Former President, John Dramani Mahama
The 1992 Africa Cup of Nations final in Dakar, Senegal, between Ivory Coast and Ghana, which ended 11-10 in favour of the Elephants through penalties after a grueling goalless 120 minutes is a perfect example of how critical penalty shootouts could be, and how important it is to get skillful players for the assignment. In fact, Ghana lost partly because Abedi Pele was shown a red card in the previous match and was not eligible to play in the final match.
According to Professor Antila Ambrus, Lucas and Christian Brittol in their book, "Optimal Lineups in Penalty Kick Shootout: An Empirical and Theoretical Investigation," Penalty kick shootouts in soccer are perhaps the most exciting tiebreakers in sports, pitting a series of field players against the opposing goalkeeper in a competition involving skill, mental prowess, and nerves.
As the shootout has very quantifiable results, each shot is either a goal or a miss; each shootout, therefore, has a winning team and a losing team. Thus, any advantage in a penalty shootout, however slight, could be very valuable in contributing to that team’s success, development and reputation.
As illustrated above, no serious team would want to keep its penalty kick expert on the bench during a penalty shootout, and it is pretty much in the same lines that I think the NDC has two choices: put Mahama in the 2024 match against the NPP as the skipper or stay in opposition for another 4 years or more. In fact, the NPP is aware of this and would want to throw mud at him in the coming months, and I’m not surprised they have already started. The NPP has adequately demonstrated both by utterances and deeds that they want to rule Ghana for a very long time; and such mechanisms being put in place to enable them achieve their aim, is not surprising at all.
It would be obviously absurd for anyone to think or argue that H.E. John Dramani Mahama who had over 6 million votes in the last election is not suitable to lead the NDC, that will constitute sophism deliberately intended to deceive the people of Ghana because the evidence tells a different story. Such thinking would be either by design or wickedness or demonic. It will be too much witchery.
When a political party goes to opposition the grass-root members are the ones that suffer most. It is, therefore, the fervent desire of such people to see their party in power. That is why I entreat NDC loyalists and grassroot members not to buy into this fallacies because it will never help the NDC to recapture power.
As I have already indicated, Yaanom have an agenda to stay in power for a long time, and want to destroy their dreaded opponents; if the ablest grassroots supporters therefore mistakenly fall into this trap, and their plan is allowed to succeed, the long-term damage to the NDC will be grave.
One of the strategies of war is to attack your enemy where he is unprepared, and now that Akufo-Addo and his NPP seem to be dazed, let's quickly come together and hit them hard till they go into coma. If your enemy leaves a door open, you must rush in. Kikikikiiki, we have work to do, and it must be urgent because many doors have been left ajar by Nana and his government.
I agree that the NDC has fine prospective flagbearers, most of whom are my good friends, but we need to study the times and seasons to be able to make informed choices. 1 Chronicles 12:32 tells us that the men of Issachar had understanding of the signs of the times to know what Israel ought to do; and this should be the guiding principle of the NDC in their choice of a flagbearer for 2024.
David was anointed King while Saul was on the throne, but David had the patience to wait till the appointed time. David had the opportunity to Kill Saul who was after his life, but he didn't, and this is what he said: “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, or lay my hand on him.” This must be food for thought for those who want to contest their former master, H.E. John Dramani Mahama.
In every situation in life, unity is necessary for survival, and history has taught us the importance of unity, that if a group is united, nothing can shake or unsettle it; and it is based on this that I strongly believe that the NDC is going to bounce back in style.
I have no shred of doubt about that. If the rank and file of the party would hold the hands of one another, and trudge down the trenches with JDM, and learning from the lessons of 2020, victory 2024 will be a mathematical certainty!
Presidents may come, and presidents may go, but there is a decided difference between what H.E. John Dramani Mahama has done and the others; this is absolutely a chief distinguishing mark of a great leader.
JDM has a lot to show as his achievements and commitment to Ghana and his party, therefore, the NDC will be committing a political suicide if it fails to elect him as a flag bearer for 2024! Nothing would be more unsafe for the umbrella fraternity than neglecting him.
The NDC now has no choice as a party – they win – or they perish! We must win! And JDM is our surest bet! He is the acme of our political success in 2024!
This is a most far-reaching emergency!
I have decided to choose JDM as NDC's flagbearer for 2024 because of these compelling reasons; and I expect you to do same.
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