Let's make Akan Ghana's official language -- Samuel Adjei

The chairman of the Centre of National Culture in Kumasi, Samuel Adjei has proposed that Ghana should make Akan its official language.

Mr. Samuel Adjei made this suggestion at the 3rd International Conference on Culture and Development.

The conference, intended to brainstorm on how to make use of culture in Africa's development agenda is being attended by participants from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and other nations.

Luv FM's Ohemeng Tawiah reports that Mr. Adjei called for a national debate in the thorny issue insisting a national language will be vital in conducting official business in Ghana.

Mr. Adjei believes the continuous disrespect for the African language is a major hindrance to development and is a conduit to lawlessness.

He said Ghana's inability to adopt a national language should be blamed squarely on politicians who are not forthright.

“It is an open secret that Akan should be the official language. When you walk on the streets of Wa, you will hear more Akan than Dagaare. The same thing happens in Bolga and Tamale. So why are we not very ready to say Akan is our official language so that it will facilitate the development process,” he lamented.

Mr. Adjei is convinced that when Akan is made the official language, it will facilitate teaching and learning in schools.

He said countries that have made use of their local languages as their lingua franca have seen tremendous growth than their counterparts who have not, adding “…we are getting into a situation where in Ghana, the more English that you use, the big big English that you talk (speak), the more people want to think that you are intelligent.”

Mr. Adjei advised Ghanaians to make use of the language and not end up paying more money to study it in the future, which is the case in many Universities abroad.

In a telephone interview with Deputy Local Government Minister Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, who was reading the midday news on Joy FM's 'topsy turvy' edition on Tuesday, Nana Obiri-Yeboah, a lecturer at the Accra Polytechnic, who also agrees with the assertion, however said the country needs to re-examine the languages and nationalize one of them.

Nana Obiri-Yeboah explained that countries such as Japan managed to get how far they have come because of popular participation through the Japanese language.

He said Africa is in a state of confusion in view of the lack of a distinct language for official use and that the time has come to take a second look at the phenomenon.

Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana