\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
President Akufo-Addo yesterday conferred Ghanaian citizenship on the ace American musician, producer and songwriter, Stevie Wonder.<\/p>\n
Wonder, who is currently in Ghana with his family, will now hold dual citizenship.<\/p>\n
At a brief conferment ceremony at the Jubilee House (presidency), President Akufo-Addo was full of praise for the musician whose name he said is synonymous with creativity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am glad he has decided to make Ghana his home, and thereby join several generations of African diasporans who committed their lives to us \u2013 missionaries, policemen, lawyers, doctors, health workers, writers, artists, musicians \u2013 and the likes of George Padmore, close associate of our first President, Kwame Nkrumah.<\/p>\n
\u201cBob Marley\u2019s widow, Rita, who has found a home with us in Aburi; Maya Angelou, a contemporary of mine at the University of Ghana, Legon, the celebrated writer who spent a considerable part of her youth with us; and W E B DuBois, the great scholar who also found a home in Ghana, and is buried here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
An obviously elated Wonder could not help thanking God, saying, \u201cI first of all give all praise to God. Since I was a little boy, I always believed in my heart that there was nothing impossible, that the Spirit of Our God is the highest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd for years since about 1972, I have talked about coming to Ghana to work on tsetsefly and sleeping blindness \u2026 I have talked about Ghana throughout my years\u2026and for now over 50 years I have talked about being a citizen of this country,\u201d he said to an applause from the gathering.<\/p>\n
Stevie Wonder, who is a multiple-Grammy-winning artist, first announced plans to relocate to Ghana permanently in February 2021.<\/p>\n
He told the popular talk show host, Oprah Winfrey on Apple TV+<\/em><\/strong> that he made the decision because he does not ever want to be in a position where his grandchildren will crave his indulgence to be valued and respected.<\/p>\nThe multiple platinum-selling musician also stressed his desire to \u201csee America smile again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI promise you if you do the right thing, I will give this song, I will give it to you, you can have it. Because I want [to] see this nation smile again, and I want to see it before I leave to \u2026 move to Ghana, because I am going to do that,\u201d he told Americans, speaking from his home by video link.<\/p>\n
This got a curious Oprah to ask almost spontaneously \u201cyou\u2019re going to move permanently to Ghana?\u201d, with Wonder replying \u201cYes, I am, because I don\u2019t want to see my children\u2019s children\u2019s children have to say, \u2018Oh, please like me, please, please respect me, please know that I\u2019m important, please value me.\u2019 What kind of ** is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
His decision to become partly Ghanaian comes at a time when thousands of African Americans have expressed their interest to relocate to Ghana after President Akufo-Addo\u2019s declaration of the \u2018Year of Return\u2019.<\/p>\n
The multi-talented Stevie Wonder lost his sight as a newborn when he came into the world six weeks early with retinopathy of prematurity, an eye disorder caused by abnormal blood vessels throughout the retina. Receiving too much oxygen in the incubator probably made the condition worse for the baby, leaving him blind.<\/p>\n
Even though he has not been able to see for most of this life, Wonder (born as Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950) has long had vision. From his breakthrough as a Motown child prodigy to becoming a 2019 inductee to the R\u2018n\u2019B Hall of Fame, the Michigan-born performer has been one of the best-loved American musicians throughout his decades-long career.<\/p>\n
Even as a child, Wonder never let his vision disorder hold him back. Aged five, he reportedly told his mother, \u201cDon\u2019t worry about me being blind, because I\u2019m happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked by Oprah about this remark, he acknowledged saying it. \u201cIt bothered me that my mother was crying all the time,\u201d Wonder explained. \u201cShe thought God might be punishing her for something. She lived during a time when things were particularly difficult for a woman in her circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyesight wasn\u2019t the family\u2019s only challenge. Living in poverty, they often faced hunger and, as Wonder\u2019s mother said in a 2002 biography, Blind Faith: The Miraculous Journey of Lula Hardaway<\/em>, Stevie Wonder\u2019s Mother<\/em>, his father drank, abused her and forced her into prostitution.<\/p>\nEventually, Wonder\u2019s mother moved the family to Detroit, where he taught himself how to play instruments, including the piano, harmonica and drums, by the age of ten. His talents caught the attention of Ronnie White of the band the Miracle, which led to an audition with the founder of Motown Records, Berry Gordy Jr.<\/p>\n
That set him on course to becoming a household name, famous for a string of much-loved hit songs, including \u201cSuperstition\u201d, \u201cHigher Ground\u201d, \u201cI Just Called to Say I Love You\u201d and \u201cMy Cherie Amour\u201d.<\/p>\n
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 President Akufo-Addo yesterday conferred Ghanaian citizenship on the ace American musician, producer and songwriter, Stevie Wonder. Wonder, who is currently in Ghana with his family, will now hold dual citizenship. At a brief conferment ceremony at the Jubilee House (presidency), President Akufo-Addo was full of praise for the musician whose name he said is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":182251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-182250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
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