Page 8 - Nile Explorer Issue 006

system and at that point in time by the turn can be ascribed to human factor
government of the first Prime Minister decay. By human factor decay, I refer to
and President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. what Adjibolosoo describes as negative
Kwame Nkrumah. The dictum, I human personality traits and attitudes
suppose, was, “Catch them young when which undermine relationships, societal
the mind is still fresh” if the country was progress and nation building. Examples
to build a civil society. of such negative characteristics are
selfishness, nepotism, corruption,
Today, whether the introduction of the dishonesty, greed and lack of trust,
subject can be justified in terms of the responsibility, accountability, loyalty
intended and/or real outcomes is a and discipline.
moot point but that is not necessarily
the direct subject matter of this article. The notion and import of citizenship in
Still fresh in my mind, though, is the relation to nation building is not new; it
True citizenship distinction between “good citizen” and dates back to the Ancient Greeks who
and nation building “bad citizen”, and now, my reflections acknowledged it in their classification
of people into three categories: Citizens,
lay bare their implications in the trajec-
in Africa tory of nation building. tribesmen and idiots. The Greeks
referred to citizens as the type of people
By Kwame Owusu-Ampomah Apparently, Ghana’s first Prime Minis- who do not only recognise their rights
Centre for Human Excellence and ter and President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, but also the rights of other people. In
Development in Africa (CHEDA) a visionary leader, knew the calibre of other words citizens recognise the
Durban, South Africa people his newly-independent nation rights of others as much as theirs, and
map.owusu@gmail.com needed to build not only a prosperous are prepared not only to concede, when
A s a thirteen-year old boy several and happy nation but also a civil society. necessary to do so, but also to ensure
that others are able to exercise their
By the calibre of people I mean people
decades ago, I recall with nostal-
gia, my generation and those immedi- with good character or “good citizens”, rights just as much as they do. Appar-
as I understood the concept then and
ently such people are not selfish or
ately before and after me were intro- now: Citizens who do not only have and self-centred, greedy or mean; rather
duced to politics as a discipline in the exercise their socio-cultural, political they are people-centred, kind and
form of a subject called Civics at school. and economic rights but also, and loving; and are prepared to make sacri-
At that young age concepts like nation, perhaps more importantly, acknowl- fices for the sake of fostering good
government, parliament, judiciary, edge and adhere to their duties and relationships and neighbourliness. For
citizen, rights, duties, election, voting, responsibilities towards their country this category of people, the public cause
constitution, independence etc., seemed and fellow human beings. takes precedence over or, at worst, is as
like magical words, just like “abracadab- much significant as the individual’s, a
ra”, which we learnt and “poured” While this is always expected of all principle which enables one to exercise
(reproduced) when asked to do so in persons who not only define themselves the one’s rights as well as perform their
examinations. Many of us did not but are also defined by law to be citizens duties and responsibilities to the one’s
understand what the concepts and the of any country such as Ghana or South fellow beings and society. This principle
subject itself really meant and why we Sudan, it is not uncommon for people to is underscored by the African ethical
were being made to study them. We fervently demand their rights but negate imperative of Ubuntu: “I am because
took them as part of the education on their duties and responsibilities. This you are”, which is indispensable in
rituals that as young people we had to go tendency among the general population, building a civil society.
through, whether it made sense to us or and particularly the political elite, is
not. antithetical for the progress of any In contrast to citizen, being tribesmen

country; and is a source for great in the Greeks’ philosophical context is
Reflecting on those concepts, especially concern in Africa. The concern derives not necessarily abominable; it is accept-
“citizen”, several decades later, I have from the plethora of perennial social, able to belong to a tribe/an ethnic group
come to appreciate the wisdom in the political and economic problems on the or a social group. However the inability
introduction of the subject in the school continent, justifiably and significantly to think beyond one’s ethnicity/group
curriculum at that level of the educa- attributed to poor leadership, which in and/or accept diversity; work with

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| The Nile Explorer 006
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