Africa’s biggest YouTuber, Wode Maya has revealed that he was the one that suggested to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, to give American streamer, IShowSpeed a Ghanaian passport.
The clarification by the Ghanaian, follows an unwarranted public outburst by broadcast journalist with GHOne television, Lilly Mohammed, on the person of the minister questioning the basis for the issuance of the passport.
The minister just a day after IShowSpeed, 21, visited Ghana as part of the 20-nation African tour, announced that the Ministry has agreed to issue a Ghanaian passport to the social media sensation aimed at encouraging the internet star to market the country to the rest of the world.
“Wode Maya, following our discussions and subsequent confirmation of the irrefutable ties of IShoowSpeed to Ghana, I am pleased to inform you and our compatriots that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has approved the issuance of a Ghanaian Passport to IShowSpeed”, he said.
IShowSpeed, aside confessing being a Ghanaian, has over 50 million subscribers on YouTube alone.
For some reasons, the gesture did not go down well with the broadcaster, who condemned what many thought was a thoughtful act.
In a video that has generated a lot of backlash and conversations, Mohammed was heard bashing the Minister for granting IShowSpeed such an important traveling document when in her view he adds absolutely nothing to Ghana’s development.
She had said the streamer named Berima Kofi Akuffo, did not merit the offer because, he was in Ghana for his personal gratification.
She even went further to question what the one day visit added to Ghana’s economy and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to her, the decision shows that Ghanaians are unserious people. She has since apologized for her outburst.
A number of people who appreciated her concern with the exception of her jabs have also come out to accept the wisdom in the minister’s gesture.
President of think tank grou,p IMANI-Africa weighing in on the discussion first agreed with Mohammed except her “demeaning” words.
Franklin Cudjoe said “Lilly Mohammed’s opinion on the passport to IShowSpeed still stands, I agree with her. She could have made the great point without the demeaning words though.
Moment later, perhaps having educated himself about the immense contribution the visit has brought and can bring, Cudjoe came back completely agreeing with this time the Minister seeing it as a masterstroke.
“Okay, okay, IShowSpeed wins. A golden passport it should be. May our tourism, trade and authorities and mission abroad build on the momentum and keep the Ghana brand and Ghana as a product charming, meaning what we advertise should be what one gets when they show up to holiday or invest. Go on!!” he said in a subsequently.
Maya, who was officially appointed the tour guide of Speed as he is affectionately called, today Thursday January 29 said he was actually the brain behind the passport issuance.
The diplomatic holder made this known on Facebook while thanking the minister for heeding to his proposal.
He revealed “Thank you Hon Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs for granting my request to honour our Ghanaian brother with a Ghanaian passport. Yo IShowSpeed, you can come home anytime without applying for visa.
Journalist, Kwame Dadzie who was perplexed by his colleague utterances offered insights into what gesture by the minister meant to Ghana’s economy and image:
SPEED UP OR BE LEFT OUT
Ghana will do wonders with our economy if we stop attaching political sentiments to how we treat our tourism and its key driver, the orange economy.
If you support the Year of Return and Beyond the Return initiatives, yet disagree that a Ghanaian passport be given to someone who, within five hours, placed Ghana’s tourism and culture before a global audience, then something is not right.
This move by the Foreign Affairs Ministry is in tandem with the Beyond the Return agenda. Giving Speed a Ghanaian passport does not devalue it. He will draw even more attention to Ghana. This is common sense. You do not need to attend tourism school or take a course in cultural diplomacy to understand this.
In 2024, according to the Ghana Tourism Report, 1,288,804 international visitors to Ghana contributed 4.8 billion US dollars to the country’s GDP. This does not include domestic tourism figures. What the creative industries generated is not part of this figure. I am referring only to international arrivals in 2024.
I have seen many people from other countries on social media express how amazed they were after seeing the beauty of Ghanaian culture through Speed’s lens. Because of this, they plan to visit Ghana. This shows how strongly Ghana has been marketed through Speed’s “mere” flips at the Black Star Square and in the jollof basin. Do you know how much Ghana would pay to run a promotional material like this on an international media platform? Go and ask Catherine Afeku how much Ghana spent on that Year of Return CNN documentary titled ‘CNN and Be Ghana’. US$200,000!
At present, 4.9 million people around the world have watched Speed’s Ghana stream. Hundreds of tourists are likely to visit Ghana because of him, and that will boost our tourism numbers.
He now bears a Ghanaian name and even says his mother is from Ghana. Once he gets a Ghanaian passport and acquires property in Ghana as he mentioned, his connection to the country will deepen. He could become a strong tourism ambassador for Ghana.
Anyone who sees IShowSpeed as an ordinary person needs to wake up. The world has changed. People in the creative space are shaping global conversations. Do not dismiss what we do as mere entertainment.
Speed does not need a Ghanaian passport; Ghana stands to benefit more. Wake up!
By Gifty Boateng