It has emerged that the literary committee that was set to select a song as Ghana’s anthem rejected Philip Gbeho’s lyrics for being ‘too religious’
This decision by the committee, according to Prof. Emeritus Ivan Addae-Mensah, left the country without lyrics for its national anthem even at the time of the declaration of independence.
He says that Philip Gbeho’s original entry was titled ‘Lord God Our Father We Praise Thee’
Whilst the Committee selected his tune as the national anthem from the four entries it received, they rejected the lyrics, saying that it was not befitting for the country, which was a secular.
The former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, being a student of Mr. Philip Gbeho, knew about the long journey in the selection of Mr. Gbeho’s composition as the nation’s anthem.
In a yet-to-be aired interview with Dr. Abubakari Sidick Ahmed on Radio Univers, Prof. Emeritus shares how another committee was set up to write appropriate lyrics for the anthem, using Mr. Gbeho’s tune.
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He also recounted how there were suggestions for Mr. Ephraim Amu’s ‘Yen Ara Asase Ni’ song to be adopted as the national anthem since it was already popular among the citizenry.
“At independence, our anthem had no lyrics. So another committee was set up to write appropriate lyrics for the anthem. There was a school of thought that all the four entries should be rejected and Ephraim Amu’s ‘Yen Ara Asase Ni’ be considered for the national anthem,” Prof. Emeritus Ivan Addae Mensah recalls.
The interview will be premiered at 4PM on Friday, July 17, 2020.
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