AKAN, THE LANGUAGE OF THE ANCIENTS

The need to choose one specific language for the country such as Akan to educate ourselves is imperative, and it is being motivated by common sense and empirical evidence to do that. We have no time to waste to discover that with Akan as our national language, real unity will be achieved in the course of time. The barriers among us as a people will be broken down, and subsequently our children shall be blessed with pure intelligence. We will be intelligent as well as competent to deal with our pressing problems; and apart from this, we shall be counted as among the enlightened countries in the world. When we have managed to deal with the most urgent problem we face now, we must be also aware that our dear Albino descendants/brothers will bring back the manipulation concerning the arms race and wars, but we should be diligent and this time to catch the trick they have utilised to disorganise us and allow our dubious leaders to squander all our resources and money on weapons, instead of concentrating on developments that could lead to industrialisation.

Akan was the major language used during the great civilisation in Egypt even though there were still some smaller languages spoken among family members. Our noble kings, Tutu Ankomah, Akenten, Tutu Mosi, Kamosi, Netanebour, Amosi, Akuffo and many others ruled in the civilisation that opened the eyes of the world. It is sad to see that our brothers in the Northern Hemisphere and other parts of the world have now turned it around that they opened our eyes. Later when Ghana/Akana Empire was founded which lasted over thousand years in the present-day Mali, Akan was widely spoken in those major cities founded around. In this area, the town Sikasuoso could be visited today. During the Akana Empire, no country in the Europe could match the organisation and developments that this famous empire achieved. Pretty sad that like the Egyptian civilisation, Akana Empire used bricks not burnt to erect their famous buildings and certain structures so presently no strong structures remain, apart from the pyramids and inventions in writing we have left behind as our legacies.

Even way back in Mesopotamia, before all these great empires, Akan related language was used by the people. Biblical Abraham was from the tribe of Okwahu who spoke also Akan. Observe carefully at how the King who wrote the famous laws to his people, that is, King Hammurabi's word for compensation was spelt, MUSHKENUM, and compare that with Akan word for compensation MONHENUMU. Being a member of the Horites family, the patriarch Akan that we all descended from in Genesis 36:25, 26, was respected and cherished by many nations and its people. As one of the chiefs, he dwelt in Egypt where the greatest civilisation of man was founded. I would not be surprised that since the Akan was used in the Ancient civilisation in Egypt and later in Ghana/Akana Empire, many countries such as Ivory Coast (where 45% are Akan) and others will consider adopting it because its use would enable these countries and Ghanaians as well to do well in sciences and mathematics.

If at the end of the day there are some who oppose it being adopted as the national language, they could carry their boats as they did before and row back to where they came from originally. There are some who may wish to cross the Aflao border and walk back to the wilderness around Nigeria and Cameroon to settle there. We do not have problems with these people's own decision to migrate back to where they originally hail from.

For those of us who had lived with this language and still cherish it, we will develop it and use to make our lives easier in the new Ghana. This language was used by the Ancient Egyptians and later when we moved down to ground the Akana Empire. Let us go back for it, SANKOFA, and let the people of Ghana understand the advantages we will have in using this language to educate ourselves and deal with all businesses we will do. We should not continue punishing our children to struggle with another persons' language that does not allow us to possess our self-esteem and self-confidence to deal with our problems. We are not shutting the door entirely to English; it will be studied diligently, but will not be used for educating ourselves except only when the need arise to use it at home or abroad to do something. We should not waste time with this, for we have control over our lives and so the final decision to do it must be quick. No too much argument should be used though parliamentary discussions should be engaged in and votes should be taken. Parliamentarians in the course of time must consult their constituencies to find out what they think about this brilliant idea.

What the government could do is a new Vice Chancellor should be chosen in Ghana for the Open University of Ghana. This New Institution's professors or academicians will see to it that all major textbooks used from the Elementary Schools to the Universities are translated into Akan (Ashanti in writing) with the rest of Akan languages to be spoken. The Vice Chancellor will be the figure who will deal with the task of making this gradual transition possible.