Academics challenged to study Nkrumah's life

Accra, Oct. 17, GNA - Mr K. B. Asante, a retired diplomat and educationist, on Friday challenged Ghanaian academics to undertake painstaking study of the life and works of Ghana's first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah. "It is a pity that no comprehensive account of the life of Kwame Nkrumah has been carried out by men of learning in Ghana," the senior citizen, who served as minister in previous regimes, said at the launch of a book titled "Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah: The Legend of African Nationalism".

The 1,500-page book is a comprehensive work on the life and times of Kwame Nkrumah, a revolutionary, genius and foremost exponent of African unity and Pan-Africanism. The book written by Professor Martian Chukwuka Okany, a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, also talked about Dr Nkrumah's academic exploits in the United States and Britain, political activities leading to the attainment of independence, his overthrow in 1966 and death in Bucharest, Romania, in 1972.

Sir Ralph O. Ekeph, Chief Executive Officer of Africana First Publishers, Nigeria, said the book manifested the strong relations between Ghana and Nigeria in the area of business and culture. He said Dr Nkrumah's unbeatable charisma and unparalleled oratory enriched Africa's political democracy.

Professor Martian Chukwuka Okany, who is also Dean of Faculty of Law, Ebonyi University, Abakaliki, Nigeria, said the history of modern Africa could not be conclusively written without taking care of contributions of Dr Nkrumah, a political organiser and a founding member of Organisation of African Unity, now African Union. He said Kwame Nkrumah incarnated the pride and dignity of the black man and encouraged national liberation and anti-colonialist movements in Africa.