An in-depth analysis of Ghana’s postcolonial history iconizes Kwame Nkrumah as the nation’s greatest political leader, ever. If I could trade my life for this great human-god, I would have done so without a flinch to make it possible for the rebirth of a man who is still an embodiment of our nationhood, and invokes a deep-seated passion among some of us. While Kwame Nkrumah had faults, as all humans do, the soul of our nation and her international trustworthiness as the upholder of continental Africa’s liberation values continues to hinge on the undying commitments and sacrifices of one man, Kwame Nkrumah. Truly, Nkrumah never dies despite partisan efforts by a spiteful ideological clique to inter his novel ideas with his mortal remains. “Onyame hyira okyerema twene, ema otrinini asem etena ho daa. Kwame Nkrumah wo ye Agyemang”
Leadership as per my subjective, and cursory, overview is not only always about ideas, which we all have, but the ability of sub-national actors, among the other credible agents of societal change, to disseminate their vision beyond the narrow corridors of power, and artificially-defined geo-political spaces. Unlike some Ghanaian leaders who were/are in the business of hiring speechwriters to constitute their thoughts on the nation’s domestic and foreign policies, Nkrumah, in contrast, fostered ideas that that spoke to Africa’s struggles and the urgent need to emancipate the African mind from the burdens of neocolonialism; a deterministic tutelage of Western imperialism on postcolonial Ghana, and continental African governance. “Abibirem nkrantie asa, ama ene, nkura adani ahene ene adehyie.”
Believing in his works, and the adequacy of Ghanaian education, Nkrumah never doubted that the fact that, his children’s life, among other Ghanaian families, were secured in postcolonial Ghana. He believed that the acquisition of perceptive education by any Ghanaian child was enough to shape them to deal effectively with the challenges that awaited them in a hostile world. Matter of fact, the astuteness of Nkrumah’s children, which is further exemplified by other Ghanaian children who schooled under Nkrumah’s administration signifies a leader whose hopes, and dreams, for Ghana, were not exclusively reserved for his biological children, but for all he called Ghanaians. Can the same the said about the nation’s past and present leadership?
Humility and congeniality were some of the effusive qualities of Nkrumah. As a leader, he left his political footprints on our nation’s political landscape to the irritation of his adversaries, and respect of his admirers. Unlike past, and present Ghanaian leaders whose political ambitions are driven by material acquisitions under worthless national slogans, Nkrumah was indeed a man of the people; a pure-bred politician who was ahead of his time; a bitter reality his detractors would only admit behind closed doors.
While our political leadership dream about the palatial Taj Mahals, Nkrumah understood the windfalls that attended intangible investments. While the current government spends a fraction of the nation’s resources on importing deluxe automobiles to advertise their lavish lifestyle, Nkrumah was content with his ageing Rolls Royce, and the modest Flagstaff House, where he lived with his family. While our president paid a diplomat to write his memoirs while in office, Nkrumah took part of his busy daily schedule to write extensively on global policies. He also chronicled his inner thoughts on the challenges that could potentially confront Africa in her asymmetrical relations with the imperialists, which he readily knew could forestall the continent’s developmental needs. Wasn’t Nkrumah?
I have watched with flustering stomach, and sheer disdain how some of the nation’s politicians entertain the thought that, the mere invocation of the Nkrumah’s name would earn them a noble place they hardly, or do not deserve. What these politicians fail to understand is that, Nkrumaism is an evolving ideology, which is not replicable by mere declarations. Nkrumah’s ideology is only relevant to politicians, and scholars, who understand that the philosophy is transformative. Those who seek the benefits of Nkrumah’s principles must view them from the pragmatic perspective of Nkrumah, and how his spirit continues to speak to the struggles of Africa in the New World Order. Mimicry is not reality, and delusions can sometimes be mistaken for certainty, despite evidence that today’s success will become nothing but a token change in the minds of those who live to see tomorrow.
While some of the nation’s politicians think backwards, and take pleasure in colonial governance, Nkrumah, a forward thinking strategist, was in tune with the evils of a changing world, inter-state exploitation, West-East rivalry, and its impact on Africa’s destiny. As a nation, we stand at the crossroad of becoming another backwater nation-state to the subliminal exploitations of a unipolar world order, where our leaders are forced to do the biddings of their foreign patrons for pittance. Why did Ghana sign the Non-Surrender Act without any public consultation? How much was our government promised for going against one of the linchpin laws for the establishment of the International Criminal Court? What is the position of Ghana, a respected member of the African Unity on the stationing of foreign military bases in Africa under the guise of training African soldiers? Didn’t Nkrumah predict this many years ago?
Neo-colonialism of its imprisonment of the Ghanaian political leadership’s mindset is more widespread in our nation’s current democratic dispensation than ever before. Despite the celebratory façade, and the fiscal waste that attended our nation’s Fiftieth Independence Day celebration, our nation’s leadership is still caught in the binaries of Eurocentric-imposed inferiority complex; a phenomenon that questions the contextual and componential intelligence of our leaders. Are these experimental democrats not tired of hearing themselves being labelled as strange political tenderfoots whose brains are disconnect from the cortex that drives success?
Unlike Nkrumah who was a sought-after commodity and exuded confidence and Black pride in every international engagement, I am saddened to see how contemporary Ghanaian leaders shiver under Watsonian inferiority complexes, and allow themselves to be lectured on governance, and how to integrate unwholesome foreign orthodoxies into the nation’s macro-management policies. Ghana with all her dims and blights has what it takes to reclaim her historical glory. As a nation, we should not let the exclusionary determinisms of politics deny us our right to constitute a nation based on ideals of Nkrumahism. Why would a nation that has more Ghanaian doctors in New York State reject unpaid services from her citizens who are willing to return to their nation to offer services to the needy?
Until our leaders present themselves to the world as sovereign thinkers, and project an image of self-confidence backed by smart leadership, our nation will crumble under the weight of costly loans, and unachievable Western dictates. Tapping into the vast pool of Ghanaian intellectuals in the Diaspora is not a bad idea. Who knows, what an embracing arm will and can bring to our nation’s expedition toward true self-sufficiency, respect and development. Let our nation’s political leaders, of recent times, transition from their symbolic reputation as “workers,” a title which deservingly befits some of them to becoming world-class thinkers. Maybe the president may want to test my stance by sending the Kwamena Bartels, Sheikh Quaye among other unlisted ministers to deliver keynote address on global policy at an international conference. They will be KOed even with the best speechwriters. This is my one of my nation’s many problems. Hope all is well.
Good day and cheers.
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