President Nana Akufo-Addo’s recent comments about the contribution of one of Ghana’s towering figures, JB Danquah, to the founding of Ghana’s first University, the University of Ghana is clearly exaggerated.
Journalist Abdul Malik Kweku Baako says whilst Dr Danquah’s role in the establishment of the university in 1948 was incontestable, it amounted to an exaggeration to say he is the founder.
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President Nana Akufo-Addo stoked debates this week when at the launch of an endowment fund for the University of Ghana, he said it was not entirely farfetched to say his granduncle, the widely acclaimed doyen of Gold Coast politics, is the founder of the University.
His statement has been taken to mean he is sowing the seeds for an eventual renaming of the university.
It has been argued, largely by elements of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), that this is consistent with the president’s determination to distort history in order to project his family.
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Discussing the subject on MultiTV/Joy News’ news analysis show, Newsfile, Mr. Baako said exaggerations have the tendency to destroy facts and it is a fact that Dr JB Danquah contributed immensely to establishment of the university.
Contributing to the discussion, the Member of Parliament for Adaklu in the Volta Region, Kwame Agbodza accused the president of behaving as if he wants to claim some unclaimed territory for his family.
He claimed that President Akufo-Addo projects his family whenever he has the opportunity to.
“The University of Ghana has many problems including infrastructure problems; changing the name is completely unnecessary,” he argued.