‘Awesome Oslo!’
On Jun 19, 2025, after visiting the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) in Stockholm, Sweden where we were briefed by the Director of the Academy and his team on their role, and also collaboration with the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), we continued our journey by road for Oslo, Norway.
Nine hours after leaving Stockholm, we arrived in Oslo.
As we drove through tunnels and picturesque houses in hilly ranges entering Oslo, I could not help but smile broadly welcoming myself to “Awesome Oslo!”
An observation one easily makes about the Scandinavian landscape is that, while Denmark is flat, Sweden is hilly and Norway mountainous.
In a seeming paradox, Oslo is the home of the Nobel Peace Centre where, perhaps, the primus inter pares of Nobel Prizes, the Peace Prize, is awarded annually.
Not surprisingly, the question is often asked about AB Nobel’s nationality: Swedish or Norwegian?
AB Nobel
Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833 – 1896) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor and armaments manufacturer. He created the Bofors Steel Company which he later converted into an Armaments manufacturing company. He was also a writer/author. His most enduring invention, however, was dynamite.
In 1888, Alfred’s younger brother Ludwig Nobel died. Mistaking the dead Nobel to be Alfred, several newspapers published obituaries about the living Alfred Nobel. None was positive.
Indeed, a French obituary stated: “Le marchand de la mort est mort” (The merchant of death is dead.) He was condemned for inventing weapons of destruction like the cannon and dynamite. One publication said “Dr Alfred Nobel who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever, died yesterday.” Alfred was disappointed with what he read.
The effect of these publications on him was profound!
Alfred Nobel’s conscience pricked him about what legacy he was leaving behind and how negatively humanity would remember him in spite of all his inventions. He therefore decided to bequeath his fortune to humanity for the promotion of peace and development through a Nobel Foundation.
Nobel prizes
In his will in 1895, a year before he died, Alfred Nobel established five prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology/Medicine, Literature and Peace.
These awards were to be made to individuals or a group of individuals not exceeding three, or an organisation, for making a positive contribution to humanity after Nobel’s death.
In the will, he instructed that the Peace Prize be awarded in Oslo, Norway, while the others are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, annually.
The first awards were made in 1901.
In 1968, a new prize for Economics was added by the Swedish Central Bank bringing the Nobel Prizes to six disciplines. For 2023, each winner won 11 million Swedish crowns (US$986,000).
Additionally, winners also receive a gold-plated green-gold medal, symbolising their remarkable contribution to their respective fields, and a diploma.
African winners
In 2001, Ghanaian UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, won the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the United Nations.
South African winners of the Nobel Peace Prize include Albert Lithuli, President of the African National Congress in 1960, Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 1984 and Nelson Mandela in 1994 for their fight against apartheid (“apart-ness”).
Apartheid in the Afrikaans language of the minority Boers meant apart-ness/separation.
Blacks were legally segregated and discriminated against.
They were second-rate humans! Apartheid was finally banned in South Africa in 1994 having begun in 1948.
For the first time in the history of Nobel awards, the Nigerian poet Wole Soyinka won the Prize in Literature in 1986, making him the first African to win a prize other than for Peace.
In 2004, the Kenyan Environmentalist Professor Wangari Maathai won the Peace Prize for her contribution in greening the environment in Kenya through tree planting.
She led her Green Belt Movement, an NGO she founded in 1977 to plant over 50 million trees all over Kenya.
Discussion
Visiting the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, Norway, was an awesome experience. The whole history of Nobel Prizes is preserved in a building.
So far, the only Ghanaian winner of the Nobel Prize is Mr Kofi Annan, a prize he won jointly with the UN. The challenge to Ghanaian youth is to work hard and follow the example of Kofi Annan.
With discipline, strong leadership skills, hard work and integrity, the youth can win future individual Nobel Prizes for Ghana.
I challenge the youth of Ghana to work hard and follow role models such as Mr Kofi Annan, Professor Konotey-Ahulu for his work in Medicine in the area of Sickle Cell research, and Professor Allotey in the field of Nuclear Science.
Others are Lt General EA Erskine for his contribution to humanity through United Nations Peacekeeping and, Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse also for services to humanity.
Vice-Chancellor of Family Health University and Hospital, Accra, Prof. Enyonam Yaw Kwawukume is a potential candidate for his pioneering works in medicine.
The youth could aspire to join Mr Kofi Annan as Nobel Prize winner from Ghana.
This will, however, require an attitudinal change, and the realisation that the seeming triumph of mediocrity over meritocracy is only ephemeral.
Kenya’s Wangari Maathai’s award should encourage Ghanaians about the virtue of ensuring a green environment.
The tendency of real estate agents razing every tree in sight down before they start building is wrong and must stop!
Elsewhere, no damage is allowed to vegetation! “Galamsey” will not be mentioned!
Nigeria’s Wole Soyinka’s award again emphasises the importance of hard work, determination, resilience and tenacity.
Summary
In correcting the unintended negative consequences of his inventions, Nobel bequeathed to humanity his huge fortune. Starting in 1901, five prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology/Medicine, Literature and Peace have been awarded. In 1968, Economics was added.
Finally, Ghanaian leaders must realise that, unlike Alfred Nobel whose brother’s death made him aware how much he was hated, and therefore redeemed himself through philanthropy, such second chances do not happen often.
Therefore, do the right thing! Stop “galamsey” and other negatives now!
The death of apartheid in 1994 in South Africa and the reactivation of investigation into the death of UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold in a suspicious plane crash in 1961 show that, virtue eventually triumphs over evil. To the youth of Ghana, the sky is the limit for doing something positive to advance the cause of humanity.
Aim high in all fields, excel and win!
To the Nobel Foundation, zoom in on Ghana, and you will find candidates for your prizes!
Having seen “Wonderful Copenhagen,” Denmark, “Stupendous Stockholm,” Sweden and “Awesome Oslo,” Norway in Summer 2025, I hope someday, Accra will be called “Awesome Accra” after “Awesome Oslo,” home of the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway! Leadership, lead by example/Integrity! Fellow Ghanaians, wake up!
The writer is a former CEO, African Peace Support Trainers Association
Nairobi, Kenya; Council Chairman, Family Health University,
Teshie, Accra
E-mail: dkfrimpong@yahoo.com
