The colourful painting of Black Stars player Kudus Mohammed was promised on Monday and work began on it early Wednesday, November 30.
Following Ghana’s laboured victory over South Korea in their second Group H match in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Monday, November 28, a big mural has been painted to celebrate the Man of the Match, Kudus Mohammed.
The mural created on a wide wall in the Nima community is the brainchild of Accra-based artist Moh Awudu who finds the 22-year-old Ghanaian striker an inspiration and a figure who challenges the bad press the Nima community has.
“This World Cup, one inspirational person is Mohammed Kudus, and he’s from Nima,” Moh proudly noted standing against the painting in a Ghana jersey.
“When you say someone is from Nima [there is] a lot of negative narratives around us, so for me I did this mural to inspire the young kids out here,” he stretched his arms to draw attention to the mural’s audience, “to know that with discipline, and when you move out of your comfort zone, trust me, you’ll achieve a lot in life.”
Mr Awudu observes that Kudus is the embodiment of the aforementioned principles and that accounts for his success thus far.
“Kudus Mohammed has been somebody who has been so disciplined, and he has moved out of his comfort zone, so he is [now] where he is, making everybody proud,” he noted, adding, “We need to celebrate him, we need to celebrate each other” for inspiration.
He sent out a message to the forward who is fast making a name in Qatar.
“He should just be himself [and] know that a lot of people support him,” visual artist Moh Awudu encouraged and asked Kudus to remember the spirit of his town on the field: “He needs to play his heart out, you know the way we do things in Nima; we do things with passion, he needs to do [just] that.”
Awudu, with his baseball cap turned backwards, saved a few words for Kudus’ mates on the Ghana Black Stars team also.
“Good luck to all the guys out there who are playing for the Black Stars [including] the coach and the Ghana Football Association, who are doing a marvellous job,” he said.
“When they come home, I promise, we’ll do a bigger mural for all 26 players,” he pledged. Kudus Mohammed scored two of Ghana’s three goals against South Korea at the Education Stadium on Monday.
On Friday, December 2, his Otto Addo-led side will go up against arch-rivals Uruguay. Kudus’ mural at Nima is christened ‘Possible’ and bears the words: ‘Pride of Nima‘.
