President Akufo-Addo and history of Ghana: Ignore Professor Osei

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• Prof Lungu 8 years ago

  Our thanks to Nana Yaw Osei for providing a critique of Professor Kwame Osei Kwarteng of University of Coast and his "history is perspective" mantra. If that was truly the case, we'd never appreciate the idea that the "major ...
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  Our thanks to Nana Yaw Osei for providing a critique of Professor Kwame Osei Kwarteng of University of Coast and his "history is perspective" mantra. If that was truly the case, we'd never appreciate the idea that the "major" is more important than the "minor".
  
  That is what President Akufo Addo was telling Ghanaians: Give due regard to the minor (J.B Danquah because that is the tradition for which I hold a lovely flag).
  
  It did not make sense!
  
  It will never make sense.
  
  And in the speech, it made even less sense about Ofori Attah and education in Ghana, given the quantum leap in education under Kwame Nkrumah within a few short years, 1951-1966.
  
  It is astounding ignorance or craven "self-worship", on the part of Akufo Addo, we must say, sadly.
  
  
  READ: "...The activities of the National Liberation Movement (NLM) in 1954 cannot equally be ignored in the construction of historiography of modern Ghana...".
  
  WE SAY: 'Nuff said!
  
  And about Sylvanus Olympio of Togo. He was the sponsor of Komla Gbedemah, and his subversion activities against Nkrumah's government, from Togo, including Kulungugu, in concert with Busia.
  
  Read Ekow Nelson's essay on the other side. Strongly recommended.
  
  Peace!

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• Kotey 8 years ago

  Professor Kwarteng will forever be diminished in my estimation.Does historical perspective born out of myths amd mystery equate to recent historical facts documented for all to see.Which ever way you slant history as Akufo ...
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  Professor Kwarteng will forever be diminished in my estimation.Does historical perspective born out of myths amd mystery equate to recent historical facts documented for all to see.Which ever way you slant history as Akufo did and which Professor Kwarteng supports, can only reduce him kwarteng as a sterile pedant.

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• Ghanaba 8 years ago

  What historian will make such generalization? Sad day for history.

  What historian will make such generalization? Sad day for history.

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• DOt 8 years ago

  Hmmm!

  Hmmm!

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• Be wise 8 years ago

  Bravo!!

  Bravo!!

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• Anokye Twum-Antwi 8 years ago

  Thank you for the swift rebuttal. It is such intellectual dishonesty or rather a lack of knowledge that need to be attacked head on otherwise, we perpetuate the miseducation of our people

  Thank you for the swift rebuttal. It is such intellectual dishonesty or rather a lack of knowledge that need to be attacked head on otherwise, we perpetuate the miseducation of our people

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• Nii 8 years ago

  Mr. Twum-Antwi, this is not a rebuttal by any stretch of the imagination; it is a knee-jerk reaction to a nuanced-argument the goof professor proffered.
  I would concede that the writer is educated, and has tried to make a p ...
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  Mr. Twum-Antwi, this is not a rebuttal by any stretch of the imagination; it is a knee-jerk reaction to a nuanced-argument the goof professor proffered.
  I would concede that the writer is educated, and has tried to make a point, whatever that point is; however, unfortunately, the writer, I think, has failed to show what exactly he set out to prove or disprove. Yes, he lobbed terms like objective and subjective data; qualitative and quantitative data, and factual history, but what exactly do they mean, and how does one go about analyzing or critiquing a piece of writing or assertion, using those terms or yardsticks?
  You, like the writer, seem to think that facts speak for themselves, and, thus, have a verifiable, objective life of their own. Sad! Well, for starters, all History, and pretty much, every writing is subjective, considering that every writer sees things from a specific angle, and therefore, can only portray A reality, not THE reality!

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• Kwadwo 8 years ago

  Why not
  add that Nkrumah. created Africa as well. It will make you fuck and sleep better.

  Why not
  add that Nkrumah. created Africa as well. It will make you fuck and sleep better.

  reply
• Anokye Twum-Antwi 8 years ago

  When people make meaningful contributions to an article, the only thing that mediocrity can contribute is to swear

  When people make meaningful contributions to an article, the only thing that mediocrity can contribute is to swear

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• Kofi 8 years ago

  Kwadwo has been making a fool of himself on Ghanaweb for a long time.

  Kwadwo has been making a fool of himself on Ghanaweb for a long time.

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• Nii Saban 8 years ago

  Mr. Nana Yaw Osei, I must first congratulate you for trying to throw some light on the brouhaha the president's independence day speech has generated; however, unfortunately, your article lacks a clear central thesis: are you ...
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  Mr. Nana Yaw Osei, I must first congratulate you for trying to throw some light on the brouhaha the president's independence day speech has generated; however, unfortunately, your article lacks a clear central thesis: are you debunking Prof. Osei's observation that History is written with\from perspectives, or are you setting the record straight that, all things considered, Nkrumah deserves the accolade of sole founder of Ghana?
  Nana Yaw, you started the article with this attention-grabbing caption: "Kwarteng’s Intellectual Dishonesty;" however, there is nothing in your article that argues the relevance\validity or irrelevance\invalidity of the caption. Is this deliberate or just a case of excusable intellectual misstep?
  The second issue I have with your article is the flaunting of the terms objective and subjective data. What exactly do you mean by those terms? Please do a better job of showing what they mean in constructing, reconstructing, or deconstructing the past, in order to craft a persuasive narrative. Yes, you quoted Hudson, but what specifically do you want to achieve by resorting to the use of those terms? Well, before I go too far, let me state that I think the good professor understands, unlike you, that facts don't speak for themselves. In crafting any narrative, History included, a writer\historian may have an aim--spell out a solution to a problem; present a cause and effect analysis; do comparison\contrast analysis, or even tell an imaginative story. To do this, the writer\historian may be confronted with "multitudinous" facts, and page economy or rules of brevity may compel him or her to choose the salient facts that would act as the supporting evidence for his or her thesis. This is what perspective writing entails. The good Prof knows this; you don't! Let me illustrate this point with what you have stated in paragraph 3 of your article: "Ghana gained internal self-government in 1951 and Nkrumah became the leader of government business. The activities of the National Liberation Movement (NLM) in 1954 cannot equally be ignored in the construction of historiography of modern Ghana. Nkrumah was the first Prime minister of Ghana and the first president of Ghana. Independence history of Ghana cannot be accurate without the activities from 1949 to 1957. This is not a subjective history, but a factual history." You said "Independence history of Ghana cannot be accurate without the activities from 1949 to 1957." Which activities are you talking about? Let me show what I mean:
  (1)In 1949, there was a call for boycott of European goods, led by Nii Kwabena Bonne, Osu Alata Mantse, leading to mass looting and public disorder. Later in the same year, Nkrumah, Ako-Adjei, Ofori-Atta,etc (big 6), were arrested and imprisoned for this. (2)In 1951, whilst Nkrumah was still in prison, Aadua Ankrah, Dedei Ashikishan, Ofei-Quartey, etc, harnessed their resources and financed Nkrumah to stand as a candidate in the Ashiedu Keteke (now Odododiodoo) constituency. Nkrumah won, leading to his being freed from prison and becoming the leader of government business. (3)In mid 1952, my father impregnated his then girlfriend, leading to the birth of my oldest brother in 1953. (4)In early 1954, there was a misunderstanding among the executive members of Accra Standfast Football Club, so some of the members broke away to form a new football club called Accra Great Olympics (Oly Dade). (5)In 1954, my father again impregnated this same girlfriend, leading to the birth of my second older brother, in February 1955. (6)On May 9, 1956, a referendum (plebiscite) was held in Trans-Volta Togoland to determine whether it would like to join and become part of Ghana which was soon to gain its independence, or wait and be part of French Togoland when it later gained independence. Trans-Volta elected to become part of Ghana.
  If, as a historian, I am writing about the activities that occurred in the Gold Coast between 1949 to 1957, that led to independence, the facts above are some of the myriad of data that would confront me; however, it is not at all likely that I would include the "nocturnal, erotic shenanigans" of my father and mother during that period--mind you, those were valid activities that occurred during the period under consideration, but would they be relevant? However, the first, second, and sixth points would definitely be worthy candidates I would choose to tell my story. This is what perspective in writing History is about--a historian telling a story by choosing the materials that best support his or her thesis.
  Mr. Nana Yaw, I could go on and on, to poke holes in your write-up, but I still would like to commend you for wanting to add your voice to make a case, although that case is not well spelt-out.

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• Nana Yaw Osei , USA 8 years ago

  The intellectual dishonesty is that professor Kwarteng is aware history cannot solely be reduced to perspectives. My clear thesis was to find out whether historians utilize quantitative research or are limited to qualitative ...
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  The intellectual dishonesty is that professor Kwarteng is aware history cannot solely be reduced to perspectives. My clear thesis was to find out whether historians utilize quantitative research or are limited to qualitative research? If historians utilize quantitative research design, then history cannot be only subjective but equally be objective. Kwame Nkrumah staged positive action in Gold coast? What is subjective about this? Monarchical absolutism existed in Europe. what is subjective about this? Jim Crow laws existed in the southern States of USA. What is subjective about this? Subjective historians must depend on facts to draw a valid conclusion. Yes, the people of modern Volta region voted in a plebiscite to join a country heretofore known as Gold Coast. However, this did not erase the political fracas that existed between Nkrumah and Olympio. Olympio described Nkrumah as a Black imperialist over Trans- Volta Togoland. My fellow columnist, Professor Lungu, can educate you on that subject. I agree with professor Kwarteng's perspective history but also think not all topics in history could be reduced into perspectives. Thanks for your submission.

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