Three years after Ghana became the first sub Saharan country to gain independence, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and his Convention People’s Party (CPP) moved for the provision of republican status. A plebiscite was subsequently held and Ghanaians overwhelmingly voted for Nkrumah as president while simultaneously validating the 1960 constitution. Nkrumah’s rise to the presidency through the republican status we had attained as a country meant he now assumed the new role of head of state in addition to the head of government (Prime minister) position he had held since 1952. This feat, which also implied that as of 1st July 1960, the Queen of England ceased to be our head of state served as a powerful precedence that guided our fellow African countries to absolute political sovereignty.
Much to the oblivion of a good number of citizens of Ghana today, this republican status sets our country aside from nations like Bermuda, Jamaica , Canada and Australia because although these countries all have elected governments and representatives, they still remain under the jurisdiction of the Queen of England. While the Queen’s authority over these countries is ceremonial, she still has a hand in very crucial areas of their governance. For instance the military are under her command while bills passed by their parliament have to be sanctioned by her as the head of state. This is a phenomenon that is alien to Ghana because the attainment of our republican status politically puts us on the pedestal of countries like United States of America and India, which also gained absolute independence and republican status from the British monarchy.
It is significant to emphasize that in spite of its uneventful background, 1st July 1960 could be described as the climax of the struggle for independence in Ghana. As mentioned earlier, that novel status signified that we were indeed going to be masters of our own destiny; a feat Dr. Nkrumah was known to have longed for in his speeches. This absolute independence also most importantly gave us a unique identity as Ghanaians and the authority to design our constitution in accordance with our social and political conventions. Also, in the spirit of that liberating sovereignty, we now have the opportunity to freely elect any Ghanaian that we feel best represents us without approval or authorization from any supreme foreign authority.
Quite unfortunately, our commemoration of this important day as a country is to say the least disappointing. Apart from the acknowledgment of the veterans and retirees (senior citizens) by the President, nothing significant is done that requires the collective participation of the citizenry. In France for example Bastille Day which was the day of the French Revolution is a significant day that is virtually symmetrical to our republic day,except for the events that precipitated it. The Bastille Day celebration stems from the storming of the Bastille fort by the third estate (ordinary people) of Paris who had had enough of the hardships under Louis XVI and the elite class. Their efforts eventually resulted in the abolishing of the monarchy in France and signified the advent of a republic, through a constitutional democracy. What is most significant here is that majority of those who took part in the revolution were the youth, and their influence is why France is a republic today. Although this cannot be directly transposed to Ghana, we could learn from the youth’s active participation in the commemoration of the Bastille Day. This day is celebrated through the display of fireworks, parties, communal meals and military parades. With massive citizenry involvement engineered by the youth, the Bastille Day celebration is one of the world’s most popularly known holidays since its celebrated all over the world.
As a country, our youth is indispensable in the effective commemoration of this special day. Being the live wire of the citizenry, it is imperative that the youth champion the celebration of the day we gained absolute political sovereignty as a nation. The prominence and recognition of the Republic day in Ghana is incumbent on the youth’s active participation through the involvement of associations and groups that represent the youth of this country. These youth coalitions ought to lead the propagation of the importance and significance of our republican status. They could thus lead the way by organizing communal events, to bring the youth together in spirit of the republic day. Besides, as republic day signifies attainment of total control over our country, it could also be a period of resonance and introspection for the youth to realize their potential and empower themselves to take full control over the affairs of this nation. Lectures could be organized throughout the country to educate the youth to eschew from negative practices and actions like poor attitude towards work, disregarding and manhandling of state property, spewing of divisive utterances and other attitudes that have the tendency to draw our development backwards. Moreover, district, regional and national quiz and essay competitions could be organized among the youth every year in our junior and senior secondary schools, the university’s as well as at the local level to imbue in the youth the spirit of Patriotism, Nationalism, Volunteerism and the need to sacrifice for mother Ghana. These activities, if organized continuously, will at the very least spur our youth to ‘ARISE’ to lead the crusade towards development of the country because the glorious future of our country DEMANDS their DEVOTION and sacrifices
It is in this regard that the National Cadet Corps Ghana call to spear head the celebration with other sister youth organization at the Black Star Square on the 1st July 2018 at 0600gmt under the theme: UNITED YOUTH, A TOOL TO MOVE GHANA BEYOND AID with Hon. Nana Akosua Frema Osei-Opare the Chief Of Staff at the Jubilee House to interact with the youth is in the right call.
It will be a day to show case the National colours as the youth move from all the regions to the Black Star Square to mark the day.
Story by:Adam Zig-naa Abudulai
Savelugu, Northern region.