The Vice President, John Dramani Mahama, has disclosed that this year’s independence day celebration will be dedicated to the memory of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, to mark his achievements for the country and Africa as a whole.
According to the vice president, it was necessary to dedicate the 53rd anniversary of the nation to Dr Nkrumah, for paving the way for many African countries to gain political independence.
Some of the CPP guns who graced the occasion. From left to right, Prof Badu Akosa, Samia Nkrumah and Araba Bentsil Enchil.
He added that the life of the great patriot, referring to Dr Nkrumah, was worth celebrating to tell the true picture of Nkrumah to the whole world.
The vice president made this known during the Kwame Nkrumah Campus lecture, which forms part of Nkrumah’s centenary celebration at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) last week Friday.
The campus lecture was to throw more light on the works of Dr Nkrumah, and directly addresses students on Nkrumah’s ideologies to propel debates.
Mr Dramani Mahama noted that it was high time the life and works of Nkrumah was inculcated in the educational curriculum to keep the younger generation abreast of the role Ghana’s first president played in the fight for the liberation of the country and the African continent.
He explained that the Central region was chosen for the second phase of the celebration of the centenary anniversary due to the significant works embarked upon by Dr Nkrumah in the region.
He said the formation of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) took place at Saltpond in the Central region and that there was the need to bring the celebration closer to one of the roots to the nation’s first president.
“UCC was special to the heart of Dr Nkrumah thus it is in the right direction that the second phase of the celebration was brought here,” he added.
Mr Mahama pointed out that his government was celebrating the country’s greatest leader because the achievements of Nkrumah cannot go unnoticed on his 100th birthday which fell on September last year.
He stated that Dr Nkrumah begun from a humble beginning, and urged the general public to emulate his humility and place priority on education as he did to help the country develop.
As part of the second phase of the celebration, the vice president said the country will be receiving high profile personalities around the world to climax the event in May.
Mr Mahama was later presented with a picture frame of Dr Nkrumah by the School Representative Council executives of the Kwame Nkrumah Hall of the university.
A member of the Kwame Nkrumah Centenary Committee, Dr Esi Sutherland Addy, who spoke on Nkrumah’s vision on education, noted that Nkrumah’s commitment to education brought dynamism in the country’s educational system as he made sure that more than 3,000 schools from basic to tertiary were built throughout the country by 1959.
Dr Sutherland Addy noted that Nkrumah’s life history shows that there is no short cut in life and advised the students to aim high.
She expressed the hope that many Ghanaians will be inspired by the life and works of Nkrumah to contribute meaningfully to Ghana’s development.
Dr Abdul Gamel Nasser, another member of the committee, who spoke on the topic “Africa in the 21st century, the role of Dr Nkrumah” noted that even though Africa has a lot of potential to develop due to the abundance of natural resources, “It was still lagging behind in development because the developed countries have tapped so much from our resources leaving Africa with little to export.”
He cited an instance whereby many oil rich African countries still rely on developed countries for support because the oil which is supposed to help these countries develop has generated lots of conflicts.
He mentioned the sale of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone and the Kosmos deal as clear cut cases indicating that the European nations still dominated the world.
Dr Nasser therefore urged African leaders to unite and be bold in negotiating with their foreign counterparts on issues of development. He said this will enable African countries have a say in the export and import of products from their countries.
On her part, the Vice-Chancellor of UCC, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, who chaired the function, advised the leadership of the country to believe in themselves, and avoid what were the lapses of Nkrumah and learn from his achievements.
STORY: FROM MAGDALENE SEY, CAPE COAST
