Empress Gifty
The Ministry of National Security has appointed some Ghanaian celebrities and media personalities as ambassadors of the campaign, “See something, say something”. The initiative is supposed to encourage the public to be vigilant of the activities of suspicious characters and report such activities and characters to the security agencies.
Kofi Kinaata, Kwame Sefa Kayi, Dzifa Bampoe, Empress Gifty, Nana Aba Anamoah and Rev. Dr. Lawrence Tetteh are to spearhead the campaign as ambassadors.
Interestingly, one name among the list has sparked some chatter on social media over perceived circumstance that informed her selection.
Some are questioning the choice of gospel artiste, Empress Gifty (Mrs. Gifty Adorye) due his affiliation to her husband, Mr. Hopeson Adorye, who is a government official and a former National Security Coordinator. To the naysayers, the gospel artiste only got the nod as a result of nepotism.
Way to go
Once again, another corporate entity is partnering with celebrities to achieve a purpose and that’s laudable. The understanding of the clout and influence that celebrities yield is key and then, to take the step of engaging them in any project is impressive.
Endorsement deals are one of the biggest revenue-generating points for celebrities; using their prestige, influence and reach to partner corporate entities and others in the promulgation of products, projects and initiatives. So, when celebrities place themselves in a position to woo such partnerships, then they are in a good place.
There’s no dispute that venerated broadcasters, Kwame Sefa Kayi and Nana Aba Anamoah have over the years charted a path that has made their respective brands alluring to other businesses.
Kofi Kinaata is a multiple-award-winning artiste, who has elevated his persona to a point where corporate entities find his brand very appealing to work with and of course, for the clergy, Dr. Lawrence Tetteh is one of the most influential men of God that commandeers such admiration and respect.
Why only her?
For some stroppy reason(s), Empress Gifty has been singled out from the list of selected celebrities for backlash and according to the cynics, she got the nod from the National Security not on merit.
Per the logic of these disparagers, the gospel minstrel got selected due to the machinations of her husband, Mr. Hopeson Adorye. To them, Mr. Adorye has such dominion at the Ministry of National Security to be able to influence decisions on which kind of partnerships the outfit must engage in.
Kwame Sefa Kayi has deep-seated connections with highly influential persons in government. He is a Board Member of the National Petroleum Authority and has all the necessary reach to influence his selection. Why are the critics not mentioning him? Because, they are convinced that any form of nepotism associated with him would be a fallacy. The ace broadcaster has such a stacked resume’ that makes him suitable for any campaign that involves the general public.
Nana Aba Anamoah has over the years built some rapport with influential personalities, some in government – an affiliation that can land her that slot, so, why is no one questioning her selection too? She is not being fingered because the critics have the conviction that her selection is based on nothing but merit.
What about Empress Gifty?
She qualifies
Anybody that questions the appointment of Empress Gifty is doing so based on varied reasons; lack of knowledge, lack of research, lack of appreciation and lack of respect.
In the last two or so years, no gospel artiste has been visible as Empress Gifty – none! She has not only been loud on the gospel frontier but has extended her appeal unto the so-called secular fold. In the last couple of years, the minstrel has been relevant and dominant on all fronts; both traditional media and social media. In that spate of time, she’s released hit songs, produced her own concert, graced many other high profile shows, annexed several awards and signed onto other endorsement deals.
With millions of followers on social media, Gifty has such range that would appeal to any entity that wants to sell any product and project to the public. She ticks every box on the checklist of the qualities a celebrity must possess to land an endorsement deal; clean record, audience, clout and influence.
Whoever questions her selection obviously has no appreciation and respect for the efforts she’s put into her craft, her business and personal dealings in order to get to this position.
Thumbs up to Mr. Adorye if…
Assuming, without admitting that Mr. Hopeson Adorye had a hand in the selection of his wife as an Ambassador for the project, then he is a sensible man. He is a man that clearly supports the wife and love to see her win.
It would have been wrong if Empress Gifty did not merit the slot and the husband engineered some underhand dealings to get her in. However, with the knowledge that, the wife fully qualifies for such a role, if Mr. Adorye pulled strings to get her wife in the mix, then thumbs up to him. He did no wrong!
Darren Ferguson was the son of the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson who got the chance to play for Manchester United. His father managed Darren at the club but he could only manage 27 league appearances in 4 seasons. He was simply not good enough and his father didn’t force it – he didn’t use any devious means to play his son.
On the other side of the equation are Cesare Maldini and the son, Paolo Maldini.
As coach of the Italian Under-21 football team, Cesare Maldini had little option than to select his son, Paolo to the team because he was good. Paolo was so good he spent little time at the youth team as he was called into the senior team. When Cesare got the opportunity to manage the Italian national team, he couldn’t drop Paolo, because he was excellent. Paolo would go on to achieve more laurels than the father and become an Italian football god!