Dr J. B. Danquah: The great cultured ghanaian scholar and patriot. An abstract of the three lectures
This year’s J.B.Danquah Memorial Lectures begins today with the first of the three series on the topic, “The Man Dr J.B. Danquah” by Kantinka Sir Dr Kwame Donkoh Fordwor at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences auditorium at the Airport Residential Area, Accra.
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The general topic is: Dr J.B Danquah: The Great Cultured Ghanaian Scholar and Patriot.
It will be chaired by Professor Akilagpa Sawyer, President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Tomorrow, the lecture will chaired by Emeritus Prof. E. Ardayfio-Schandorf, Vice-President of Arts section of the academy. The topic will be: “Dr J.B. Danquah: The Anthropologist.”
The third and last lecture be will be on the topic: “Dr J.B. Danquah: The development economist.” It will be chaired by Dr Leticia E. Obeng, a former President of the academy.
The lectures, which are being sponsored by Quality Life Assurance Company Limited, Sickle Cell Foundation of Ghana and Dalex Africa Group, will start at 5: 30 p.m. daily.
The Speaker, Kantinka Dr Kwame Donkoh Fordwor,
has provided an abstract of the three lectures for publication ahead of the event today.
Preamble
If anyone is wondering how I, an Asante, can dare to deliver these J. B. Danquah Memorial Lectures, I wish to assure him or her that I do so for many reasons.
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First, my “presumption” is based on my recollection of the indispensable role that Dr J. B. Danquah played in certain events that occurred in the history of our country.
Secondly, I have always had a special regard and admiration for the Akyem national to whom the lectures are dedicated.
Thirdly, admittedly, many Ghanaians, especially those who are not Asante or Akyem, automatically assume that there is no love lost between the people of Asante and Akyem. This perception of antagonism between Asante and Akyem, probably based on unfortunate historical facts, evaporated into thin air in 1946 when Dr J. B. Danquah, after numerous visits to Kumasi, succeeded in persuading the Asantehene, Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyemang Prempeh II, to agree to have Asante fully integrated into the Gold Coast, as Ghana was then known.
Since then, the relationship between the people of Asante and Akyem has been marked by cordiality and mutual respect. And in any case, how can people continue to belabour the point that the Asantes and the Akyems are enemies when the consort of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, is none other but an adorable lady from Akyem?
The privilege of giving these talks has offered me the opportunity to do an in-depth study of the life and philosophy of a Ghanaian of integrity who eschewed prejudices, bigotry and stereotypes. There is need for me to pay homage to this Apostle of national unity.
Dr J. B. Danquah, the Man
The first of the three lectures entitled, Dr J. B. Danquah, the Man, deals with the life of the great man from his birth in 1895 through his studies in Ghana, which landed him in England, where he sharpened his mind as a student of Law, Economics and Philosophy, becoming probably the first West African to obtain a doctorate in Philosophy from a British University.
The Lecture describes how Dr J.B Danquah developed nationalist feelings when he returned to the Gold Coast in 1927 and put his tremendous academic acumen to use in helping his country in formulating its laws and regulations which insisted on accountability in governance by underscoring that those who exercised political power and authority had to accept that they were accountable to the people over whom they ruled. They should respect the rule of law, protect human rights, and create opportunities for genuine economic development for all citizens.
He loathed any tendency towards the exploitation of ethnic and other differences for the purposes of gaining votes and refused to countenance approaches and practices that would expose the nation to tribalism or ethnocentrism. This part of the talk also explains Dr J. B. Danquah’s hatred of the practice of a few people tossing the nation about like a ping pong ball and how he would lament if he were to be with us to see how our political system has lost the sense of truth and decency.
Dr J. B. Danquah’s early training would make him puzzled to observe how our political parties only care about how to win elections and not how they should exercise the stewardship that electoral victory imposes. His early formation would make him condemn the obnoxious development of victory for one party in elections, resulting in the dismissal of citizens in the losing party who held positions of importance. Dr J. B. Danquah would definitely not accept a system of government in which essential commodities and facilities such as roads, water, electricity and education are politicked and used as a bait to cajole people to hand over political power to adventurers.
Dr J. B. Danquah, the Anthropologist
The second lecture explains how Dr Danquah, hailing from the royal clan of Akyem Abuakwa, has culture imbedded in his bones as testified to by his monumental writings on culture and the Akan theology, which display rare, deep, incontrovertible, and inspirational scholarship.
The lecture goes on to explain how culture endowed Dr Danquah with a wonderful appreciation of religion. It gives a description of culture and its characteristics, emphasising its role of humanising us. It deals with the dynamic nature of culture and its objective, compulsory, obligatory, and impersonal character. It then links the cardinal concept of culture to the personality of Dr J. B. Danquah by emphasising the key proverbial truths in Akan life, namely, that it is unbecoming for a gentleman to accept to be disgraced, that death is preferable to disgrace and that a gentleman must always be guided by the witticism, dictum or aphorism that death is to be faced as death and life as life.
Dr J. B. Danquah was so convinced of this philosophy of life that he gallantly went to prison and died in prison rather than accept a situation that disgraced his conscience and dignity. His behaviour likened him to Socrates, the legendary Greek sage of old.
The lecture explains how Dr J. B. Danquah’s views on religion are informed by his anthropology. He was convinced that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and often used the “Gye Nyame” symbol to underscore his acceptance of the superiority of Onyankopon’s power and might over all.
Kantinka Dr Kwame Donkoh Fordwor,
Dr J. B. Danquah, the Development Economist
Focusing on Dr J. B. Danquah, the Development Economist, the third lecture explains how most of the projects that were implemented in independent Ghana and many that could have benefited Ghana enormously but were rejected were the brain children of Dr J. B. Danquah. It regrets the rejection of J.B Danquah’s suggestion of a “market economy” for Ghana and the role that chiefs should play in the governance of Ghana, all to the detriment of the nation.
It surmises that had political leaders who came after Dr J. B. Danquah not indulged in experimenting with every major ideology, Ghana would have been a different country. It cites as an example Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s proclamation of the gospel of socialism, which was the natural breeding ground for military coups which torpedoed Prof. K. A. Busia’s attempt to institutionalise capitalism in Ghana.
The lecture then warns us of the ideologies that are sold to us from outside, many of which have their good sides but are fraught with dangers.
It then explains the good and attractive aspects of socialism and weighs them against deprivation of freedom in the same system. Socialism and communism often tend to be intolerant of opposition and end in attacking the person where it hurts most: the religious instincts of all people and thereby become enemies of humanity.
In their doctrine of class struggle, socialism and capitalism often lead to the blatant denial of the very values they purport to champion. In their wake, we have bigotry and ideological dogmatism which result in rancour and atrocities.
Conclusion
This last lecture concludes by trying to sum up Dr J. B. Danquah’s ideas about government.
He stressed natural law, social justice, and respect for the equal rights of all. It is only when any system, capitalistic or communistic, accepts this principle that it can be expected to provide the mechanism for matching the true needs of the community.