BY OSEI BADU-NKANSAH

“These words by Kwame Nkrumah, ‘I have planted the seed and it will germinate,’ will never die,” says Ghanaian author Osei Badu-Nkansah on the birthday of the late first president of Ghana and one of the founding fathers of Pan-Africanism.

As if by divine knowledge, his words have come to pass. Physically he is no more, and his face is out of sight, yes, but his achievements keep holding Ghana in particular and Africa in general on.

His warnings have all come to pass. Take a look at his book “Neo Colonialism, The Last Stages of Imperialism,” and you will understand why he continues to live in our memories. He rendered, or better still sacrificed his life for Africa in general and Ghana in particular, as he stood firmly against colonialism and related forces. Many people don’t even know that he had no bank account, no building, no land, and yet the British on Independence Day gave Ghana millions of pounds.

In today’s Ghana, this money would have found its way back into some key “leaders’” accounts in Britain. But the father of Ghana’s independence gave it all to Ghana. May his memory keep shining.

In my recently-published book “To Close The “Shitholes” Africa Must Change,” I felt like a duty to cast a look at the legacy of the towering world figure that was our founding father, Kwame Nkrumah. I write in the book:

“Nkrumah’s administration setup many developmental projects the chief among these was the Free and Compulsory Education which has produced many great Ghanaian scholars parading the corridors of the world today.

Ghana now has about thirty million people. The wine press showers empty praises on how best it is today, but many Economics, with any degree of integrity and truthfulness, will tell you that the country needs massive overhaul of its infrastructure and Agricultural sectors to meet its future demands. Ghana now boasts of as one of the countries in the world with the highest number of unemployed graduates. The country still has many opportunities to turn things around – something which can be achieved if a leader can stand up, stop the useless politics, and bring everyone around. Ghana has enviable manpower – well-educated and experienced men and women ready to accomplish any tasks brought before them. The only barrier is the senseless politics which has been carefully nursed to divide the country into political groups which have done nothing but tear the country apart.”

Let us reflect on some of his achievements in his short nine years as president:

• He led the formation of the Organization of African Unity
• He was a co-founder of the Non-Aligned Movement
• He formed the Pan-African Federation
• He created the Institute of African Studies and Ghana’s news agency
• He set up the Council For Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
  • Cocoa Research Institute, Forest Products Research Institute
  • Crop Research Institute, Building and Road Research Institute
• He built the University of Science & Technology and Cape Coast University
• He built Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute Winneba
• He built all the four secondary technical schools in Ghana
  • Takoradi, Tamale, Obuasi, and Koforiduah
• He built the Tarkwa School Of Mines
• He built all the existing secondary, teacher-training, and nursing schools
• He completed and put into use these massive projects
  • The Akosombo Hydro Electric Power Project
  • Th Volta Aluminum Corporation (VALCO) to use our bauxite
  • Tema Township, the harbor along with the massive industries
  • The Bolgatanga Meat Factory, Kumasi Shoe, and Jute Factories
  • The two sugar cane factories in Asutuare and Komenda
  • The tomato factory in Sunyani, textile factories in Tema and Akosombo
  • The glass factory at Aboso and the tire factory in Nsuta all near Tarkwa
• He created the Ghana Railway and Ports and deployed Ghana Blue Train
• He created Ghana Airways and The Ghana Black Star Line
• He built The Tema Motto Way—part of the Golden Triangle Project
• He deployed regional and district hospitals across Ghana

In celebration of the birthday of the trailblazer born on 21st September 1909 in Nkroful, I believe all Ghanaians should honor his memory and salute his contributions to our beloved country, and, indeed, the world.

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About the Author

Osei Badu-Nkansah is an experienced Information Technology (IT) architect with a deep understanding of the latest technological concepts. He is an alumnus of the University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana and the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, U.S.A. His consulting days took him to many countries worldwide, especially countries in Africa. Such travels brought him face-to-face with the realities of the African problems.

He is the author of Audacity of Automation—Catalyst for Third World Development (also published by Dorrance Publishing). He has led many technology deployment projects in Africa.

As the CIO for Surfline in Ghana, he provided solution cases to give Ghana the Maiden LTE 4G Wireless Broadband. As the Executive Delivery Head for Tech Mahindra, he provided leadership to support the Successful Go-Live of Ntel’s LTE 4G Wireless Broadband—the first in Nigeria. And as an Executive IT architect for IBM, he fully participated in the transformation of Zain to Airtel in seventeen countries in Africa.

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