Ghanaians have been urged to strive hard to do anything humanly possible to ensure their history, culture, traditions and values are preserved for the benefit of future generations.
“I urge all of us to take this serious; let’s keep our history, let’s acknowledge our history, let’s honour our history, let’s follow our history and let’s do all we can to make sure our legends don’t die.”
His Royal Majesty Drolor Bosso Adamtey I, Suapolor of the Se Traditional Area in the Dangme West District of Ghana, gave the advice while delivering his keynote address on the theme: ‘Preserving our legacy and rich history of Ghana’ at the 1st Memorial Lecture of Professor James Robert Kwesi Anquandah.
The lecture, an initiative of the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies of University of Ghana, was aimed at celebrating the glowing legacy of late Prof. J R Anquandah, an archaeologist and a complete historian, whose sad demise occurred on September 7, 2017.
The lecture was delivered at the Institute of African Studies Conference Hall, University of Ghana campus on Wednesday, December 12.
In his keynote address, His Royal Majesty Drolor Bosso Adamtey I decried the attitude of most Ghanaians in celebrating their legends and fallen heroes whose achievements have contributed significantly in shaping the country.
Citing the likes of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Edward Akufo-Addo, J B. Danquah, Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, William Ofori-Atta and Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey of the ‘Big Six’ fame and narrowed it down to Prof. J R Anquandah, as an example, he questioned the apathy and pervasive culture of nonchalance always exuded by most Ghanaians at the mention of names of the above great personalities.
His Royal Majesty Drolor Bosso Adamtey I, who also doubles as a renowned preacher and author, believes failure on part of most Ghanaians in telling stories about their heroes, culture, traditions and values are contributory factors to the oblivion of the Ghanaian history.
The situation, he said, could be blamed for the apathy being exuded by most Ghanaians towards celebration of their fallen heroes and legends.
“We celebrate heroes while they’re alive but we do not celebrate or appreciate their legacies. I believe we often forget our legacies, we often forget our legends and so often we have great men who have contributed to our society, our world with transition and we just forget them as if they’ve never lived.”
Stressing on the importance of history to people, His Royal Majesty said: “If you don’t know your history, then you have no culture, you have no tradition, and you have no value.”
“History is quite important whether it’s written or oral because history has value. We all know the power of history. History has the ability of awakening something within us within the human script. Even though history brings the past to the future, it can stir you up to do things you’ll never thought was possible.”
He described the late Prof. J R Anquandah as a very great man who has contributed his quota to the development of Ghana in a very powerful way.
“He gave the best of him to our world and I believe his passing as we put it was empty. He gave his best to the world.
“For many years I engaged him in conversation and we talked about the direction of our society not just Ghana but Africa as a whole and what we can do to restore the dignity of African people.”
While pledging his support for an establishment of a foundation in the late archaeologist’s memory, His Royal Majesty Drolor Bosso Adamtey I called for the legacy and the name of Prof Anquandah to be preserved, adding: “His contributions has to be felt by generations to come so that our children will hear his story”.
“The foremost Archaeologist, Historian and Anthropologist deserve a good memory. Let’s continue where he left of. Thank you,” he concluded.
For his part, chairman of the occasion Professor Samuel Agyei-Mensah, the Provost of the College of Humanities, University of Ghana, eulogized the late Prof. J R Anquandah as not just a scholar but a great teacher whose mentorship inspired many students including himself in the history of the Archaeology Department of the University of Ghana.
In attendance were some eminent professors and scholars from diverse academic backgrounds and destinations across the globe, including friends, loved ones and families.
By Joseph Kobla Wemakor|Legon, Accra