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Nkrumah’s
centenary will reawaken the spirit of patriotism – Veep
Accra, Sept. 11, Ghanadot/GNA
– Vice President John Dramani Mahama,
launching the Nkrumah Centennial Celebration on
Friday said that the occasion was
a call to Ghanaians, especially the youth to re-kindle the
spirit of patriotism.
“It is a call to all of us,
particularly the youth, to do what
they can for the nation and not what they can get from the
country,” he said.
Vice President Mahama, launching the centenary celebrations
in Accra, said the revival of the spirit of nationhood would
inculcate in the younger generation higher values of
service, and commitment to ideals of the commonwealth beyond
material possession and power for self gratification.
The centenary celebrations would extend over the period
September 2009 to May 2010; and would be organised around
three clusters of activities and events, namely: Kwame
Nkrumah’s Birthday (September 21), Independence Day (March
6, 2010) and Africa Liberation Day (May 25, 2010).
Mr Mahama said it was worth celebrating the life and works
of Dr Nkrumah because he was not just an individual but an
institution in Africa and the Diaspora, who fought
selflessly for the emancipation and independence of not only
Ghana but for the total liberation of the African continent.
“Apart from being at the forefront of Ghana’s independence
and Africa’s liberation struggles, the achievements of
Nkrumah run through the length and breadth of Ghana. He laid
a solid foundation in the country’s infrastructural
architecture,” he said.
He said the many schools, roads, ports, health facilities, a
hydro power project and vigorous industrialization and
agricultural programmes formed the nucleus of a vision the
first President had for Ghana.
Vice President Mahama said: “today as African countries
enjoy the fruits of independence so is it imperative for us
to appreciate the selfless leaders who kept their lives on
the line to ensure that we achieved the memorable feat.
“For a people who do not recognize the significance of their
history would eventually lose their bearing and values,” Mr
Mahama said.
Commenting on the attributes of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Mr Mahama
said he preached African continental unity and demonstrated
it at home and was a cultural icon in whom the embodiment of
a truly African vision was personified in his mode of
dressing and in the institutions he set up to project the
cultural heritage Ghana.
“For those of us who either lived during his lifetime as
adults or experienced it as teenagers can testify to a
united country that he sought to build. A country devoid of
tribalism and ethnic animosity,” he said.
Mr Mahama stated that there had been no period in the
history of Ghana in which the national consciousness,
identity and unity were solid and indivisible except during
the era of Dr Kwame Nkrumah to the extent that every African
and those of African descent identified themselves with
Ghana and were even proud to hold Ghanaian passport.
“These are the attributes we need to cherish in order to
build a prosperous and united country. So for a person to
have lived and died a vicarious life for his compatriots
there is no other tribute to give than keeping his name and
works continuously aflame,” he said.
Professor Akilagpa Sawyerr, the Chairman of the centenary
celebrations Committee, said between the three clusters,
there would be a series of activities/events reflecting all
the aspects of the celebrations and spread over the regions.
He said the highest point of the first cluster of events
would be a series of events at Nkroful from September 17 to
21, and a Grand Pageant and Durbar of Ghanaians and African
Peoples to be held at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park on
September 21.
Activities to be captured during the year-long celebration
include Political/intellectual interventions such as
lectures, symposia, students’ quizzes and exhibitions,
Culture and Arts, renovation of monuments and memorials, and
the re-enactment of significant events in Nkrumah’s life and
time.
Vice President Mahama later broke the ground for renovation
of the Memorial Park and also unveiled the centenary logo.
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