I’m still in some shock over Monday’s sudden passing of someone who inspired me in my broadcasting journey. When I visited him at his home in late June, Big Goddy was as sharp and witty as ever, looking healthy and strong.
I had flown to Accra for the funerals of my cousin Gladys and that of our beloved Mawuena. Efo Godwin and I discussed Mawuena’s passing with a lot of sadness. He brought up the name of Prof Dumor and his concerns for a father’s grief, so I phoned Prof Dumor for Bro Godwin to express his deep condolences to him directly. He wanted to be at the funeral but had a prior conflicting engagement, on the same day and at the same time, as the Guest Speaker at Laweh University, so he could not be at the Holy Spirit Cathedral for Mawuena’s farewell.
During my brief visit, I teased him about his latest penchant to showcase his healthy vegetable loaded meals on Facebook. I asked him about exercise and keeping fit, and he mentioned how he had decided to do his exercise-walks only around his Regimanuel estate, because it would be hellish trying to do the walking on the busy, dusty, and rugged main streets in his area. In fact, he inspired me to keep up with my regular walking exercises.
Godwin Avenorgbo was a name that inspired and intrigued me from afar, decades before I got the chance to meet him. He was just a delight to listen to on the radio. (He laughed with me when I admitted to him that I only knew him via radio, and didn’t watch him on TV because we were too poor to afford a television.) On the shows and programmes he presented at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, GBC, there was a certain attractiveness about his excellence, his impeccable and impressive delivery in the English language, and the authentic Ewe name, AVENORGBO. For years I wondered if his name had anything to do with the part of the Volta Region known as AVENOR, where Akatsi is a key town. He and I would later laugh over this as he mentioned the areas of Sokpoe, Tefle, and Sogakope, along the banks of the Volta River, as his home base.
But we connected more when he would read stories of my childhood in Ohawu on Facebook, and then share his own (similar) stories of living and growing up in Anyako, attending the Anlo Awoame Fia Middle School in Anyako-Kpota, and passing the Common Entrance on three separate occasions with no immediate help or support to see him rise quickly with his academic brilliance. If fact, Godwin Avenorgbo was a clever, brilliant, and smart man, with a sharp mind. He completed the Anlo AA Fia School with the much-coveted DISTINCTION in those days. I recall him telling me that he was also the Band Major in his Anyako school. From Anyako, he remembered travelling in those days (early to mid-sixties) to places like Ohawu to sell whatever items his enterprising mother had to sell.
He was one of the most effective and intense listeners I know, and I was stunned when we finally met after many decades of my absentee or distant admiration and respect, only to find him rather reserved in a manner that defers more to his guest. He then told me over lunch at Eliza Olympio’s JamRock that he was an introvert. Whaaaat? How did an introvert become one of the greatest broadcasters in Ghana? He credited and praised another broadcasting legend, Mike Eghan, as the one who trained him.
For those of us who’ve had the privilege, opportunity, and honour of working in broadcasting, Godwin Avernogbo stood – and still stands – tall and uplifting. Any presenter or anchor would admit to you that, it is more manageable to host or present shows and programmes from the comfort, safety, stability, and predictability of a studio, than from outside broadcasts or live events, where things could easily get out of control. Efo Godwin was an exemplary master of the outside or live broadcasts, where the presenter is expected to show extra dexterity, greater composure, and extra sharp-wittedness, because the variables are many and things can go wrong easily, requiring the presenter to “carry the show” whether it rains or shines, or whether there are technical glitches or not. Godwin Avenorgbo showed all the qualities needed here.
Lately, through the benefit of social media, he would reach out often, via WhatsApp and Messenger, and serve as my editor, counsellor, adviser, and motivator behind the scenes. He could correct or admonish me if he saw something untoward from me. He encouraged me with his deepened faith in Christ – and I had to wonder sometimes how a big brother who was a regular MC and centre of attraction at most of Accra’s hot and boozy night clubs with all kinds of revelers, could now be so fervent in his faith. He loved GOD and sought to serve HIM in his work with others.
When I mentioned him recently in a major interview with Kafui Dey on the GBC Breakfast Show, he heard about it from other people and contacted me. I had stated how I drew inspiration from him and a few others at GBC to do my first BBC reports. He had valuable feedback and I thanked him. He loved Ghana. He wanted the best for our nation and people. He lamented the rot that poor leadership had thrown our nation into. He served Ghana with a level of distinction, impact, and recognition. His pursuit of excellence helped many – if not all – who worked with him. He was a stickler for the right things being done – whether in broadcasting, church, or in national leadership.
He was rather quiet on any support he gave others. To a degree, he enjoyed his quiet, reserved, but purposeful life, I thought.
Big Goddy, “the Grandmaster,” “Efo Godwin” – you are already missed. May your memory remain a blessing always. May your family be comforted. Rest in the LORD. Psalm 90:12
Sit tibi terra levis.
PEACE.
GTV Ghana 🇬🇭
