National Commission On Culture

Thirty seven years ago in far away Bucharet in Romania, death laid its icy hand on Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah-Africa’s greatest statesman. I choose to call him a real statesman because he was really selfless and honest to his country. He actually placed Ghana first, Africa second and himself last. I call him a statesman again because “A statesman thinks of his country and even the interests and aspirations of her future generations.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah always thought of the future of Ghana perhaps beyond the era of his rule. This gave him the foresight to build Ghana with a solid and formidable foundation. Every project he built to be useful and viable.

The Akosombo Dam, Tema Habour, universities, Job 600, state enterprises etc. are still modern and operative with their unique fittings, though he built them at a time when the percentage of civilization and awareness was considerably low. Nkrumah’s vision and foresight are what have sustained Ghana, because it is said that “where there is no vision and foresight, a nation perishes.”

But the irony to his dreams is a cluster of ordeals he went through with some Ghanaians throwing bombs at him, while some sabotaged his efforts, including the Akosombo dam project and several other projects and programmes.

The mighty question! Who is enjoying these projects and developments now? Dr Nkrumah or Ghanaians? If Dr Nkrumah laid a hollow foundation for Ghana, the nation would have been hollow and all of us would have gone astray by now. Dr Nkrumah campaigned and offered free compulsory education which has made a lot of us what we are today.

I am convinced that, out of the love God had for the then Gold Coast, he, God, specially dedicated this brave genius to lead and help us, but we ignored his worth and mishandled him.

It is always said that, “man proposes but God disposes” but in the case of Dr Nkrumah and Ghana, I shall rather say the other way round that “God proposed him but man disposed of him”. Yet because God proposed him but man disposed off him, Ghanaians jubilated over his overthrow forgetting completely all what he had done for mother Ghana.

Jubilating Ghanaians carried sketches of Dr Nkrumah, with the teeth drawn like that of a dracular and named him sasabonsam-lucifer.

Ghanaians composed a song against Dr Nkrumah with the lyrics “cedi kwasea bi tiri da so” and openly danced to its tunes in the streets.

Ghanaians carried coffins and marched to the cemeteries to bury Dr Nkrumah alive but alas! “ Nkrumah never dies”. Is it not a shame for Ghanaians to have behaved that way. After the overthrow of Dr Nkrumah when even some foreign countries appreciated his works and named streets and universities after him, others went to the extent of proclaiming him co-President.

At some point, Ghanaians could not even mention Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s name publicly, because it was a crime to do so, and that functionaries and activists who served the nation with him were molested and persecuted.

These are some of the areas where we as Ghanaians sinned. Yes, Nkrumah being human would have died one day by all means, but we must admit Dr Nkrumah died far earlier than he should. Infact, he died out of the misery of betrayal.

Of course, some very, very genuine and dedicated Nkrumaists have also exhibited appreciation for him in different ways; some to the extent of being sentenced to death and put in the condemned cells for years, all for Nkrumah’s sake.

The consolation however is that some of these persons are still alive and pursuing the cause of Nkrumah. But the question is; how often do we exhibit such remembrance and admiration for him?

This explains the evergreen gratitude of the nation to the erstwhile PNDC Government for giving the remains of our dear Osagyefo a deserving and fitting place to rest with the construction of the Nkrumah Mausoleum. It is also gratifying to note that in conformity with his belief in and appreciation for the great works of the Osagyefo for Ghana, Africa and the world, President John Evans Attah Mills and the NDC Government have instituted a national Founder’s holiday in memory of the Great Osagyefo. This is heart warming.

This is why we as Ghanaians should see ourselves as one people with a common destiny, unite and with will power, continue to build our great nation just as Osagyefo boldly defied persecutions, harassments and laid a solid foundation for our motherland Ghana and for us all, so as to immortalize his name.

Certainly, if Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah had lived longer, Africa would have been possessed totally by Africans in conformity with his philosophy of “Africa for Africans”. Finally, it is said that “some men become more powerful after death than when they are alive”. No wonder Dr Nkrumah is a typical example.
INDEED, NKRUMAH NEVER DIES

The author is a former Nkrumaist women organiser

Source:
Daily Graphic page 14 Monday, April 27, 2009