Technically Speaking, Did Napo Really Goof?

I presume nerves have been calmed by now, after the rage over the statement NPP’s running-mate, Hon. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (Napo) made when he was bold enough to tell Ghanaians in the face that Nana Addo had developed Ghana, more than Nkrumah did.

Before analysing this issue, I need to remind Napo that one dares not belittle a local hero, even if others who came later did more than that hero did.

Let me proceed on, but first with this preamble. Take soccer in Ghana, for example. The Black Stars of yesteryears are regarded as the best the country has ever had. They symbolised the Passion of the Nation. They won the African Cup of Nations, on four different occasions, with the 1963 and 1965 squads considered the real heroes and no one dared belittle them.

Technically speaking, are the squads that won the African cup, four times, better than those that came in later? No matter how hard they tried, the Stars of yesteryears, Conquerors of Africa, never competed inany FIFA World Cup tournaments. They always got eliminated in the qualifiers.

Then came our 2006 squad of players, who even though had no trophy to boast of, took us to our first World Cup and greatly impressed the world. We have since been three more times.

You see the World Cup is the soccer’s highest crown, that is why very good players, like George Best, missed out on the highest soccer honours list, because they never played at the World Cup.

So technically speaking, the Black Stars of recent-years, can be said to be better than Black Stars of yesteryears. But one must be very careful, where they make such a comment, or they could risk been pounced upon and shredded to pieces by those whose parents were not even born by the early eighties. The old squads are the best and they are heroes. Full stop! No arguments!

This preamble is to introduce the fact that even though, post-1966 governments, some with shorter lifespans, have done more, sorry, have improved upon what Nkrumah did, Nkrumah is a hero who no one can surpass in matters of development.

Technically speaking, we all must admit that Ghana, in terms developmental projects that we have today, is not the same Ghana we had during Nkrumah’s era. Therefore, surely, some leaders after him have done more than he did. No offence here, this is a fact, but sadly it is a fact that one is not permitted to say.

It is like this: you are a true Christian from a true Christian family who believe that there is no other God like the Triune God. Yet, you dare not miss out on your ethnic festivals that honour what lesser gods did for your ancestors, or else….

As a true believing Christian, anointed with the Precious Blood of Jesus, no evil, no demon, not even Satan himself can touch you. You have been warned that anytime you are about to cross a bridge, you must blow your car horn, because the children of the river god might be playing on the bridge and you might knock them. And that could spell your doom.

Yet, with the Blood of Jesus all over you, as you are approaching the bridge, you blow the horn, just in case.

Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh should have realised that in Ghana, even with all Nkrumah’s misrule and trampling on freedoms and rights of Ghanaians, he is a heroand we do not say anything against, and going on to add that some leaders performed better than he did, is a sacrilege.

So, we must accept that without Nkrumah, no interchange would have been built in this country; without Nkrumah, Jubilee House would not have been built; without Nkrumah, we would not have had the International Conference Center and National Theatre, without Nkrumah we would not have built Kpong Dam and Bui dam. Yes, no development embarked upon after Nkrumah left the scene would have been possible without him. This is what we must accept and unfortunately, Napo was not taught this in school.

Now, at this juncture, I will boldly say this, which I have already said and will keep repeating, and that is, Nkrumaists do not love Nkrumah. I have the opportunity to compare what both Napo and Rawlings about Nkrumah.

Napo said Nana Addo did more than Nkrumah. He did not say, Nkrumah did nothing. Rawlings once said, all Nkrumah gave Ghana was a national flag and a national anthem, meaning Nkrumah did nothing for Ghana, and he called Kotoka a hero for toppling Nkrumah.

Yet the shameless, cowards who call themselves Nkrumaists could not condemn him or ask him to withdraw what he said and apologise, but rather, theyfell over each other in a rush to join Rawlings to establish his (P)NDC tradition, calling him Junior Jesus, so today, the original Nkrumah CPP has crumpled and become politically insignificant.

With all this when it comes to elections, people from Nkrumah’s home constituency, including traditional leaders, will vote massively for the NDC.

So, between Rawlings and Napo, who made derogatory statements against Nkrumah? Rawlings, of course, yet he is a hero to majority of Nkrumaists including most of Nkrumah’s tribe-folks. Seriously, should Napo be condemned? Technically speaking, I rest my case.

Hon. Daniel Dugan

Editor’s note: Views expressed in this article do not represent that of The Chronicle

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