Mahama is right to reverse renaming of public universities – Asah Asante

A political science lecturer at the University of Ghana (UG), Dr. Asah Asante has stated that he supports Mr. John Mahama’s pledge to revert names of public universities to their original status.

This follows former President John Mahama’s pledge to reverse the new names assigned to public universities in the country by President Akufo-Addo.

According to the former President, he will take such actions if he secures reelection in the 2024 general election.

Addressing students at Zuarungu in the Upper East Region as part of his Building Ghana tour of the Upper East region, Mr. Mahama stated that naming hostels and libraries will be accepted but not a whole university should be renamed.

Speaking on Morning Starr with Francis Abban, the political science lecturer stated that there are good examples from other countries that Ghana can learn from on how renowned citizens are recognized.

“I support Mahama. He should change them and revert them to their original status and then those names that we put on them give them on monuments in terms of blocks or halls. Like the University of Ghana has Limann Hall, it is the manifestation of the hard work that we experienced under Dr. Hilla Limann.

“It is on that basis that we have a hall in the University, the highest learning point of our life. He is great and we don’t need to name a University after Limann before the world will know that we have acknowledged the contributions that he has made,” Dr. Asante stated.

He continued: “Sometimes, we want to put the names of people as if they are the ones whose resources were used in building those institutions. Those types of compensation are nothing but overstretched. We overstretch the contributions and all that.”

Dr. Asante also advised that there should be a policy in place to regulate how names of institutions are done.