Ghana must once again lead the Pan African Renaissance. If you desire to etch your name in the sands of time, you must reassert Ghana’s historic leadership in the Pan-African struggle and drive the fulfilment of the Nkrumahist dream. The enemies of African self-determination remain the same, but the dynamics have changed since the early years of independence.
Had Nkrumah, Nyerere and the others foreseen the political fractures that would follow independence, they might have prioritised political integration before economic coordination. Had they known that Western-style democracy would become a circus in Africa, pitched upon precarious foundations that divide our people along religious, ethnic and partisan lines, they would have created governing unions grounded in African values of consensus, communalism and collective responsibility.
Your Excellency, you must not focus solely on economic emancipation. A nation whose intellectual and cultural identity is controlled by invisible forces can undermine every gain made in twelve years of economic transformation. The whirlwinds of neocolonial interests still move around us. Western nations are not the friends of Africa. It is the blood, sweat and resources of African people that built their civilisations. Their museums are filled with our stolen artefacts. Their nations enriched themselves by enslaving and dispossessing Africans. Their intelligence agencies helped orchestrate many early post-independence coups. They fear an integrated Africa because it cannot be manipulated or controlled. They prefer a fragmented continent because fragmentation ensures dependency.
The violence and disorder in the Sahel are not accidental. They are products of a global system that takes advantage of weak democracies, fragile economies and youthful frustrations. When these powers seek influence, they sponsor individuals, interest groups and factions. They flood fragile nations with weapons. They manipulate information through social media. They create dissidence to turn states into rental appendages that serve foreign interests. Libya remains a tragic example.
Your Excellency, Ghana must also rethink its governance architecture. There is more affinity between Ghana and the rising nations of the global South than between Ghana and the West. The Western democratic system is not built on African social precedents. African people value consensus, extended lineage systems, communal deliberation and collective leadership. A more culturally aligned governance model is possible. The Chinese model of governance offers lessons. A system that has a council of elders, district representatives elected through popular suffrage, a lower assembly of common representation and an upper chamber composed of chiefs selected through adult suffrage can serve Ghana far better than adversarial partisan politics. Coalition building would replace antagonistic competition. Governance would become a unifying platform instead of a divisive one.
Once the foundations of governance are corrected, Ghana must reclaim its cultural sovereignty. Every African nation that desires respect must assert its cultural identity. African rivers, cities and towns must carry African names. Our curriculum must replace alien heroes with African thinkers, scientists and trailblazers. Our children must be disentangled from borrowed worldviews. African attire must become the standard national outfit. Our judges must abandon colonial wigs. Our public institutions must express African pride and consciousness.
Your Excellency, another crucial area demands your leadership. The world is not flat. The world bows to technology. Nations respect only technological power. From artificial intelligence to robotics, biotechnology, space engineering, semiconductors and nuclear science, the world is shaped by the nations that build, invent and defend. Africa is not marginalised because Africans lack intelligence. Africa is marginalised because Africa lacks the technological power that commands respect. When Africa exports raw materials but imports every advanced machine, Africa remains subordinated in global affairs.
Nkrumah understood this clearly. This is why he sent promising Ghanaian graduates to the Soviet Union to study nuclear science. He knew that a nation without technological power would forever be a bystander in world politics. You must revive this vision. Ghana needs a peaceful nuclear energy program. Ghana needs technological deterrence. Ghana needs a generation of young minds sent to China, Russia and other technological hubs to study nuclear engineering, artificial intelligence, robotics and advanced manufacturing. They must return to lead Ghana’s scientific transformation.
Your Excellency, indigenous technologies also deserve revival. Ghana once had powerful blacksmithing traditions from Alavanyo to Nyankpala. These artisans understood metallurgy at levels that rival early European gunsmiths. Instead of criminalising these traditions, Ghana must institutionalise and modernise them. An economically emancipated African nation without technological capacity remains a backbencher. This is why African presidents speak at world summits to empty rooms. Respect is given to nations that can defend themselves and can produce what they consume.
Religion also requires delicate attention. Religion is important, but it has become a tool for mental domination, poverty and dependency. It was used during slavery to pacify minds while literacy was forbidden. You cannot legislate against religion, but you can counter its excesses. Control the use of pulpits for exploitation. Regulate teachings that undermine critical thinking. Promote education that inspires innovation, scientific curiosity and African consciousness.
Finally, Your Excellency, no nation has ever developed on borrowed values. Change begins from the top. Let your cabinet adopt African dress. Let your government restore African names. Let public institutions consciously embrace African identity. Let Ghana become the vanguard of a new African awakening.
Your Excellency, history has placed destiny in your hands. The Pan African struggle needs a leader. The continent awaits a voice that can unite, inspire and transform. The moment is yours.
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Dr Manaseh M. Mintah is an Afrocentric scholar whose work spans environmental justice, African governance, and decolonial thought. Dr Mintah’s scholarship combines rigorous field research with a Pan-African intellectual commitment to restoring African agency, cultural identity, and self-determination in global affairs. He can be reached at mmintah@antioch.edu
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