Francis Nkrumah was born in 1909 in a small and relatively poor village of Nkroful in the Nzima region of the southwest of the Gold Coast. Not much is known of his parents but the significance of his mother in provision of his education is a recognizable effort. His mother influenced his views of life and policies by imparting a good attitude for education. During his primary school education, his uniqueness attracted the interest of a German Roman Catholic priest, George Fischer. The priest introduced Nkrumah and his mother to Catholicism and even paid his primary education. However, he was taken aback by the strict denominational rules spelt out by the Catholics. It is as a result of this strictness that Nkrumah sorted freedom of worship with a more personal approach. His beliefs and conduct are however attributed to the Roman Catholicism, who was very influential in providing instinctive advice to Nkrumah as a little boy. Nkrumah’s autobiography displays his life from a tender age as an inspirational and encouraging figure in both nationalism and opinion.
Kwame Nkrumah became the first prime minister and later president of Ghana. Kwame had significance contributions in the development of his country in the post-colonial world coupled with pan-Africanism. A general evaluation of his reign, based on his success, challenges and ideologies essentially reveals his leadership in a more distinct manner. Nkrumah had already developed a grand vision for the new country immediately after leading it through independence. After provision of freedom to the country, he felt the initiative to spark an economical project to equip the country in maintaining its independence. It is important to evaluate socioeconomic and cultural thought with respect to the institutions and policies he established (1958-1966) to effect economic, social, and cultural change in the country. His first trip to the United States and Canada in July and August respectively (1985), was geared toward soliciting economic aid for the new country.
In an event that revived the Volta River Project (VRP, The Minister of Finance, Komla Gbedemah, wearing a traditional Kente cloth, was denied a glass of orange juice at a roadside Howard Johnson chain of restaurants. This incident sparked headline news and other criticism. The American president Eisenhower provided an apology on behalf of his nation and offered him breakfast at the Whitehouse. It is through this invitation that Nkrumah was able to table his economic plans for the country through contracts with the Americans. He took a further initiative to discuss the economic policies he had set up to drive his country ahead. His ideology in economic progress with the Americans was not to beg for financial assistance but to co-operate in the development of resources in Ghana. In essence, he explained the need for Ghana to diversify its economy and relieve the overdependence on a single cash crop (cocoa). He connected this ideology with the importance of electric power through the Volta River Project as a background step to spark industrial development in the country.
The laying of the foundations of Ghana’s first and ever deep water port at Tema, was a project geared to enhance the transport of resources in and out of the country for economic purposes. Moreover, Nkrumah’s government gave a shock to the world by the establishment of two big projects that gave it access to fairly all international destinations. It established a national airline, Ghana Airways and a national shipping fleet, the Black Star Line. In the presentation of a five year development plan, Nkrumah presented to his parliament an economic strategy that would see his country off in economic grounds. He advocated for heavy public investment, modernizing infrastructure and building new roads as well as clinics. The main aim of the Second Five Year plan was to improve the standard of living of Ghanaians. The main factors behind this ambition were to abolish disease, poverty and illiteracy through expansion and provision of education. Moreover, he put emphasis on the significance of an industrial base within the country. He formulated proposals and presented to his parliament on the possible options in which the plan was to be executed.
With respect to industrial development, he explained to the people of Ghana, through his parliament his invitation of foreign entrepreneurs to invest in the country. However, he did not exhaustively explain the details of his economic plans but was able to mention a few projects the government intended to embark on. Nkrumah’s main economic idea of a developed country was largely dependent on the provision of education. He displayed knowledge in the role of education in his economic policies. He aimed at educating a competent and technically skilled workforce. Nkrumah believed that Ghanaian citizens had to understand and develop a common ideology with that of the CPP. This was necessary in order to include the citizens in the plans of the government and occasion a second economic and social revolution in the country. Consequently, his vision of education was very ideological. Education had an instrumentalist function and motivational purpose. It was not only aimed at producing skilled workers only but also to forge a nationalist and socialist consciousness among all Ghanaians. He used education to bring the citizens together for a common course.
It is actually agreeable that Nkrumah was extensively successful in developing an economic base for his country. The first fruits of his success is attributed to the introduction of fee-free elementary education, teacher training, and university education; free textbooks; the expansion of university facilities and education of women. He considered women to be the basic architects of the nation. The establishment of Young Pioneer Movement (YPM) and the Ideological Institute was meant to educate and train the youth. Additionally, he signed a symbolic treaty of economic and cultural ties with the Chinese. This actually led to his acquisition of an interest-free loan of £7 million. Generally, he was encouraged by the immense industrial and technological achievements of China, Israel, the Soviet Union and other states in Eastern Europe. He secured economic treaties and promises of assistance and formally signed agreements that heightened his hopes. As a matter of fact, his interactions with foreign states led to greater acquisition of economic and technical assistance. Therefore, it is evident that Nkrumah gained successful results through his policies in establishing an economically independent state.
Nkrumah, in the implementation of Pan-Africanism accounted for a deep uneasiness about the Foreign Service’s competence to organize the First Conference of Independent African States. He believed that the service was not geared toward African movement. As a result of this provision, he delegated the preparations to a mentor in Ghana, who he trusted. The mentor, with the help of his team drafted a memorandum on the aims of the conference. This is actually one of the challenges Nkrumah faced during the implementation of the Pan-African conference. He felt the foreign agencies did not establish the proceeds of the conferences on the basis of African grievances. The document actually stipulated for the coordination of foreign policies in Africa. Nkrumah led representatives from Libya, Ethiopia, Liberia, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan and the United Arab Republic (UAR) in the Accra Conference. He declared that the event was the first time in history that representatives of independent sovereign States in Africa were meeting together, with the aim of forging closer links of friendship, brotherhood, co- operation and solidarity between them.
Through the conference platform, Nkrumah advocated the problems of colonialism and racism that was common in the African continent. Together with other individuals who attended the conference, the Pan- African conference objectives were highlighted. As a matter of fact, the objectives were to accelerate the struggles in dependent territories and to combat racialism on the African continent through economic and social development as well as cooperation. The first challenge Nkrumah faced in the Pan-African context is the shift of the realm of idealism and romanticism to that of practical politics. His country was branded as a platform on which propaganda could be disseminated. The public developed different perceptions on the purpose of the movement. To curb this challenge and to clarify the sole purpose of the movement, Nkrumah strategized on ways he could capture the attention of prominent leaders throughout the continent. This was geared to explaining the objectives of the movement on a more exhaustive ground. He embarked on a tour of the seven participating states in order to sustain the momentum of the conference resolutions and to exchange views on the international situation with various heads of states.
Nkrumah amassed great success through the Pan-African movement including the gaining of independence by Guinea from the French. Essentially, Nkrumah and the Pan-African movement were able to align the interests of Africans towards a common vector. He however faced different challenges which reduced his momentum in bringing Africans together. For instance, the tragic death of his trusted mentor, Padmore was a big blow to his determination and hopes in his diplomatic endurances. His approach was not based on violence but was embedded in the various policies and ideologies which he advocated. This depicts his life as that of a diplomatic leader who was development and peace oriented.
Also, Nkrumah faced opposition through the Pan-African movement from the leader of the Nigerian delegation, Yusuf Matima Sule. This was attributed to Sule’s ideology of the strength of gradually developed African unions as opposed to Nkrumah’s idea of abruptly bringing several African minds together. Moreover, the Congo crisis was a complex challenge Nkrumah’s strategy during the crisis created problems. Furthermore, there were numerous crises that engulfed his country in form of tensions and oppositions, especially from Movement of National Congolais, led by Lumumba. All these and more situations put Nkrumah in more compromising setups that reduced the faith his people had on him. However, he still emerged successful, owing this to his ideological policies that could bring his people together.
It is recorded that the most significant obstacle that hindered African unity in Ghana was harboring of political refugees. There is substantive evidence that actually explain conflict between Nkrumah and his neighbors over his harboring of political refugees from Ivory Coast, Niger, Nigeria, Upper Volta, and Togo, who were accommodated by the BAA (Bureau of African Affairs). Nkrumah’s West African neighbors accused him of perpetrating subversion against them. To solve these situations, it is evident that Nkrumah could formulate policies at both domestic and international level that explained his actions better. The challenges he got were constant and emerged from all spheres he influenced. As a figure both in domestic and international politics, he was bound to endure opposition and conflict of interest in ideologies with other prominent individual, for instance Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. It can be termed as a successful endurance because despite these challenges, Nkrumah was able to document his policies, influence international policy formulation and gear his country towards greater heights of development.
In conclusion, Nkrumah’s case displays an individual with immense economic influence as portrayed by the economic position he set his country to enjoy. Additionally, his moral worth in opting to use diplomatic policies in the cohesion of African countries and his interactions with other foreign countries attributes him as a talented individual. His success ranges from the independence of his country, The Pan-African movement and the various international unions which he was part of. On the basis of his strategies, the degree of success and failure if his formulated strategies can be acutely depicted from the situations highlighted above. His prominence, moreover relates to his endurance to jail terms, opposition and the various tensions that engulfed his times of diplomacy. As a matter of fact, Nkrumah’s individuality is only displayed by his nationalistic deeds and cooperation with international policy makers. He took part in the formulation of these policies and ensured that the interests of Africans were well addressed.
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