper, which is already in the public domain. One of the recommendations made by the commission and accepted by the government, which this writer finds very insightful, soul stirring and imaginative, is a "fitting memorial to the victims to be erected at a prominent place in the stadium". If we are to learn a national lesson from this stadium disaster, the proposed memorial must serve as a visual monument to prick our conscience whenever we engage in sporting activity.

It is against the backdrop of the above proposal that I doff my hat to the commission for recommending that there should also be "a Living memorial of a stadium development benefit match that will promote good sportsmanship, to be played each year on the Sunday closest to May 9th between Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko." This is a fantastic recommendation. Hearts and Kotoko must know that football game is not a war where the objective must be to draw the blood from your adversary's veins. They must educate their supporters, who are the troublemakers.

Some people have criticised the government White Paper for failing to punish hooligans who actually started the whole tragedy. But on page 37 of the Commission's interim report, under sub-heading Spectator Behaviour, it was stated that, ‘The evidence before the commission clearly shows that the general behaviour of the spectators in the North Stand throughout the match was commendable. There was the usual drumming and dancing and friendly banter between the supporters of the two teams.

It, however, stated that, “It is only a few minutes to the end of the match, that a section of the spectators at the extreme left side of the North Stand expressed their dissatisfaction and frustration, at what they perceived to be bad refereeing, by throwing missiles aimlessly into the area immediately in front of them.  These were not directed at anyone in particular and the evidence shows that they did not threaten anyone in the Stand or anywhere else in the arena," it concluded.

For all you know, some of the hooligans who could have been punished might have already met their untimely death among the victims. So, shall we give the hooligans the benefit of the doubt, but strongly warn those of them still alive to learn a lesson from this experience? This is just the view of this author and he is the master of his own opinion anyway. Let the nation take care of the living and move forward.

Furthermore, the White Paper made it clear that in order to carry out the Okudzeto Commission's proposals "effectively, expeditiously and comprehensively," the President has set up a Cabinet sub-committee to ensure their implementation.

The members of the sub-committee include the Hon. Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, the Hon. Attorney-General and Minster of Justice, the Hon Minister of Interior, the Hon Minister of Youth and Sports, and the Hon, Minister of Works and Housing.

The author works with Information Services Department (ISD) abissath@gmail.com

BN: This article was first published by the Daily Graphic Thursday, November 15, 2001.