President Akufo-Addo has said that his uncle, Joseph Boakye Danquah, is the founder of Ghana’s premier University, the University of Ghana.
Speaking at the launch of an Endowment Fund as part of the 70th anniversary of the school, President Akufo-Addo said “it will be wholly appropriate and not at all far-fetched to describe Joseph Boakye Danquah as the founder of this University.”
He said J.B Danquah inspired the British colonialists to build the University of Ghana when they initially planned to build a single university in Nigeria for the entire British West Africa.
“How felicitous was that decision and how greatly it has contributed to the growth of modern Ghana, it will be wholly appropriate and not at all far-fetched to describe Joseph Boakye Danquah as the founder of this University…. The fact which on the 70th anniversary of the university’s existence should be vividly recalled that all of us are the beneficiaries of his work,” Akufo-Addo said.
The President’s comment has generated some speculations that he may be considering renaming the University of Ghana in honour of JB Danquah, a member of the ‘Big Six’, and especially as he recently announced the name change of the University of Professional Studies, Accra to Opoku Ampomah University of Professional Studies in honour of the school’s founder, Nana Opoku Ampomah.
The launch of the UG endowment fund forms part of the University of Ghana’s strategic plan to become a world-class institution by 2024.
The Endowment Fund is to provide additional non-restricted funding to enable the school to improve upon its teaching and research work while enhancing its physical infrastructure.
About JB Danquah
Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah was a Ghanaian pan-Africanist, statesman and a lawyer.
He is considered one of the founding fathers of Ghana and played a significant role in the colonial era of Ghana.
UMaT renamed George Grant University of Mines and Technology
President Akufo-Addo in January 2018 officially renamed the University of Mines and Technology ( UMaT ) to the George Grant University of Mines and Technology, after the first President of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC).
President Nana Addo, explained that: “It is only fitting that this great modest man who can lay a legitimate claim of being the father of modern Ghanaian nationalist should be properly honoured by a grateful posterity by us who are heirs of the freedom he so violently fought for especially by the citizens of this great Western Region.”
Wa Polytechnic to be named after Hilla Liman
The President also announced that the Wa Polytechnic will be named after Ghana’s former President, Dr. Hilla Liman .
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