Media personality, Bernard Avle, has urged society to apply knowledge from their respective fields to create meaningful change in their communities.
Speaking at the 2025 STAR Ghana Foundation Akoto Ampaw Active Citizenship Dialogue (AAACD) in Accra last Wednesday, the CitiFM CitiTV General Manager’s extensive knowledge in activism left a lasting impression on the guests.
Speaking on the theme: "Inter-Generational Dialogue for Active Citizenship: Lessons and Opportunities for the Future," the seasoned journalist encouraged activists to use their platforms to advocate the well-being of Ghanaians, asserting that the true purpose of knowledge was its practical application to positively impact lives.
AAACD
The event, which served as a platform to foster civic engagement, participatory governance, and social accountability featured speakers who demonstrated remarkable specialist knowledge in their presentations.
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The panellists included media studies icon and human rights activist, Prof. Kwame Karikari; gender and human rights specialist at FIDA, Susan Aryeetey; investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure-Awuni, and youth activist and governance advocate, Felicity Nelson.
Overview
Mr Avle provided a comprehensive overview of notable Ghanaian activists, including Kwame Nkrumah, Paa Grant, Ephraim Amu, J.B. Danquah, Nii Kwabena Bonney III and P.A.V. Ansah, highlighting the significant influence of their work.
He challenged both current and future activists to draw inspiration from these figures.
He also provided a deeper understanding of early citizen activism, pre-independence active citizenship, post-independence citizen activism, and the state of active citizenship today, outlining both the threats and opportunities in the ongoing pursuit of active citizenship.
"A lot of the activists we are going to talk about tried to work together. You don't have to have everything aligning to work together. So long as you have the same objective, you can work together.
This is very important because sometimes people come from different backgrounds," he said.
"Somebody is from a different religion, and somebody is from a different class so we don't think we can work together, but if our objective is the same, we can put our differences aside and that is actually the first step of citizen activism for groups."
He said Nii Kwabena Bonney III, as an activist, used his knowledge of Economics to advocate anti-inflation campaign against European goods, which triggered an independent movement.
"If you can't use that knowledge to liberate your people, then you don't know it because the only purpose of knowledge is its usability.”
"My challenge to young economists is, don't study Economics and come and speak on air. Go back to your home town and see how you can use it to help farmers in their farm gate pricing.
That's the true purpose of knowledge. That is what an activist intellectual does," he stated.
He said intellectuals did not have to consign themselves to “speaking English” on media platforms.
“That's good too, but even if you are speaking English, apply it. Nii Kwabena Bonney III did that. Nkrumah benefitted from the agitations of Nii Kwabena Bonney," Mr Avle added.
"He wasn't a politician and he was not part of the Big Six. That is citizenship; using his knowledge about the economy, his business acumen and mobilising power to trigger an independence movement," he said.
Convening power
He also urged activists to recognise the power they held as conveners and to use it responsibly.
"Convening power is very, very important. If you have access to politicians, don't use it to ask them for scholarships. Bring them and ask them hard questions.
That's what convening power is.
Bringing different groups together. They must understand and harness it.
"You are the only person who can call chiefs, politicians and all these people together into the same room.
It's a very powerful thing that you have.”
"Citizens must be interested in community-based collaborations. It is a collaboration and not a competition.
Now, this is very important because if we need to be on the same page, one of the most difficult things to do is to lead people who don't understand where you are sending them,” Mr Avle stated.
