NPP'S SUPPORTERS ARE IN WITHDRAWAL!!! FROM WEED AND COCAINE- ADOLFO FUCKO, AKADU-MEN-SICKO AND OKO-IDIOT-AMPO!!!! HAHAHA!!!!!!
NPP'S SUPPORTERS ARE IN WITHDRAWAL!!! FROM WEED AND COCAINE- ADOLFO FUCKO, AKADU-MEN-SICKO AND OKO-IDIOT-AMPO!!!! HAHAHA!!!!!!
AKASI MARTHA NZEMA 10 years ago
KARTENNG, FRANCIS: AFFTER ALL GHANA/AFRICA ARE IN PROMISE LAND THE MANA HAS 'STOP'. WHAT CAN WE DO TO DEVELOP NATION AS ISRAEL'S DID. GHANA IS BECOMING A COUNTRY OF INTELLECTUALS WITHOUT INDUSTRIES. AS I HAVE ALREADY SAID AFT ... read full comment
KARTENNG, FRANCIS: AFFTER ALL GHANA/AFRICA ARE IN PROMISE LAND THE MANA HAS 'STOP'. WHAT CAN WE DO TO DEVELOP NATION AS ISRAEL'S DID. GHANA IS BECOMING A COUNTRY OF INTELLECTUALS WITHOUT INDUSTRIES. AS I HAVE ALREADY SAID AFTER THE INDEPENDENT WE MOVED FROM FARMING AGE, TO EDUCATIONAL AGE,AND GRADUALLY MOVING TO INDUSTRIAL AGE BUT QOUP D'TART STOP OUR MOVING. NKRUMAH BECAME AN ENEMY TO HIS FELLOW GHANAIANS. FRANCIS I WANT YOU TO BRING SOLUTION THAT WILL MOVE GHANA FORWARD. "HOLY SPIRIT" HELP THE INTELLECTUALS TO BRING SOLUTION TO HELP OUR MOTHER LAND GHANA, WHETHER NDC OR NPP. AAAAA AMEN
Kawaanopaado 10 years ago
Hi Francis, so you read Economics at Legon? I also did from 1975 to 1978, with the Baah Nuakohs, Jack Solomons, Erbynns, Brookes, Jebunnis, Jones Ofori Attas, Akpahs,Tutus, Sam Dodoos,Manus of this world. What Dr Nyarko has w ... read full comment
Hi Francis, so you read Economics at Legon? I also did from 1975 to 1978, with the Baah Nuakohs, Jack Solomons, Erbynns, Brookes, Jebunnis, Jones Ofori Attas, Akpahs,Tutus, Sam Dodoos,Manus of this world. What Dr Nyarko has written about in his book, has crossed my mind several times and I think I will try to come out with my own version or reply to Adam Smith's thesis of capitalism, which to me is the bane of our present world order. I hope I will not sound like Karl Marx and Frederick Engels in their Das Kapital!
GHANABA 10 years ago
SELECTIVE PROFILING BY KWARTENG.
SELECTIVE PROFILING BY KWARTENG.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
Dear friend,
How are you?
I did go to KNUST. I read mathematics. And Dr.
Nyarko finished his first degree when I was preparatory school.
Please do let me know when you post your critique of Adam Smith.
Thanks.
Dear friend,
How are you?
I did go to KNUST. I read mathematics. And Dr.
Nyarko finished his first degree when I was preparatory school.
Please do let me know when you post your critique of Adam Smith.
Thanks.
Media Mogul 10 years ago
OK, thanks for introducing us to Dr. Nyarko.
I must say that if you want to write about Ghanaians with the intellectual achievement of Dr. Nyarko, you may be at it for a very very long time. There are, indeed, thousands o ... read full comment
OK, thanks for introducing us to Dr. Nyarko.
I must say that if you want to write about Ghanaians with the intellectual achievement of Dr. Nyarko, you may be at it for a very very long time. There are, indeed, thousands of Ghanaians with similar achievements all over the world. You seem to be only familiar with those in the US. You may want to place your cut-off point at a very high level else you will do injustice to thousands of Ghanaians who are as equally brilliant as Dr. Nyarko - perhaps even more so.
Do you think Dr. Nyarko may be in the reckoning for the Swedish Central Bank's Economic Prize in Memory of Alfred Nobel (otherwise known as the Nobel Prize in Economics)? Or perhaps these Swedes will not want to give it to a Black Man?
A curious question: You place Dr. Nyarko alongside David Blackwell, John von Neumann, Glenn Loury, and Milton Friedman. Isn't that a bit too much? The fact that these gentlemen were all into Game Theory does not necessitate your placing Dr. Nyarko alongside them only because he, too, is into Game theory. How many mathematical and/or economics theories are named after Dr. Nyarko? Will you rate him as brilliant as von Neumann? von Neumann? - who died aged "only" 53 and yet one cannot finish naming all the academic things he was known for...
Another curiosity: When will you do one on Professor Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, PhD. 25 published books, numerous scholarly articles in respected academic journals and at least 2000 journalistic pieces on ghanaweb and other Ghanaian websites. Please don't laff...
And now my congrats: you got the paragraphing thing right this time. See how it works? Hope you will maintain it. But I am wondering what you will have to say about this man in the second part and why you didn't try your hardest to give it all to us in one article.
Gibbon's magnificent book was written between 1776 and 1778 and he reflected the thinking about Africans that was very common in his age. Only very few Europeans were able to break beyond that type of thinking at that time.
okeyerma james nyarko 10 years ago
Don't be jealous of james nyarko plight of tweneboa kodua sec sch. We knew he was a brain. Maybe brainy becos he was born in massaland. With straight A in phys maths chem at A level (motown) he skipped medicine and engineerin ... read full comment
Don't be jealous of james nyarko plight of tweneboa kodua sec sch. We knew he was a brain. Maybe brainy becos he was born in massaland. With straight A in phys maths chem at A level (motown) he skipped medicine and engineering for maths, econs at legon. And rightly so. Loved maths. Go jimmy.
(Mark UK) 10 years ago
Mmo ne adwuma pa Francis.
Out of curiousity, did this guy actually use a year for his PhD? That is an achievement in itself.
Good job.
Mmo ne adwuma pa Francis.
Out of curiousity, did this guy actually use a year for his PhD? That is an achievement in itself.
Good job.
awonaniba 10 years ago
Yes. He did.
Yes. He did.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
Hello Mark (UK),
How are you doing? Long time, no see.
Anyway, I will contact Dr. Nyarko to give me more info about the number of years he spent doing his master's and PhD. I will try to get this info before Part ll is ... read full comment
Hello Mark (UK),
How are you doing? Long time, no see.
Anyway, I will contact Dr. Nyarko to give me more info about the number of years he spent doing his master's and PhD. I will try to get this info before Part ll is published.
Keep your fingers crossed. Please take good care of yourself.
Thank you, my brother.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
Hello Moguls,
How are you all? First, there is a black person who won the 1979 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. He's Sir William Arthur Lewis. He was from Saint Lucia (I have mentioneed him in Part ll).
Lewis shared ... read full comment
Hello Moguls,
How are you all? First, there is a black person who won the 1979 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. He's Sir William Arthur Lewis. He was from Saint Lucia (I have mentioneed him in Part ll).
Lewis shared the award with Theodore Schulcz. Lewis's most influential essay was "Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labor," from which the "Lewis Model" or "Dual Sector Model" came.
Gleen Loury is another brilliant and infleuntial economist, an African American economist who achieved a lot as a young man. I mention him briefly in Part ll.
Loury is the other half who contributed to the influential "Coate-Loury Model of Affirmative Action." Loury has since gone on to win the 2005 John von Neumann Award, which, is, itself, a great achievemnet. The award is prestigious and highly competitive.
Then again, I don't use the Nobel Prize as the sole criterian for an evaluating an individual's intellectual and socia-political achievements in the world.
In fact, if that were the case, Chinua Achebe should have won the Nobel for literature.
Nurrudin Farah has been perenially nominated by the Nobel Committee for literature but has never received the award though he's one of the most influential literary giants in the world (he has since received the prestigious Neustadt International Prize for Literatre, just like Achebe. This award is rated second in importance and influence after the Nobel Prize for Literature).
Dr. Molefei Kete Asante is another. The late White American author John Updike was another. Ngugi wa Thiong'o is equally a good candidate. Particularly, Updike was both outstandingly prolific and critical in his writings. He was, like Thiong'o or Soyinka, intense and critical in his litery productions.
Moreover, Updike's literary gifts covered literary criticism, children's books, art criticism, poetry, essays, short stories, non-fiction, novels, etc. He also edited the volume "The Binghamton Poems." In fact, Updike was more like Soyinka, William Faulker, or Earnest Hemmingway Yet the Nobel Committee walked over him.
There are several others (in the science, economics, peace categories) who should have beed the Nobel. My point is, the Nobel Committee, like any human institution, plays politics occassionally.
There are others who have forcefully argued that giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Kenya's (late) Wangari Maathai undermined Alfred Nobel's Will and Testament. Others have made similar arguments against the Nobel Peace Award being given to President Obama. Personally, I believe President Obama should not have been given the award. People like Mandela and Martin Luther King worked hard for the award.
More on the politics opracticed by the Nobel Committee: Even Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has to fight on behalf of Wole Soyinka as far as awarding the Nobel Prize in Literature to Soyinka was concerned.
Similaryly, literary scholars like the Jaimaican-American Nellie Y. McKay, whose position Henry Louis Gates occupies presently at Harvard, had to fight for Toni Morrison's literary work to be achknowldged in America and the world (including the Nobel Committee).
McKay put Morrison on the map via her critical analysis collected in the volume "Critical Essays on Toni Morrison." Her work on Toni Morrison eventually led to Morrison's being awarded a Pulitzer and then later the Nobel.
In fact, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. did something similar for Wole Soyinka via his prolific scholarly works such as "The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Lierary Critcism," a book I recommend to anyone interested in literary criticism to read.
You must have known that as part of being considered for nomination by the Nobel Committee, colleagues, researchers, etc., must review a prospective candidate's work and its impact on society. McKay did so for Morrison and Gates for Soyinka.
Regarding this present article and some of the issues you raise in your comments, let me add that another accomplised economist in the world is Thomas Sowell. I believe that I have also mentioned Thomas Sowell to you once, Media Mogul. He's the one who called for Black Studies to be abolished. Remember?
I am familiar with nearly all the major Ghanaians, in fact, Africans doing wonderful things in science, mathematics, engineering, etc., other parts of the world-Africa, Europe, America, Australia, etc, as well.
For instance, I have been closely folowing the multidimensional literary works of Dr. Kwame Dawes, the Ghanaian-Jamaican, for many years.
But I have never mentioned Kwame Dawes or his works anywhere except in my conversations with friends. So is the newest on the block, Ms. Taiye Selasi (and several other Ghanaians) until you mentioned her in one of our Ghanaweb correspondences.
Also, Dr. Molefi Kete Asante's Molefi Kete Asante Institute for Afrocentric Studies interact with many of these African giants in every part of the world.
His Institute coordinates with several renowned reaserachers within Africa itself and others working in other parts of the world, France, Germany, Asia, etc.
Moreover, the Molefi Kete Asante Institute for Afrocentric Studies publishes a newsletter called "The Asante Fellow Report." This newsletter features research publiccations by assorted scholars from all over the place.
The newsletter will acquaint you with many of the renowened African scholars, including Ghanaians, whose creative work the newsletter publishes. Asante's "Journal of Black Studies" is another source.
Asante has literally supersvised as well as read hundreds of doctoral dissertations by oustanding stidents in and from both Africa and the Americas. Most of them have gone on to acieve greater heights.
Furthermore, Asante and I have discussed some of many of these scholars. African scholars have sent him their books for him to review. We have also discussed some of these. Media Mogul, it will talke me a million years to feature all the Ghanains here on Ghanaweb. I only concentrate on the outstanding ones, men and women whose works have positvely impacted the world at large. Dr. Nyarko is one of such thinkers.
Finally, Henry Louis Gates' "Transition Magazine," the Schomburg Center for Black Research, and WEB Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, are a few of the places readers can go to to acquaint themselves with some of the oustanding Ghanaians (and Africans) who are doing wonderful things in the world. CNN's "African Voices" and BBC's "African Dream" also features many of these outstanding thinkers.
In fact, there are several scholarly journals and research insitutions all over Africa which publish the works of many of these outstanding African scolars (readers can contact me at "franciskwarteng@yahoo.com" for an exhaustive list). So I am familiar with what many other Ghanaian intellectuals are doing outside America and Ghana.
Also, Dr. Nyarko's three institutions, like Molefi's and Victor Lawrence, do the same thing (See Part ll). That's Dr. Nyarko's three institutions, for instance, have collaborated with international institutions and individuals from all over the world, South America, Asia, Africa, Canada, etc.
On the other hand, I did not add Dr. Nyarko to the "privileged" list merely because of his work in game theory. All the men, Blackwell, Nuemann, Loury, Friedman, men I have personally studied inside/outisde school and admire, I mentioned were outstanding in applying game theory and other complicated mathematical models to solve many problems in human society.
In fact, there were hundreds of others I did not mention. Besides, I mentioned several other expertise of Dr. Nyarko. These write-ups, Media Mogul, on Ghanaweb are merely designed to be summaries.
Therefore, I do not follow what only Ghanaians scolars do. You will be surprised if I begin to profile other outsatnding non-Ghanaian Africans here). Ghanaweb for one won't publish them. I personally know some of these outsanding Africans myself.
Of course, there are thousands of Ghanaians scholars but not all are outstanding in their field of expertise. Only a few are. I have been following the scholarship of Ghanaians in Europe, Asia, America (South and North), and Australia.
Again, Media Mogul, do not rush to say I am only familiar with those in America. There are a few others (e.g. David Adjaye from UK) I have mentioned briefly in some of my previous articles. I have mentioned Adjaye to you before.
Adjaye is part of a group of privileged architects contracted to design the Smithsonian National Musuem of African American History and Culture (the museun costs half a billion dollars to build). Adjaye is currently working with Henry Gates to build another center at Harvard University. Adjaye has done some work for the Nobel Committe, some Asian countries, in fact, all over the world. Listen to his recent interview on CNN.
Finally, there are also Adam Afriye, Paul Boateng, Kwasi Kwarteng, all three from the UK, are outstanding. There's Dr. George Sefa Dei from Canada, and more. I have studied nearly all the people I have mentioned here (and more).
Then again, a theory does not have to be named after you to make you great. Ivan Van sertima did not have a single theory named after him but he was one of the most influential thinkers in the world, going as far as advising the Nobel Committee on questions related to literature. He did this for four or five years, I can't remember exactly how many years he worked in that capacity. His work has caused many, uncluding the West, to question whether Christopher Columbus indeed discovered America. There are several others I cannot simply name here.
And I am not profiling intellectuals merely because they have writen this and this number of books or published so and so number of articles here and there.
In fact, like I said before, I am profiling Ghanaian scholars whose books, even if one, and articles, even if two, have make impact on the world.
I don't use aticles published on Ghanaweb which, unfortunately, will not be published in any respected scholarly journals as a criteria. In fact, most of the articles I have read on Ghanaweb will not be accepted for publication in major or respected journals.
I have read hundreds of journal articles. I am friends with some of the important men and women who edit some of the top journals in the world.Therefore, let us not use Ghanaweb as our criteria.
Caveat: I don't mean this about Kwame Okoampah-Ahoofe. On the other hand, I know a lot about his work as well as those who taught him when he took his master's and doctorate. I know his thesis advisor, some of his mates, and nearly all the major figures who played some role in his graduate work.
In the end I will advise readers to evaluate his work based on his 2000 articles published on Ghanaweb. Readers can get his books and read them.
Lastly, readers should use the critical evaluations of his books by on amazon.com. I stopped reading him on Ghanaweb a year ago. I have found nothing particularly productive in his writings. That said, I will not say a word about what the giants in his field think about his work.
My work is done.Please pardom me for typos and grammatical errors.
Media Mogul 10 years ago
I will pardon you for the typos but not for the length of the response... lol
1. Of course, the Nobel Prize is an excellent prize but not the only excellent one in the world. There are many others which give awards that ma ... read full comment
I will pardon you for the typos but not for the length of the response... lol
1. Of course, the Nobel Prize is an excellent prize but not the only excellent one in the world. There are many others which give awards that may recognise work that is even greater than what the Nobel recognises. But I've seen of late that there are too many prizes these days, especially in the literary field. It seems there is now a prize for EVERY major writer.
There is a whole debate about Africans and the Nobel Prize in Literature and why some people (Achebe in particular) have been "ignored". But one thing I can say, no matter who the prize goes to, there is someone else whom it should have gone to...
2. Yes, I remember Arthur Lewis and read him too in school. He was big in his field. But I really meant Black as Black African, not non-black African. I regard Dr. Nyarko as Black African as in Black especially since he did his basic education in Ghana. That is pertinent since it means our country can provide the basis for a person to excel in the world.
3. There are several committees that award the various Nobel Prizes and it is the practise for the committee to call people from all over the world to argue to case for specific potential winners. They do that for all, not only for the African writers (winners). The Peace Award is chosen and awarded from Oslo, Norway and the committee there has nothing to do with the various Swedish committes. Much of the work of the committees is shrouded in secrecy and you can only hear rumours.
4. Well, as a matter of fact, most of the world's most brilliant people are in the US so your concentration on the US "stars" is really not by chance. Even the brilliant ones from the rest of the world have to move to the US to really bloom. Just imagine those smart British guys who have moved to the US in recent times - the late Hitchens, James Wood, Niall Ferguson, etc.
5. Well, well, well, the Okoampa thing was just a joke. There was no need for you to have written so many words about that. Now, I caught you at a place where you were "talking too much", lol, lol
which means I should stop here.
Hope your next part comes out as reader friendly as todays as far as paragraphing is concerned. But I will still appeal to you to make your articles single articles. People who come here are not here everyday and may not read parts of your multi-part articles. You can write as many articles on a single topic as you want. Just make each of them an independent one - one in which you don't have to refer to your past articles or coming ones...
Thanx
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
Media Mogul,
Thanks for your resourceful response. There is a bunch of useful information you have given me (and our general readership) right there. You should be a good author.
In fact, if you already have written an ... read full comment
Media Mogul,
Thanks for your resourceful response. There is a bunch of useful information you have given me (and our general readership) right there. You should be a good author.
In fact, if you already have written any, send me a copy and I shall review it for our readers.
Trust me, I am aware how provocatively critical you can be. You should or must me a closet literary or cultural critic of sorts. Besides, you remind me of Dr. Joshua
Halberstam, a Rabbi, philosophy professor, author, talmudic scholar, and close of Oprah Winfrey. Dr. Halberstam taught me Speech (Public Speaking) in New York and this man can be as provocatively critical as you are.
He has a way of getting answers out of his students without their knowing it. Anyway, he is also a gifted pianist and afficionado of jazz.
He and I have had the opportunity to discuss the outstanding gifts of Thelonius Monk, one of America's gifted pianists,and others such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, etc. He has a great sense of homor as well. He's the author of "Work: Making a Living," a very interesting book.
Finally, I wish I would have the opportunity to know you personally one day. I like and love your way of thinking. CY.ANDY-K is another guy. Both of you will make good professors, I swear.
You have a way of getting what you want from wtiters by your provocative circumlocution. I like that. You got me there. And that's the truth.
Please why don't you send me an email (franciskkwarteng@yahoo.com)? Anyway I will not hold it against you if uou don't (Lol).
Anyway, thanks.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
Hello Moguls and all,
How are you all? First, there is a black person who won the 1979 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. He's Sir William Arthur Lewis. He was from Saint Lucia (I have mentioned him in Part ll).
Lewis ... read full comment
Hello Moguls and all,
How are you all? First, there is a black person who won the 1979 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. He's Sir William Arthur Lewis. He was from Saint Lucia (I have mentioned him in Part ll).
Lewis shared the award with Theodore Schulcz. Lewis's most influential essay was "Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labor," from which the "Lewis Model" or "Dual Sector Model" came.
Gleen Loury is another brilliant and infleuntial economist, an African American economist who achieved a lot as a young man. I mention him briefly in Part ll.
Loury is the other half who contributed to the influential "Coate-Loury Model of Affirmative Action." Loury has since gone on to win the 2005 John von Neumann Award, which, is, itself, a great achievemnet. The award is prestigious and highly competitive.
Then again, I don't use the Nobel Prize as the sole criterian for an evaluating an individual's intellectual and socia-political achievements in the world.
In fact, if that were the case, Chinua Achebe should have won the Nobel for literature.
Nurrudin Farah has been perenially nominated by the Nobel Committee for literature but has never received the award though he's one of the most influential literary giants in the world (he has since received the prestigious Neustadt International Prize for Literatre, just like Achebe. This award is rated second in importance and influence after the Nobel Prize for Literature).
Dr. Molefei Kete Asante is another. The late White American author John Updike was another. Ngugi wa Thiong'o is equally a good candidate. Particularly, Updike was both outstandingly prolific and critical in his writings. He was, like Thiong'o or Soyinka, intense and critical in his litery productions.
Moreover, Updike's literary gifts covered literary criticism, children's books, art criticism, poetry, essays, short stories, non-fiction, novels, etc. He also edited the volume "The Binghamton Poems." In fact, Updike was more like Soyinka, William Faulker, or Earnest Hemmingway Yet the Nobel Committee walked over him.
There are several others (in the science, economics, peace categories) who should have beed the Nobel. My point is, the Nobel Committee, like any human institution, plays politics occassionally.
There are others who have forcefully argued that giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Kenya's (late) Wangari Maathai undermined Alfred Nobel's Will and Testament. Others have made similar arguments against the Nobel Peace Award being given to President Obama. Personally, I believe President Obama should not have been given the award. People like Mandela and Martin Luther King worked hard for the award.
More on the politics opracticed by the Nobel Committee: Even Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has to fight on behalf of Wole Soyinka as far as awarding the Nobel Prize in Literature to Soyinka was concerned.
Similaryly, literary scholars like the Jaimaican-American Nellie Y. McKay, whose position Henry Louis Gates occupies presently at Harvard, had to fight for Toni Morrison's literary work to be achknowldged in America and the world (including the Nobel Committee).
McKay put Morrison on the map via her critical analysis collected in the volume "Critical Essays on Toni Morrison." Her work on Toni Morrison eventually led to Morrison's being awarded a Pulitzer and then later the Nobel.
In fact, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. did something similar for Wole Soyinka via his prolific scholarly works such as "The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Lierary Critcism," a book I recommend to anyone interested in literary criticism to read.
You must have known that as part of being considered for nomination by the Nobel Committee, colleagues, researchers, etc., must review a prospective candidate's work and its impact on society. McKay did so for Morrison and Gates for Soyinka.
Regarding this present article and some of the issues you raise in your comments, let me add that another accomplised economist in the world is Thomas Sowell. I believe that I have also mentioned Thomas Sowell to you once, Media Mogul. He's the one who called for Black Studies to be abolished. Remember?
I am familiar with nearly all the major Ghanaians, in fact, Africans doing wonderful things in science, mathematics, engineering, etc., other parts of the world-Africa, Europe, America, Australia, etc, as well.
For instance, I have been closely folowing the multidimensional literary works of Dr. Kwame Dawes, the Ghanaian-Jamaican, for many years.
But I have never mentioned Kwame Dawes or his works anywhere except in my conversations with friends. So is the newest on the block, Ms. Taiye Selasi (and several other Ghanaians) until you mentioned her in one of our Ghanaweb correspondences.
Also, Dr. Molefi Kete Asante's Molefi Kete Asante Institute for Afrocentric Studies interact with many of these African giants in every part of the world.
His Institute coordinates with several renowned reaserachers within Africa itself and others working in other parts of the world, France, Germany, Asia, etc.
Moreover, the Molefi Kete Asante Institute for Afrocentric Studies publishes a newsletter called "The Asante Fellow Report." This newsletter features research publiccations by assorted scholars from all over the place.
The newsletter will acquaint you with many of the renowened African scholars, including Ghanaians, whose creative work the newsletter publishes. Asante's "Journal of Black Studies" is another source.
Asante has literally supersvised as well as read hundreds of doctoral dissertations by oustanding stidents in and from both Africa and the Americas. Most of them have gone on to acieve greater heights.
Furthermore, Asante and I have discussed some of many of these scholars. African scholars have sent him their books for him to review. We have also discussed some of these. Media Mogul, it will talke me a million years to feature all the Ghanains here on Ghanaweb. I only concentrate on the outstanding ones, men and women whose works have positvely impacted the world at large. Dr. Nyarko is one of such thinkers.
Finally, Henry Louis Gates' "Transition Magazine," the Schomburg Center for Black Research, and WEB Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, are a few of the places readers can go to to acquaint themselves with some of the oustanding Ghanaians (and Africans) who are doing wonderful things in the world. CNN's "African Voices" and BBC's "African Dream" also features many of these outstanding thinkers.
In fact, there are several scholarly journals and research insitutions all over Africa which publish the works of many of these outstanding African scolars (readers can contact me at "franciskwarteng@yahoo.com" for an exhaustive list). So I am familiar with what many other Ghanaian intellectuals are doing outside America and Ghana.
Also, Dr. Nyarko's three institutions, like Molefi's and Victor Lawrence, do the same thing (See Part ll). That's Dr. Nyarko's three institutions, for instance, have collaborated with international institutions and individuals from all over the world, South America, Asia, Africa, Canada, etc.
On the other hand, I did not add Dr. Nyarko to the "privileged" list merely because of his work in game theory. All the men, Blackwell, Nuemann, Loury, Friedman, men I have personally studied inside/outisde school and admire, I mentioned were outstanding in applying game theory and other complicated mathematical models to solve many problems in human society.
In fact, there were hundreds of others I did not mention. Besides, I mentioned several other expertise of Dr. Nyarko. These write-ups, Media Mogul, on Ghanaweb are merely designed to be summaries.
Therefore, I do not follow what only Ghanaians scolars do. You will be surprised if I begin to profile other outsatnding non-Ghanaian Africans here). Ghanaweb for one won't publish them. I personally know some of these outsanding Africans myself.
Of course, there are thousands of Ghanaians scholars but not all are outstanding in their field of expertise. Only a few are. I have been following the scholarship of Ghanaians in Europe, Asia, America (South and North), and Australia.
Again, Media Mogul, do not rush to say I am only familiar with those in America. There are a few others (e.g. David Adjaye from UK) I have mentioned briefly in some of my previous articles. I have mentioned Adjaye to you before.
Adjaye is part of a group of privileged architects contracted to design the Smithsonian National Musuem of African American History and Culture (the museun costs half a billion dollars to build). Adjaye is currently working with Henry Gates to build another center at Harvard University. Adjaye has done some work for the Nobel Committe, some Asian countries, in fact, all over the world. Listen to his recent interview on CNN.
Finally, there are also Adam Afriye, Paul Boateng, Kwasi Kwarteng, all three from the UK, are outstanding. There's Dr. George Sefa Dei from Canada, and more. I have studied nearly all the people I have mentioned here (and more).
Then again, a theory does not have to be named after you to make you great. Ivan Van Sertima did not have a single theory named after him but he was one of the most influential thinkers in the world, going as far as advising the Nobel Committee on questions related to literature. He did this for four or five years, I can't remember exactly how many years he worked in that capacity. His work has caused many, including the West, to question whether Christopher Columbus indeed discovered America. There are several others I cannot simply name here.
And I am not profiling intellectuals merely because they have written this and this number of books or published so and so number of articles here and there.
In fact, like I said before, I am profiling Ghanaian scholars whose books, even if one, and articles, even if two, have make impact on the world.
I don't use articles published on Ghanaweb which, unfortunately, will not be published in any respected scholarly journals as a criteria. In fact, most of the articles I have read on Ghanaweb will not be accepted for publication in major or respected journals.
I have read hundreds of journal articles. I am friends with some of the important men and women who edit some of the top journals in the world.Therefore, let us not use Ghanaweb as our criteria.
Caveat: I don't mean this about Kwame Okoampah-Ahoofe. On the other hand, I know a lot about his work as well as those who taught him when he took his master's and doctorate. I know his thesis adviser, some of his mates, and nearly all the major figures who played some role in his graduate work.
In the end I will advise readers to evaluate his work based on his 2000 articles published on Ghanaweb. Readers can get his books and read them.
Lastly, readers should use the critical evaluations of his books by on amazon.com. I stopped reading him on Ghanaweb a year ago. I have found nothing particularly productive in his writings. That said, I will not say a word about what the giants in his field think about his work.
To ther readers, I went to KNUST, not Legon. Dr. Nyarko can never my mate. He complteted his first degree when I was in preparatory school. Let me also point this out: Dr. Nyarko may not have taken one-year per se to do his doctorate.
In fact, many or most of the courses he took for his master's may have counted toward his doctorate. This would have reduced the number of his study years. I will contact him for more detailed information on this one.
But then again, in America (and probably elsewhere in the world), for instance, work experience counts toward college/university credits. A few American university/colleges do this.
My work is done.Please pardon me for typos and grammatical errors.
EMIL AKUMAH 10 years ago
Yeah, Onua
I saw Prof Yaw Nyarko 2012 February 16 or so, in Abu Dhabi where his Uni hosted Jerry John Rawlings.
Prof spoke so eloquently about Africa in his prelude and intro of the Guest Speaker of the day, JJR.
Pro ... read full comment
Yeah, Onua
I saw Prof Yaw Nyarko 2012 February 16 or so, in Abu Dhabi where his Uni hosted Jerry John Rawlings.
Prof spoke so eloquently about Africa in his prelude and intro of the Guest Speaker of the day, JJR.
Prof, Ayeekooo.
Long live Ghana
OKOE 10 years ago
I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU INTEND TO PORTRAY. IF ALL THESE GREAT BRAINS ARE OF AFRICAN ORIGIN, WHY DOES IT NOT MANIFEST ITSELF IN AFRICA. A PROPHET IS WITHOUT HONOUR SAVE IN HIS OWN COUNTRY. WITH ALL THESE BRAINS, AFRICA IS STILL ... read full comment
I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU INTEND TO PORTRAY. IF ALL THESE GREAT BRAINS ARE OF AFRICAN ORIGIN, WHY DOES IT NOT MANIFEST ITSELF IN AFRICA. A PROPHET IS WITHOUT HONOUR SAVE IN HIS OWN COUNTRY. WITH ALL THESE BRAINS, AFRICA IS STILL POOR. WHAT BENEFIT IS IT TO THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO PROVE? AFRICA NEEDS DEVELOPMENT NOT ECONOMIC THEORIES. TELL THOSE GREAT BRAINS TO LET THEIR EFFORTS MANIFEST ITSELF IN AFRICA THEN THEY WILL BE WORTH OUR WHILE .
Kojo T 10 years ago
He identifies them so we can mobilize them to develop . We need a pool for a push
He identifies them so we can mobilize them to develop . We need a pool for a push
Kojo T 10 years ago
You see we use certain instruments like lower taxes to stimulate economic growth. But we have no capital so we cannot invest. Then we are mostly agricultural and small scale holders unlike the developed world. China did not u ... read full comment
You see we use certain instruments like lower taxes to stimulate economic growth. But we have no capital so we cannot invest. Then we are mostly agricultural and small scale holders unlike the developed world. China did not use the same instruments like Europe in its development effort . We need a pragmatic approach. That is why Nkrumah was right in his approach
WORRIED 10 years ago
I would be very appreciative if you could contact Dr Nyarko asap and let him give a diagnosis of Ghana's economic malaise and then give the appropriate prescription.From your elaborate profile of Dr Yaw Nyarko,I think he can ... read full comment
I would be very appreciative if you could contact Dr Nyarko asap and let him give a diagnosis of Ghana's economic malaise and then give the appropriate prescription.From your elaborate profile of Dr Yaw Nyarko,I think he can save GHANA'S ECONOMY and put it on the right track.What do you think?
Anon. 10 years ago
Are you going to write similar articles about every Ghanaian PhD holder in USA? Are they "great" simply because of their doctorates?
Is it not interesting that none of these "great Ghanaians" has returned to their homeland t ... read full comment
Are you going to write similar articles about every Ghanaian PhD holder in USA? Are they "great" simply because of their doctorates?
Is it not interesting that none of these "great Ghanaians" has returned to their homeland to utilise their "greatness" for the benefit of their country.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
Dear Worried and Anon,
To Worried, please see Part ll. This email is for Anon.
To Anon, Dr. Nyarko's ideas are probably already assisting you, some of your friends or family members. You may not be aware of this.
The ... read full comment
Dear Worried and Anon,
To Worried, please see Part ll. This email is for Anon.
To Anon, Dr. Nyarko's ideas are probably already assisting you, some of your friends or family members. You may not be aware of this.
The point is that every Ghanaian scholar I have profiled on Ghanaweb has done many creative things to help Ghana (and Africa).
The issue is that we don't write their names on their inventions or ideas which we all use everyday. Neither do they tell you what you are using is their idea. It takes reading to know some of these things. That said, I cannot profile the good works of an individual without discussing the basic things about him/her, which includes education, though there are others who have attained greater heights without formal education.
Finally, America has some of the most influential economists in the world (go to the website of the Nobel Committee to see how many Americans have won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics).
Yet America does not know how to deal with the mess in which the American economy finds itself. American economists don't seem to have workable solutions to America's rising unemployment rate, reducing its national debt ($16 trillion), preventing the outsourcing of American companies to Asia (and other parts of the world), corruption, drug peddling, etc.
And economic theories, like natural science theories, don't necessarily work overnight. That's why those who receive the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics (as well those in medicine, chemistry) don't get the award the day after they publish their work. The theories have to stand the test of time.
Interestingly, there are a few Nobel laureates (in economics) who have not been successful in their financial and social lives. Finally, I profile these men and women because I don't want to be part of the insults that go on on Ghanaweb everyday.
In fact, the collective work of Drs. Nyarko, Asante, Mazama, Lawrence, etc., are helping Ghanaians (and Africans) more than many nonsensical articles I see on Ghanaweb (which attract hundreds of readers). Again, I don't want to be part of that nonsense. These men and women I profile have put food on the table of many Ghanaians (and Africans). The useless articles I see on Ghanaweb don't. Yet many of these useless articles generate positive reviews.
We cannot be talking about pornography, vanities, and other shameful topics on Ghanaweb all the time. It's why readers on Modernghana, Myjoyonline, Vibeghana, and Spyghana enjoys my article.
To Anon, you don't rush to make decisions when a topical idea comes in parts. Make decision based on their totality.
It's interesting to say that Dr. Nyarko has done more for America, Ghana, Africa than any of us here includng me. I have done nothing for Ghana. Anon, let me know what you have done for Ghana.
Please let's learn to celebrate our great men and wome. Anon, I shall later send you all the references for you to see what the man has done for Africa.
Thanks.
awonaniba 10 years ago
Nyarko is always in ghana. Visiting lecturer at Ashesie University
Nyarko is always in ghana. Visiting lecturer at Ashesie University
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
Hello Awonaiba,
I am aware of all that.
There are more important things I am going to reveal about him and his work in Part ll.
Thanks.
Hello Awonaiba,
I am aware of all that.
There are more important things I am going to reveal about him and his work in Part ll.
Thanks.
Kenneth K. Dadson 8 years ago
Great Ghanain Man indeed. I want to meet him personally for a very important discussion of a solution to Africas socio- economic challenges.
Great Ghanain Man indeed. I want to meet him personally for a very important discussion of a solution to Africas socio- economic challenges.
NPP'S SUPPORTERS ARE IN WITHDRAWAL!!! FROM WEED AND COCAINE- ADOLFO FUCKO, AKADU-MEN-SICKO AND OKO-IDIOT-AMPO!!!! HAHAHA!!!!!!
KARTENNG, FRANCIS: AFFTER ALL GHANA/AFRICA ARE IN PROMISE LAND THE MANA HAS 'STOP'. WHAT CAN WE DO TO DEVELOP NATION AS ISRAEL'S DID. GHANA IS BECOMING A COUNTRY OF INTELLECTUALS WITHOUT INDUSTRIES. AS I HAVE ALREADY SAID AFT ...
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Hi Francis, so you read Economics at Legon? I also did from 1975 to 1978, with the Baah Nuakohs, Jack Solomons, Erbynns, Brookes, Jebunnis, Jones Ofori Attas, Akpahs,Tutus, Sam Dodoos,Manus of this world. What Dr Nyarko has w ...
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SELECTIVE PROFILING BY KWARTENG.
Dear friend,
How are you?
I did go to KNUST. I read mathematics. And Dr.
Nyarko finished his first degree when I was preparatory school.
Please do let me know when you post your critique of Adam Smith.
Thanks.
OK, thanks for introducing us to Dr. Nyarko.
I must say that if you want to write about Ghanaians with the intellectual achievement of Dr. Nyarko, you may be at it for a very very long time. There are, indeed, thousands o ...
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Don't be jealous of james nyarko plight of tweneboa kodua sec sch. We knew he was a brain. Maybe brainy becos he was born in massaland. With straight A in phys maths chem at A level (motown) he skipped medicine and engineerin ...
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Mmo ne adwuma pa Francis.
Out of curiousity, did this guy actually use a year for his PhD? That is an achievement in itself.
Good job.
Yes. He did.
Hello Mark (UK),
How are you doing? Long time, no see.
Anyway, I will contact Dr. Nyarko to give me more info about the number of years he spent doing his master's and PhD. I will try to get this info before Part ll is ...
read full comment
Hello Moguls,
How are you all? First, there is a black person who won the 1979 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. He's Sir William Arthur Lewis. He was from Saint Lucia (I have mentioneed him in Part ll).
Lewis shared ...
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I will pardon you for the typos but not for the length of the response... lol
1. Of course, the Nobel Prize is an excellent prize but not the only excellent one in the world. There are many others which give awards that ma ...
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Media Mogul,
Thanks for your resourceful response. There is a bunch of useful information you have given me (and our general readership) right there. You should be a good author.
In fact, if you already have written an ...
read full comment
Hello Moguls and all,
How are you all? First, there is a black person who won the 1979 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. He's Sir William Arthur Lewis. He was from Saint Lucia (I have mentioned him in Part ll).
Lewis ...
read full comment
Yeah, Onua
I saw Prof Yaw Nyarko 2012 February 16 or so, in Abu Dhabi where his Uni hosted Jerry John Rawlings.
Prof spoke so eloquently about Africa in his prelude and intro of the Guest Speaker of the day, JJR.
Pro ...
read full comment
I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU INTEND TO PORTRAY. IF ALL THESE GREAT BRAINS ARE OF AFRICAN ORIGIN, WHY DOES IT NOT MANIFEST ITSELF IN AFRICA. A PROPHET IS WITHOUT HONOUR SAVE IN HIS OWN COUNTRY. WITH ALL THESE BRAINS, AFRICA IS STILL ...
read full comment
He identifies them so we can mobilize them to develop . We need a pool for a push
You see we use certain instruments like lower taxes to stimulate economic growth. But we have no capital so we cannot invest. Then we are mostly agricultural and small scale holders unlike the developed world. China did not u ...
read full comment
I would be very appreciative if you could contact Dr Nyarko asap and let him give a diagnosis of Ghana's economic malaise and then give the appropriate prescription.From your elaborate profile of Dr Yaw Nyarko,I think he can ...
read full comment
Are you going to write similar articles about every Ghanaian PhD holder in USA? Are they "great" simply because of their doctorates?
Is it not interesting that none of these "great Ghanaians" has returned to their homeland t ...
read full comment
Dear Worried and Anon,
To Worried, please see Part ll. This email is for Anon.
To Anon, Dr. Nyarko's ideas are probably already assisting you, some of your friends or family members. You may not be aware of this.
The ...
read full comment
Nyarko is always in ghana. Visiting lecturer at Ashesie University
Hello Awonaiba,
I am aware of all that.
There are more important things I am going to reveal about him and his work in Part ll.
Thanks.
Great Ghanain Man indeed. I want to meet him personally for a very important discussion of a solution to Africas socio- economic challenges.