Kennedy, Aspiring NPP Presidential Hopeful Addresses the NUGS.

Arthur Kobina Kennedy is the rising star of the NPP Presidential race. Though Kennedy is now seen as the underdog of the presidential race, he is fast becoming a force that can hardly be reckoned with. He has since his declaration to compete in the presidential race received many interviews and talking engagements around the globe with strong Diasporan support. As a former NUGS President who challenged the dictatorship of the PNDC in the early 1980's Kennedy is highly recognised by the NUGS for his love for democracy. Kennedy was a key note speaker in the 40th anniversary of the National Union of Ghana Students. We are proud to present to you his full SOLIDARITY address.

"Congratulations on the 40th anniversary of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS)! The NUGS has had an exciting history. Venerated by admirers and sometimes vilified by detractors, the NUGS has always been in the front ranks of the struggle to build a better Ghana. There have been successes, great and small.

Indeed, the involvement of students in our national development predates our independence by decades. In the 1920s, the West African Students Union, whose ranks included many Ghanaian students, fought against racism/discrimination in England and participated in the struggle for the decolonization of Africa.

There was the meeting in 1945 in London of African students that led to Nkrumah's return to Ghana to join the independence struggle two years later.

There were the protests against Nkrumah's excesses, Busia's omissions and Acheampong's dictatorship that culminated in the 1979 elections. Then came the task force and the decade-long struggle against the PNDC dictatorship that returned democracy to Ghana in 1992.

Mistakes

Amidst all these achievements however, there have been serious missteps. Amongst these are the call to let the blood flow in 1979, the support of the PNDC after the 1981 coup and recently the opposition to the Representation of the People's Amendment Bill (ROPAB).

These were mistakes because the students movement is at its best and acting consistent with its role in Ghanaian society when it is opposing dictatorship and/or evil and standing up for the extension of rights: to freedom of expression, to freedom of association and to vote. Ultimately, however, we can take comfort in the fact that even when the NUGS has been wrong, its motives have been sincere.

The future

To turn to the future, I think that as students, one of your primary concerns must be with our educational system - access, quality, affordability for all. You must insist on teachers who will help you to acquire the habits of life-long learning and curiosity instead of teach you. This is because there is a difference between teaching and helping people to be learners. A good education must make you a life-long learner, capable of both posing fundamental questions and finding answers to them.

Second, you must help make our universities incubators of ideas and innovations that will constantly renew our nation. You must encourage a spirit of curiosity and of asking probing questions rather than accepting the status quo as a given. If you succeed, you may restore to our nation's governing classes the idea that ideas must matter to a progressive society and that they must be the first questions of government.

By the same token you may also restore to our national body politic the attitude that dissenting ideas also matter because they encourage us to rethink widely-held opinions and positions. Hopefully, as part of your efforts, the public square will be a place where there can be a respectful exchange of ideas and a spirit of generosity towards one another.

A nation whose government is more interested in the directives of foreign governments, foreign institutions, or the behavior of markets rather than the kind of society it wishes to lead does not serve its people well.

Third, you must look to your role in the development of our nation. This is because our universities, in addition to shaping your minds, must prepare you for leadership of our nation by building your character and patriotism. An education that is concerned only with your minds is inadequate for the needs of the good nation we hope to build.

That is why I was gratified by your recent concerns regarding the poor rankings of our universities compared to their peers in the world and Africa as well as with the debilitating effects of the brain drain. Regarding the latter, it should bother all who wish our nation well when the World Bank reports as it did recently that nearly half of our graduates live abroad. While some in the government have implied that those leaving Ghana are unpatriotic, I think the issues are more complex than that. Our society must build an economy that has available to new graduates, opportunities for work and business that will pay them more than a living wage.

This will enable a majority of them to stay home and contribute to the nation's development and yet be able to fulfill their obligations to their families. As India and other nations have demonstrated, we can build knowledge-based economies that will create centers of excellence and attract outsourcing from advanced nations and multi-nationals to bring to our shore high-paying jobs to fuel our economies.

Furthermore, it is vital that in this era of globalization and the 21st century, a critical mass of our population live outside so that they can acquire in a fuller measure those skills that are vital ingredients to modernization and competition. The best interest of our nation is served by Ghanaians with the best talents and attitudes, without regard to tribe, religion, and creed; no matter where they reside, coming together to solve problems.

Ultimately, the important question is not whether they live in Ghana; it is whether Ghana lives in them. It is that approach that has put the national soccer team, the Black Stars in the first rank of soccer teams even as our nation remains in the ranks of Third World nations. Our leaders do themselves and our nation a disservice when they propose slogans rather than solutions to these challenging problem.

Traditions of selfless courage

But even as the student movement strives to continue its noble traditions of selfless courage in our nation's cause and conscientious service as our nation's conscience, it must remember that charity, of necessity, must begin at home. Recently, issues like the exam malpractices and other incidents appear to suggest that the "success-at-any-cost" ethos that has been increasingly manifest in our nation is affecting our academic institutions.

I urge that together, we strive to encourage the youth to identify and to get to know some of the time-tested ethics that made the NUGS and our nation strong: diligence, respect for honest achievement and disdain for tainted achievement and wealth. If we do this, we can count on forty more years of greatness from the NUGS that will help build a better nation, forever looking to new days, new ideas and new attitudes.

May God Bless Ghana!

May he bless the NUGS!

ALUTA CONTINUA!

WE SHALL OVERCOME! "