Why African Liberation Day must mean something to Ghana

Last Sunday was African Liberation Day but probably the only reason people in Ghana would know is because we had the following day as a holiday. Although the day is an official African holiday, it is celebrated and observed in different ways by different African countries and communities around the world.

Unfortunately, apart from it being a holiday, the day is not observed in any meaningful way in Ghana. This is rather sad because the idea of an African Liberation Day originated from this country.

Ironically, on May 25, there were celebrations in many countries and communities around the world, including some far-flung places. 

My friend and Ghanaian writer, Adu Opoku, reports that there was a rousing rally organised by the All Africa Revolutionary Peoples Party in Chicago; there was a celebration in Dublin, Ireland; the Rastafarian community in St Kitts and Nevis held its annual observation of the occasion and in Trinidad and Tobago, there was a joyous celebration as only those islands could organise. In Ghana there was nothing.

The call for the establishment of African Freedom Day was one of the resolutions adopted at the first Conference of Independent African States which took place in Accra in April 1958.

That conference was attended by representatives of Egypt (which was part of the United Arab Republic), Ethiopia, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Cameroon and Ghana. 

Political activists from a number of countries in Africa and elsewhere participated in that first pan-African conference to be held on the African continent.

Of course, the April 1958 conference was followed by the All-African People’s Conference in December that same year which brought together more than 300 participants from 26 African countries and colonies and observers from all over the world. 

These two conferences were important landmarks on the road to the formation of the Organisation of African Unity on May 25, 1963, the day now commemorated as African Liberation Day.

If for nothing at all, Ghana ought to observe the day more spiritedly for self-interest reasons. One of these reasons is economic. 

Ghana has targeted the African diaspora, including the African-American community in the USA, as a source of tourism for our country. 

There are many people in this category abroad who would happily undertake a pilgrimage to the Mecca of African Unity and Freedom at least once a year; and what better day to pay that homage than on a day proclaimed by the continent for this purpose? 

Over the years, our governments have spoken of diversifying the country’s economy but they cannot seem to spot the opportunity for taking steps towards that purpose even when it is presented on a silver platter. 

We have the Nkrumah Mausoleum and Memorial Gardens in Accra crying for activities that would bring the place to life and here is a splendid opportunity that presents itself at least once every year, and what do we do with it? Zilch!

The opportunity is there but it cannot be realised if we just sit and do nothing about it. We have to invest in the infrastructure and communication that will attract people to these shores, and African Liberation Day is one of those opportunities that need just a bit of spending to make big things happen. 

In addition to the Nkrumah Mausoleum, there are other reminders of that period in history that can be part of the props for showcasing the great dramas of the time.

These include the entire panoply of physical facts on the ground, including the Padmore Library which has immortalised the West Indian revolutionary intellectual who was the Secretary-General of the All Africa People’s Conference.

Apart from the economic self-interest, there is also the pride of place argument which is linked to my earlier point. The OAU was established in Addis Ababa, which now hosts the headquarters of the African Union. In that sense, the Ethiopian capital claims for itself the title of Africa’s capital city.

However, when the time  came to select an appropriate statue to adorn the front of the new AU building (donated by China), the continental body selected Nkrumah’s statue for that honour, thus confirming Ghana’s first President as the acknowledged father of African Unity. 

How does Ghana celebrate this honour? Zilch. We ought to use Africa’s historic occasions to celebrate our past achievements.

The African Liberation Day ought to be used to cement our own national unity and independence. With so much turmoil in the bigger world, Ghana ought to celebrate the fact that we still enjoy our independence and unity.

Despite going through some turbulence and the perpetual fever pitch contending between the NPP and NDC, we are one intact as a people. What underlines this fact is the common aspiration of African people to overcome the difficulties that we inherited from colonialism and exploitation.

The African Liberation Day is an educational moment that should be used to explain Africa’s place in the world and the ongoing struggle for the use of our own resources, equality, respect as a people and social justice for our teeming poor. 

Today, schools hardly teach any meaningful history to pupils and students. As a result, we are producing graduates at all levels who are ignorant about our past and its effects on the present. It is moments like Independence Day, African Liberation Day, Republic Day and others that provide education for all. 

Ideally, we must have a combination of official and informal activities to mark the day. I am not suggesting another march past at the Black Star Square, especially as it might rain! I am referring to a number of locally generated and interesting initiatives that people would want to participate in and support. The state, civil society, businesses and even religious groups must all play their part in making such days meaningful. 

I must say in passing that African Liberation Day coincides with the birthday of the President of The Gambia, His Excellency Sheik Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh. The Diary wishes him a belated birthday.

Let there be light…on n1

One of the joys of driving on the George Walker Bush Highway, better known as N1, in the weeks following its inauguration was the sheer amount of light bathing that stretch of road. You could see the road as if it were daytime even at night. This was in contrast to the roads that spill onto it between Dzorwulu and Mallam Junction in Accra. 

But one by one the lights began to go off- how and why I do not know- although I remarked in this same column how the lights had become a patchwork of darkness here and light there as one travelled on that road. Now, sadly, all the lights have disappeared and the road is as dark as original sin any moment after seven in the evening. 

The lights were not installed alongside the road for their beauty or the fun of it. There is a reason for doing that, and in a word, safety. The engineers and other professionals and technical people involved in the project knew that drivers would drive fast on that road, but they probably did not reckon with our lawless society. Drivers are driving at excessive speeds which make the street lights even more necessary.

Without the lights, we are putting lives at risk. I drove on the road a few nights ago and the combination of utterly reckless speeds without a diffused light ambience and people crossing at all points are a recipe for disaster. 

We may not be able to stop the reckless driving, visible and noisy policing notwithstanding; ditto for people crossing at all points, but we can and should ensure that the road is lit. We must be able to accomplish some things such as keeping the lights on.