Champion African culture, values — Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has charged African scholars and political leaders to champion African culture and values. He said it was crucial for Africans to be inspired to tell definitive stories about Africa to the rest of the world.

President Mahama made the call at the opening of the international conference of African Studies organised by the Institute of African Studies (IAS) at the Great Hall of the University of Ghana, Legon, yesterday.

The conference, on the theme: "Revisiting the First International Congress of Africanists in a Globalised World", is part of activities marking the 50th anniversary  of the IAS and the 65th anniversary of the University of Ghana.

President Mahama recalled the first Pan-African Congress held in 1962 and said it had been a call to action to tell the African story and preserve the continent's culture and heritage.

However, he said, Africa lost out in that Pan-Africanist struggle and that plunged the continent into darkness for decades.

Dream and work hard

President Mahama said Africans needed courage to dream, envision and work hard to attain excellence in their various fields of endeavour.

The President said while in the past Africans learnt of their culture and heritage through the village square concept, now many Africans watched foreign movies, which tended to shape their lifestyles.

He, therefore, underscored the need for the study of Africa to put emphasis on the continent’s culture, values and legacy to facilitate the process of recapturing African legacy.

President Mahama noted, however, that despite the challenges, Africa was making progress on the economic, democratic, sports and entertainment fronts.

For instance, he said, African countries were part of the five fastest growing economies in the world, while many countries held free and fair elections.

In the area of sports, he said South Africa held the last FIFA World Cup, while the Ghanaian "Azonto" dance was making waves on the international scene.

In her address, the Director of the IAS, Prof Akosua Adomako Ampofo, said the main contents of the 1962 congress, such as languages, religion, literature, social and economic challenges, remained relevant now.

She expressed worry over the socio-political and economic challenges facing Africa and charged scholars and advocates to help reverse the trend.

The United Nations Under-Secretary General, Dr Carlos Lopez, who delivered the keynote address, said the African Union's agenda 2063, which seeks to bring about structural transformation of the continent, should be premised on African intellectuals controlling the narrative and creating the opportunities for their people to industrialise, control their natural resources with value addition and creating jobs for the youth.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof Ernest Aryeetey, who chaired the function, said African universities were required to engage in activities that would improve the living conditions of the people.

By Musah Yahaya Jafaru/Daily Graphic/Ghana