President Akufo-Addo presenting an award to the overall best graduating student
THE PRESIDENT, Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo, has said he supports the
decision of the Governing Council of the University of
Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) to rename the institution after the late Prime Minister, Prof. Kofi Abrefa Busia.
He said the decision to rename the university
was taken by the Governing Council of the university on 3rd August
2018, in accordance with the statutes of the institution. He said subject to
parliamentary approval, he was all for it and when that was finally done; the
university would be called “K.A. Busia University of Energy and Natural
Resources.”
“The decision was an excellent one which would
receive the blessing of the President of the republic,” he said at the 4th
Congregation of the university on Saturday in Sunyani in the Bono Region, where
a total of 1,113 graduates comprising 885 males and 228 females were conferred
with degrees and diplomas.
President Akufo-Addo indicated that Prof.
Busia, born on July 11, 1913 at Wenchi in the region, was
an illustrious son of the land, a renowned scholar and a noble Ghanaian.
“He was a devoted patriot and one who distinguished
himself during his time as the Prime Minister of the country from 1st
October 1969 to 13th January 1972 when the Second Republic was overthrown,”
the President noted.
According to him,
Prof. Busia believed individual freedom was not just about the space and
ability to speak free and to vote freely but the cognitive capacity towards
creativity and innovation of the people for the development of the country.
Touching on infrastructural challenges of the
institution, President Akufo-Addo announced that a pledge made to construct
five kilometres access road to the university was being fulfilled.
He reiterated government’s decision to expand
tertiary education in the country because that is the means of equipping
citizens with tools for national development.
Council
Statement
Announcing the new decision, a statement issued
by UENR and signed by its Registrar and Secretary to the Council, Benjamin
Appiah-Kubi, said: “The approval of the proposal was premised on the
achievements of Prof. Busia. He was the first African to attain the position of
a professor in Ghana and remains an inspiration and an icon in academia.”
“He mentored many people by way of teaching and
highlighted Ghana and Africa on the academic map of the world through his
professional engagements in universities across the globe. As a distinguished
academic, Prof. Busia set up the Department of Sociology at the University of
Ghana,” the statement added.
The council has, therefore, urged the Minister
of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Prof. Kwesi Yankah, to consider the
decision of the council to rename UENR as Busia University to honour the late
Prime Minister of the Second Republic whose contributions to the development of
Ghana cannot be underrated.”
The Akyeamehene of the Wenchi
Traditional Area, Nana Damoah Koasane Adese-Poku Kofabaye IV, a representative
of the council, expressed gratitude to the council for the decision and thanked
the President for agreeing with the council, saying “today is a joyful day for the people of Wenchi,
because this is what we have been waiting for all this while.”
FROM Daniel Dayee, Fiapre
The post UNER To Be Named After Busia appeared first on DailyGuide Network.
