Professor Atukwei Okine Was A Literary Giant - And Foremost Pan-Africanist

A literary giant, the poet Professor Atukwei Okine, has passed away. Professor Atukwei Okine secured his place in the Pantheon of great Africans - as an outstanding performance poet - long ago. Sadly, now he too has left this world, to undertake the final journey that in the end every African must embark on: to join those inhabiting the land of the spirits of our ancestors, on the other side, so to speak.

Professor Atukwei Okine was a rarity - the educated African who was not an Uncle Tom: but a committed Pan-Africanist who even though laboured unceasingly in the Ivory Tower of academia, at the same time also cared a great deal about the continent's fate, and was always keen to promote the welfare of ordinary people. It was typical of the man that on one occasion, having read an article of mine in which I urged the Ghana Cocoa Board to secure the cocoa industry's future, by switching to organic cocoa production, he telephoned to thank me for the article - and hoped the authourities would take note of it and act accordingly.

Despite being a preeminent intellectual, he was also down to earth, and constantly sought to encourage his fellow Africans to be proud of and uphold their traditional culture and stick to their communal societal values. His own personal life was a shining example to others in that regard. He was very proud of his Ga Dangbe heritage. And who can forget his long Agbadas and other dashing African-style clothing he donned habitually? Ditto forget his activism and radical ideas for the continent? It was not for nothing that he led the Pan African Writers Association (PAWA) for so many years.:-)

A personification of what Ghana's first leader, President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, called the African Personality, Professor Atukwei Okine livened many important occasions - including national events - with renditions of his powerfully evocative poems that resonated with millions of lettered Africans. He will be remembered till the very end of time. And even though one mourns with members of his family and closest friends - as does the whole nation, literally - one is also proud that Mother Ghana produced such a distinguished and caring Pan-Africanist who was also a literary giant. Literally. May his soul rest in peace.