Changing the Game — From chessboard to squash court

My friends, I have spent much of my life on a chessboard.

1. The Missionary Apologist: Learning strategy on the chessboard

As a young missionary apologist, I stood in rooms where faith was questioned, culture was challenged, and truth had to be defended square by square. Apologetics taught me chess. One careful move at a time. Listen first. Anticipate the next objection. Protect what matters most. On that board, I learned that ideas have consequences and that defending a belief requires both conviction and wisdom. The chessboard formed my mind. It taught me patience, discipline, and how to think several moves ahead for the Gospel and for our nation.

2. The Political Journey: When the board got too small

But politics brought me to a hard truth. Our country is not a chessboard. On a chessboard, you wait your turn. You move one piece while the clock runs. You keep a distance from your opponent.

Ghana does not have that luxury. Unemployment does not wait its turn. Our youth cannot pause while we plan 10 moves ahead. The challenges of our time come at us like a squash ball off the back wall: fast, angled, relentless.

So I stepped off the board and onto the court. Politics for me became squash. No distance. No delegation. You must cover the court. You must return every serve. You must be fit enough to stay in the rally when the score is 10-10, and your legs are burning. That is the political journey I chose. Not the safety of spectatorship, but the sweat of participation.

3. UPSA and the Lecture Hall: Training players, not just pieces

At UPSA, my classroom became a training court. I do not want students who only know how to be pawns moved by others. I want players.

Chess teaches you to protect the king. Academia must teach you to protect your mind, your voice, and your future. So I train the next generation for squash, not chess.

I train them for endurance over ego. For recovery after a missed shot. For using the wall, even when the wall looks like an obstacle. For understanding that your opponent’s best shot can set up your winning point if you read it right.

My mission is simple. Send out graduates who do not wait to be moved. Send out young men and women who will step onto the court of governance, business, media, and community, and keep the rally going until Ghana scores.

The shift we need now

Ghana has enough grandmasters watching from the sidelines. What we need are players willing to sweat.

From chessboard to squash court means:

From strategy without sacrifice to strategy with stamina.

From protecting positions to building people.

From silent calculation to engaged action.

From “my turn later” to “I will take this shot now”.

I came through apologetics, through politics, through the lecture halls of UPSA, and all three taught me the same lesson. The game has changed.

So let us change with it. Let us raise a generation that does not ask “whose move is it?” but asks “where is the ball, and how do I return it for my country?”

Let us change the game. From chess board to squash court. From waiting to winning. From planning to playing.

Thank you, and God bless us all.