Renaming of Universities: Critics making ugly noise – Obiri Boahen

The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has fired shot at Ghanaian critics mostly elements within the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) raising concerns on the renaming of some Universities in the country describing those concerns as ugly noise.

“NDC and those people are making unnecessary noise. They can do whatever they like if they don’t understand. The NDC changed Jubilee House to Flagstaff and this what we are also doing”, Deputy General Secretary of NPP, Nana Obiri Boahen fumed in an interview monitored by MyNewsGh.com on Kumasi-based radio on Monday.

According to the outspoken politician, the government will not cow to submission and will therefore continue to rename all the universities in the country despite the hue and cry by Ghanaians mostly leading members of the opposition political parties.

“We now have C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, University of Energy and Natural Resources after Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia, we will name the J.B. Danquahs and others”, Nana Obiri Boahen teased.

“They can go to Prophet Badu Kobi for spiritual advice if they don’t understand. …NDC and those people should let us think. …they are just making noise in our eyes”, he added.

Many including persons in academia have kicked against the move calling on the President to rather establish new universities and name it after those he wants to honour.

Recently, a Senior lecturer at the University for Development Studies (UDS), Dr. Michael Ayamga Adongo took on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo over his renaming spree.

The Development Economist advised the President against what he termed as honour grabbing adding with the renaming of national assets after deserving citizens without broader consultation.

“Stop the honour grabbing. It is good to name national assets after deserving citizens but such actions must be informed by wide consultations and broader consensus. The partisan and veiled ethnocentric approach we are witnessing in Ghana today will eventually bring dishonour to those we sought to honour especially when such actions are reversed. I am more alarmed by the grabbing of university names as if we were sharing sacrificial meat to clans in a frafra funeral”, he revealed.