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Hands Off ‘Akwaaba’: Alabaster Box Leader Slams Push to Replace Ghana’s Iconic Welcome Brand
Leader of Ghana’s celebrated a cappella group, Alabaster Box, Samuel Nii Narko Dowuona, has fiercely defended the use of ‘Akwaaba’ as Ghana’s official welcome word, describing attempts to replace it with ‘Oobake’ as needless, divisive, and a threat to a powerful national brand.
In a passionate Facebook post, the Ga native from Osu Kinkawe said he was “even more sad” that his own people, the GaDangmes, were spearheading the debate.
“Even more annoying is the suggestion that we should change a powerful and widely accepted and sexy brand like Akwaaba, which rolls off any tongue so easily, for such a boring term like Oobake,” Dowuona wrote.
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As the songwriter behind Alabaster Box’s classic Akwaaba song, Dowuona revealed he once struggled to find a Ga equivalent for “welcome”. Eventually, he fused phrases from different languages into the track, including Akan (Akwaaba), Ewe (Weizor lo), Adangme (Nyehe), and French (Bon Arrive).
He dismissed claims that Oobake is the rightful Ga word for “welcome”, insisting it actually means “you will surely return”.
“I wonder how that will roll off the tongue and to what extent that can be pushed as a brand. Akwaaba, as a brand, is probably as old as Ghana. And it has only done us good as a country — so what is this tribalistic push for Oobake all about?” he questioned.
Dowuona warned that replacing Akwaaba would set a precedent for confusion, suggesting that every ethnic group could then demand their own variation – from Weizor lo to Maraba and Zaare – at the Kotoka International Airport.
“The airport is for the country and not for the GaDangme people. That is not to suggest that keeping Akwaaba means it is for the Akans. But the brand has served us well. Let’s just move on and focus on weightier matters,” he stressed.
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