The Nkrumah Revolution

After adequately scrutinizing his book, “Ghana, An Autobiography “, I was driven by the desire to know more, to know more about a man who lit a light in Ghana and Africa that continues to shine, I was driven by an unwavering desire to learn more about that enthusiastic person who was so passionate about the development of the continent that he sometimes weeped in public when delivering a speech. This is because for years I had been made to form a warped and perverse mentality about him. This desire made me delve into some of his seminal and classic works; I imbibed his ‘Neo-Colonialism', ‘Philosophical Consciencism' and ‘Class Struggle in Africa' and from there I relieved myself from the single story I had formed about him. Sometimes having a single story can stifle our ability to look at issues from different perspectives. This is what the Nigerian writer Chinamanda Ngozi Adichie calls the dangers of a single story. After carefully analyzing his works I had the true picture of the man whose mandate was to emancipate and empower the Negroid race from the shackles of colonial domination.

Born in a small village at Nkroful in the Western Region of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah would later attend one of Ghana’s prestigious institution, Achimota School (formerly Government Boys' Training College), to be trained as a teacher. At Achimota, young Nkrumah was heavily influenced by Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey, another man who occupies a central part in Ghana’s political history. Kwegyir Aggrey later exposed Nkrumah to opportunities for further education. Through Kwegyir Aggrey, Nkrumah was exposed to the Nigerian nationalist Nnamdi Azikiwe. In his acceptance letter to Lincoln University in the United States, Nkrumah quoted Tennyson, “so many worlds, so much to do so little done such things to be”. His acceptance speech was clear of his love for the emancipation of the Negroid race from the perils of neocolonialism. An orator, writer and debater, he graduated sixth out of a graduating class of fourth six in Sociology (Magna Cum Laude). Years later, Nkrumah would abandon his thesis for his doctorate and his legal studies in London to help in Ghana’s emancipation from British colonialists. Out of love of country and continent he came to Ghana.

I am much aware that some pundits have consistently opined that he was selfish, his parochial interest was more important to him than his national pursuit. But the counter question to this claim is that how on earth would a selfish person abandon his studies and pursue an ambition that would later cost him his life to the extent that Amilcar Cabral posited that Nkrumah died out of a cancer of betryal. Some pundits have also, upon looking at some of his policies have asserted that he was a dictator and this is as a result of the fact that he used his Preventive detention Act(PDA, 1956) to terrorize and intimidate his political opponents. Pundits who make such assertion tend to forget the fact that there were about five attempts at ending his life all of which he escaped successfully and in such instance the best thing to do is to pass a law that will help promote sanity in the political system. Some also say that he made Ghana a ‘dejure’ one party state and gave himself more powers and hence his overthrow. In an interview Dr. K.B Asante, the then Secretary to Nkrumah remarked “ Nkrumah wanted a one party state to which we all belong and also to pull more hands to manage the myrids of industries that had been built”.

Before proceeding to the next paragraph, let us first consider the roots of Nkrumah’s thoughts and philosophies. Nkrumah had a Marxist Leninist orientation which infuriated the plotters of the 1966 uprising and the Central Intelligence Agency of the USA since policies were socialist in orientation. Back home he built many industries, second cycle institutions like Ghana National College which he funded with his own pocket money. Higher institutions were also set up, including the giant Akosombo dam and Accra-Tema motorway. His ideas and philosophies are one which transformed the country but it will not last after his overthrow. Conscious efforts was made on the part of the plotters of the 1966 uprising to destroy all traits of Nkrumahism after his overthrow. His books were burnt, statues demolished all in an attempt to pervert history.

My task is to dispel that aura of propaganda concerning Nkrumah and to advocate the inclusion of his books in our institutions of higher learning. To me we do him a great honour when we not only celebrate his day but rather when we imbibe hook, line and sinker his ideas and know what he stood for. I will end by saying that there is a revolution, one aimed at producing new breed of thinkers for the country and continent and not one aimed at cheap political gain as is being done by the opposition in Ghana, a revolution aimed at bringing forth men and women with ideas for national development and not one aimed at distorting Ghana’s political history that Nkrumah is not the sole founder of modern Ghana. In a spirit of tranquility let’s look at Nkrumah’s thought on nature of the revolution. “ Revolutions are brought about by men, by men who think as men of action and who act as men of thought “

Isaac Abban
A student of Sociology, Writer & Pan-Africanist.

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0264361854.