Jo @_Johxnnes - Twitter Profile

about 8 hours ago

His post makes several ahistorical claims motivated only by ethnic chauvinism. 1. Legon did not arise from any deal between Nana Agyeman Prempeh II and the colonial administration. As early as 1924, Governor Guggisberg envisioned Achimota College (est. 1927) beginning as a combined school and college before evolving into a university. That, my brother, is the origin story of Legon, which grew out of Achimota College. Although Guggisberg died in 1930 before seeing his vision realized, the Guggisberg, Fraser & Aggrey Memorial Lectures, held annually at Legon's Great Hall, honour that legacy. 2. While Guggisberg's Achimota plan was taking shape from 1927, Prempeh II had not yet become Asantehene. He was still Kumasihene, having assumed that stool in 1931. The British had abolished the office of the Asantehene after the 1900 War of the Golden Stool, and Asante became part of colony in 1902. The office of Asantehene was restored in 1935, when Prempeh II became Asantehene. So, what "deal" are you referring to? 3. Shortly after Prempeh II's enstoolment, the Second World War broke out in 1939, severely straining colonial finances. As a result, plans to develop Achimota into a university were delayed. After the war, financial constraints led to a proposal for one new university college to serve Nigeria and the Gold Coast, to be located in Nigeria. The Gold Coast objected because it wanted its own university college. The main obstacle was funding. 4. The funding breakthrough came through Rev. Prof. Christian Gonçalves Kwami Baëta, Ghana's first native Professor of Religion. He led the campaign to raise ~£897,000 from cocoa farmers and secured approval from the Cocoa Marketing Board to help establish Legon. This was done under the authority of the colonial administration. The farmers' contributions did not come solely from Prempeh II's territory, as @crncampus would have us believe. Nor was cocoa cultivated exclusively in Asante. Legon's second hall of residence, Akuafo Hall, honours the farmers whose contributions made the university possible, while the campus itself stands on land donated by the Labadi people. So really, who gets the credit? 5. As for KNUST, it grew out of the Kumasi College of Technology(est. 1951), established by the colonial administration, with land donated by Prempeh II. But @KNUSTGH becoming a fully-fledged university in 1961 & awarding its own degrees from 1964 was Nkrumah’s doing. To realise his vision of industrialization, the country needed a science & engineering university. He implemented that, while serving as @KNUSTGH first Chancellor, with R.P. Baffour as Vice Chancellor. Baffour, Ghana's first British-trained engineer, had earlier earned his University of London bachelor's degree through correspondence at Achimota College. So really, how does one man take all the credit?