Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s contributions to the liberation of Africa disillusioned the thoughts that the black man isn’t capable of managing his own affairs. His level of patriotism and sense of selfless love to the other African States can’t be overemphasized. This ought to be a great feasible lesson to all.
He didn’t have a dream; it was the dream that had him. Thus, he couldn’t cower; he moved the motion, until his aspirations morphed over people’s procrastination and, broke the “we can’t do it on our own minds”. He carried his own cross tirelessly for mother Ghana. Nothing then could quench his thirst for liberation, then speaking and fighting against oppression. As far as he’s seen freedom not too way yonder, it must be won. And so it was.
However, all our problems began with leadership after his tenure. Our style of politics is family and friend centered. No better systems in place, the proliferation of institutional failure, weak currency, poor roads and communication networks, unbridled corruption and surging unemployment rates. A President might have good prospects, but due to his saboteurs, his regime wouldn’t progress.
Citizens also are to blame in this. The belief of the black man being capable looks very incapable of African land. So the Caucasians created an impression that we shall never be able to do things on our own. Lo and behold, we bought into that. Thus today, energetic African men embark on ominous trips to Europe, just because they wanted to be remunerated with a foreign currency. We seem not to entertain ourselves anymore with our Premiership, or African drama. Gone are the days we sat glued to our TV sets just to watch Don Bortey, Ismael Addo, Charles Taylor, et al, More so, those who go for education never came back to help rebuild the country too. Everything is in a state of mess.
Muhammad Gadafi, Nelson Mandela, and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah turned the tables over during their regime. They made it blatant that we can do it when we take a step. So replicating this nugget of theirs to our lifestyle would inure to nation-building. We must know that we’re indeed capable of solving the mess we created. Everything can be done, when we play the role as though fear and consequences never exist. We can assuredly move mountains and break chains immediately we overcome people’s preconceived thoughts and then assume responsibility.
Your innovative ideas, strength, power, and wellbeing are all needed to accelerate growth. Therefore get yourself utterly involved. We shouldn’t be empathetic when we see that the economy is not doing well. When you run to Europe you’re only solving your problems and that of your family alone. But think about the poor boy in the remote place who has to sit on the floor and learn or go to school barefooted. And the young girl who has to exchange her piety for three square meals.
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah presented a better form of agitation. He spoke against power — he was fearless. When he was given the mandate, he put all his rants into actions. Let’s not wait to talk about the right thing only when we’re in opposition. We have to perform our best when we win power too.
Ghana needs a collaborative effort to grow. We should trade ideas mannerly like we do trade goods and services. When a section tables something fruitful for implementation, we have to support it wholeheartedly. But when it’s something deadly, we should kick against it. That would make us break the jinx of partisan politics. No amount of hatred and barrage of insults would mean one party is better off than the other, yet the populace cry over stalled developmental projects and lack of amenities.
The best we should do is to work out long-lasting solutions for our recurrent predicaments to be a thing of the past. One example of such is Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s effort. Now, we have political independence. But we are economically and socially dependent. Aren’t we capable of winning that freedom too?
This auspicious day of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah should mean a lot to us. I believe we’re capable of winning economic and social freedom too. We can’t afford to leave Ghana as it was when we met it.
There’s no better way to conclude this than the saying of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah: “We have awakened. We will not sleep anymore. Today, from now on, there is a new Africa in the world”.
Source: Abdur Rahman Odoi
