Education as the Catalyst for Preserving Heritage, Driving Innovation, and Empowering Future Leadership.

Accra Academy Ninety-Fifth Anniversary
Speech and Prize Giving Day

Guest Speaker

Education as the Catalyst for Preserving Heritage, Driving Innovation, and Empowering Future Leadership

 

Why do we go to school? 

Why do we educate ourselves?

 

If I were to take a poll of our young scholars here regarding these questions, one golden thread would seem to weave through their responses dovetailing into this: to secure a decent existence for oneself. And so, for each person, the desired existence may be attained - with the conscientious exertion of the requisite e?ort - by the application of the experiences and knowledge store gathered over years of tutelage to bear upon one's chosen vocation. This is the overriding signature of the human condition, and which sets us apart from other species.

 

We do not just seek to eat, reproduce, and die as other living species appear to simply do. We strive to thrive through the establishment of systems, constructs, and inventions by which we aim at mastery over our surroundings to secure our sustenance. And throughout the evolution of mankind, we have always sought to improve our condition by the acquisition of knowledge and skills.

In the modern era, we have set up formal educational institutions in which we encamp ourselves for instruction by persons deemed versed in the area of study for a set time, at the end of which we are examined and passed out as having obtained satisfactory appreciation of the purpose of the training. Thereafter, we hope to attain something useful for ourselves.

On another score, the rise of statehood and nationalism has been such (and from all indications it would continue be so) that humanity's quest to improve its condition has been marked by the desire to form alliances with persons who are proximate to us by location, consanguinity, a?inity, or belief systems in opposition to others we classify as foreign or the others, and our ultimate design of dominating others. It is true what they say - that the world is run on self-interest.

Afterall, what has been the point of all the wars we have waged and we continue to wage on each other from antiquity till now? Indeed, even where the enemy at the gates was not seeking to stay to take over your lands but to pillage and plunder as he moved along, it had the purpose of debasing the vanquished and depriving him of his built-up store of possessions and civilization to the bene?t of the conqueror by the enlargement of his possessions and may be his civilization. And so, it has been, that where two civilizations clash, the stronger swallows up the weaker, which then invariably loses its real identity and optimal development.

The lesson history teaches us is brutally simple: Do not be weak. Do not stay in deprivation. Lest you be swallowed up by others. This is because no matter how you wish to be left alone and to remain peacefully isolated from others, at some point some others would notice you and take an interest in whatever resources they suspect you to be sitting on. In saying this, I should not be characterized as nationalistic. On the contrary. I am merely stating the reality of the ordinary circumstances of mankind to awaken in us the real need to build a meaningfully-?t society for ourselves. No one would do it for us.

And it seems to me that a major assured way by which we may forge decent existence for ourselves is our educational model. In my estimation, the answer lies in the shaping of young minds through a well-crafted and e?iciently administered educational system alive to our context in preserving our heritage, driving innovation, and empowering future leadership.

On this score, I would be remiss not to recall, that by reason of being a former British colony, our education was modelled on what the colonialists thought ?t to churn us out as their half-baked appendages - not for our sakes - but to suit their purposes of a workforce designed to carry out the basics of colonial administration and rudimentary commerce. The later establishment of the University of Ghana by the colonial government nine years before independence did not signi?cantly turn around this module.

Our lot was that our own languages were banished from schools as uncultured vernacular. And the older folk here can all relate and recount stories of how they were ?ogged in school for speaking their own languages. Our languages became unspeakable taboos; our culture and traditions were labelled barbarous. Indeed, with the added pinch of the advent of Christianity and Islam, our heritage was further eroded to the point that the vast majority of us bear Christian, Jewish, European, and Arabic ?rst names. And among the majority- Christian South, it is not uncommon for persons without foreign ?rst names to be asked - what is your Christian name? To what purpose - the mindful person ponders.

Further, a good number of our cities, towns, and villages have lost their ancestral and real identities either by change of name or misnomer-spellings to suit European tongues. Curiously, we seem to proudly maintain such names, spellings, and renditions sixty-nine years after independence. Why do we still insist on calling it Ashanti Region, when it should be Asante? Why is Kumase spelled Kumasi? Why do we call them Akims when they are Akyem? Why still spell it Kibi when it is Kyebi? Why Cape Coast instead of the actual Oguaa? Why Elmina instead of the ancestral Edna? And why is Edweso rendered Ejisu? I could go on and on.

My point is this: We are losing ourselves - and with ourselves, our aspirations. We are not recognizable. We are copying hard to be like others. We make believe that we are like them. And they make believe that they believe we are like them. Yet we know we are not like them and they know we are not like them. In the end, we are not us anymore. We are not them either - those we are copying and hoping to become. We are in the in-between - and sometimes more of them than us. And yet we cannot be like them. And we are unable to be like us. What then are we now? Us? Them? Us-Them? I do not know.

Motion pictures like Kwaw Ansah's Heritage Africa - which premiered in 1989 - sought to drive home the point of the unhappy consequences of being caught in the in-between of losing one's identity in favour of another's and not quite becoming that other one sought to become. The movie's blurb reads that the protagonist Kwesi Atta Bosome? abandons his African heritage, changing his name to Quincy Arthur Bosom?eld - Kwesi became Quincy; Atta became Arthur; and Bosome? became Bosom?eld - to become Ghana's ?rst Black District Commissioner - ostensibly for acceptance by the white man. A series of humiliating encounters and an internal struggle lead him back to his Ghanaian identity.

Heritage Africa too vividly captures our circumstances. This pointless existential dilemma jolts us on occasion to reckon that the loss of our heritage is retarding our progress. This then begets in us a sort of awakening to be our own. But that periodic consciousness is always but a glimmer of hope and never a full glare of real hopefulness. It is always too feeble to turn the narrative - as that self to awaken appears to be long gone. And we sink back into our identity predicament. It is like a state of none-identity and nothingness of existence - caught cyclically in the in-between and its attendant perpetual underachievement.

Therefore, in my estimation, our educational system must securely preserve our heritage for any meaningful desirable impact on our condition. Without such a quest, we lose our very selves - our legacy, our traditions, our achievements, our beliefs, our history, our thoughts, our identity.

And on this consideration our creative ability in novelty of ideas, methods, and devices is impaired. And also, on this consideration the promotion of actualization and in?uence is hampered. My thesis is that the preservation of heritage drives innovation, which in turn empowers future leadership. Therefore, we should employ and characterize education as the catalyst for preserving heritage, driving innovation, and empowering future leadership to assure for ourselves gratifying existence. These building blocks would then serve as the foundation upon which our human resources, and by translation our nation, would experience a renaissance of productivity and output for the ages.

Do not get me wrong. I am not proposing isolationism. I am not suggesting in the least that we should not adopt and assimilate aspects of foreign experiences and knowledge which would work for us. Indeed, the greatest empires thrived on adopted and assimilated visionary foreign constructs of thought and deeds. At all costs, we should enhance our circumstances with enlightened innovation and knowledge wherever it may emanate. However, we should not lose ourselves and our very identities in the process. Rather, we should absorb same into our systems while projecting our very essence.

Almost a hundred years ago, four young men nurtured convergent dreams of the institution of an establishment of instruction tailored to the African identity and modeled on the pursuit of wholesome development of the former British colony of the Gold Coast - speci?cally targeted at the brilliant but deprived. They were quite remarkable in their very young ages upon which their uni?ed dream would be realized a few years later in 1931 when they founded the Accra Academy - the ?rst privately founded high school, and the ?rst high school in Ghana founded without the assistance of the State, a church or group.

This extraordinary innovation actualized by four young men in their twenties in the late 1920s and early 1930s erected an educational philosophical construct which should have served as a model for instruction countrywide. This is because it was aimed at rapid development through the preservation of heritage, driving innovation, and empowering future leadership.

This was not lost on me even at the tender age of eleven when I entered the Accra Academy in September 1989. At that age, Ghana's criminal jurisprudence presumed me as incapable of committing a crime as lacking the ability and discretion to properly distinguish between good and evil. Yet, within a few weeks of schooling, the Accra Academy model had stamped in us a maturity and enlightened appreciation of the world far beyond our years. My father had walked the halls of the Accra Academy in the 1960s. And my brother who comes directly after me would do so in the 2000s. It's a family thing, you would say.

As one approached the K.G. Konuah Hall, which served as the assembly hall of the Academy, one could not miss the large school crest embossed atop the entrances in solid blue and yellow painted concrete with the school motto boldly heralding the base of the crest - Esse Quam Videri - to be, rather than to seem. The founders of the school wisely chose as its motto, an oft quoted portion of Cicero's famous words in his Essay on Friendship - virtute enim ipsa non tam multi praediti esse quam videri volunt - few are those who wish to be endowed with virtue rather than to seem so.

The school's motto, beyond the call to the individual to uphold honesty as his policy, stands ?rmly for the preservation of our heritage through education. It teaches us to stay true to ourselves. We owe this to ourselves.

Then, as one entered the K.G. Konuah Hall, one noticed a large inscription serving as a backprop above the podium - Non Sibi Sed Aliis - not for self, but for others. We were reminded daily of this quote. It was strategically placed in the assembly hall in such a way that it was unmissable, and we stared at it daily - sometimes musing as to why the school had more than one motto.

Its message was clear - that we should eschew self-serving conduct and be each other's keeper. It is intended to instill prioritization of sel?ess dedication to causes. This is the true hallmark of empowering future leadership. This is the real mark of a man.

Directly opposite the second motto on the other end of the hall and in equally unmissable fashion adorning the balcony under which the observer exits the hall through the main doorways is a third motto - Non ScholÊ Sed VitÊ Discimus - we do not learn for school, but

for life. This sets store that we should not engage in the enterprise of education for the sake of passing exams and collecting academic laurels, but that tutelage should focus on the skills required for thriving in real life.

This motto is the ultimate driver of innovation through education. It formed the foundation of the Accra Academy. And it is little wonder that products of the school ?ourish so admirably beyond academics in all vocations and in all aspects of life.

So, for the outsider who did not know. Now you know. The Accra Academy has three mottos - a main one etched on the school crest, and two others shining through in the
K.G. Konuah Hall - which together account for the sheer forcefulness of the school and its products.

Then again, the school has three anthems - a main one which serves as the school anthem proper, and two others which are described as the school hymn and the school song, respectively. I recall all three - especially the school anthem and the school song to further buttress my point that the philosophical foundation upon which the Accra Academy was modelled should serve as a blueprint for the application of education as the catalyst for preserving heritage, driving innovation, and empowering future leadership.

The commencement of the school song, which is characterized by deep and thoughtful words, states:

A heart bereft of stubborn will, That takes the counsel of the wise; A head so pois't to brave the mill And therefore picks a course to rise;
A hand that works in conscience clear Unprompted by no human ties.
The triune this! that rears in man For all the time, his sterlingness.

Our sterlingness is our highest standard of achievement. This is attainable through outstanding quality - a blue-ribbon form of education. Let us pay heed then to the school song. For all the time our sterlingness would be borne of education that preserves our heritage to assure our place on the global scene as a force to reckon; education that builds and encourages innovation, so we do not remain stagnant in an ever-changing world; education that forges exemplary leadership to avoid directionless and purposeless development.

And it is upon the careful shaping of the triune or trinity of human productivity - heart, head, and hand - that this would be attained. Our education module should nurture our hearts to discard stubborn will and to take wise counsel; steady our heads to ride all storms; and train our hands to excel.

And on that score, I recall the school anthem to this e?ect. Let us build nations of men. Let us make great men of them - through generations of scholars tutored to preserve our heritage and drive innovation and exemplary leadership.
Permit me then to hail our founders: Ko? George Konuah - o wala n?
James Akwei Halm-Addo - o wala n? Samuel Neils Awuletey - o wala n? Gottfried Narku Alema - o wala n?

Permit me also to honour some of my teachers:

Vincent Birch Freeman - Headmaster Beatrice Lokko - Later Headmistress Owura Eic Berko - Twi
Eva Mensah - Mathematics
David Ackwerh - Senior Hall Master Vivian Campbell - Geography
James Odonkor - Chemistry Kwesi Ghartey Tagoe - English George Meyer - General Paper
James Myers - Literature-in-English Nii Quansah Abbey Ashong - Physics Josef Emmanuel Sarpong - Sports Gideon Quartey - Music/Choir Master Ko? Dzapkasu - Government

The foundation of what you see now is partly their doing - forged in ?re of learning not for school, but for life.

Esse Quam Videri - true to that spirit may we always live.

Long live the Accra Academy.
God bless Ghana. God bless us all.

Kissi Agyebeng
The Special Prosecutor Republic of Ghana
28 March 2026