NUGS KNUST on the founder’s day, 21st September, 2013

LET GHANA YOUTH REMEMBER THIS!

On that warm evening, he declared, ‘Those who want to measure the height of our achievements should measure the depth of the valley from which we came’. The scene was an African Union summit.

“When a man’s work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes the target for the shafts of the envious few. If his works be merely mediocre, he will be left severely alone- if he achieves a masterpiece, it will set a million tongue a-wagging”. Such has become the life of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. A brief story:
He was born in a village called Nkroful in the western region of Ghana, in 1909. He studied to be a teacher at Achimota School. He worked as a teacher in several schools in the gold coast. He saved for his education in the United States. In 1935 he sailed from Takoradi to Liverpool, and made his way to London, where he applied to receive his students’ visa from the American embassy. Whiles in America, he heard the news of the invasion of Abyssinia by Fascist Italy, this outraged him. It prompted him to set his sights on a political career. And that was it; the vision of liberation of the African continent was born.
History sparkles with the life story of the African of the century who place the life of fellow men above his, and who respected principle other than possessions. History gave us ample evidence of how he used his life to better the life of the masses. Yet, history has been oblivious of the very trait that glued him to his vision to liberate all Africans and unite them. I heard someone asked the other day, “How did he rise from such a depth to such a height?” This question practically suggests its own answer. I am determined to cause you to think on this vital subject yourself.
There is no escape from the fact that the man awakened the truth in him. Kwame Nkrumah’s life was belted with the principle of self- reliance. It was that principle that made him shout the evergreen creed that forms the fundamental principle of Africanism, “A Blackman is capable of managing his own affairs”. Obviously, he understood that;
It seems against the act of providence that the greatest wrong and the most severe injustice was ever done to us by our fellow men. This injustice might have perhaps, worked a temporary hardship on us, which is of little value compared to the advantage it has given us by providing a timely opportunity for us to test the soundness of our self -reliance.
The injustice to which I refer to left courses of action in our lives. One was to sit back and brood over our losses. The other was to face the reality that turns antagonism into a desire to succeed. Nkrumah chose the latter. He believed in the assertion, “example is better than precept”.
When he opted for “self-government now!” self- reliance was there.
When he presented his “motion of destiny” to the assembly, requesting for independence with British Commonwealth, his self –reliance aided him.
On that day, on the 6th of March, when he mounted that podium, with tears trooping down his cheeks, whiles the whole world was watching in awe, self-reliance was there with him.
If you can grasp the significance of the tremendous change that has come over Ghana, and if you can interpret its meaning, surely your imagination can suggest to you that it is time we stopped brooding over our losses, and ride in the spirit of self-reliance.
The very life of Nkrumah, has given the youth of Ghana a hope. It has given us a principle by which we can come out from our lot, and prove to the world that we can make it. Mo Ibrahim once said in a conference in Dubai, “50% of Africans are pre-nineteen, and that is the hope of Africa”. I disagree; we are the hope of Africa only when we become self-reliant.
Nelson Mandela set it right when he said “you should feel troubled when you wake up without any program that will liberate a suffering soul” His point was also well articulated when he burst out “ A prisoner cannot negotiate “ Time to embrace self-reliance
Long live all Youth Associations in Ghana!
Long live NUGS!!
Long live the ideals Of Kwame Nkrumah!!!
PAUL WORLANYO ADANU