Commencement 2012 - Guest Speaker Kwaku Sintim-Misa's Address

Ashesi Commencement 2012 - Guest Speaker Kwaku Sintim-Misa's Address

Commencement 2012,
June 30th, 2012.

Address by Kwaku Sintim-Misa

When I got the invitation to be the Guest of Honour and Keynote Speaker at your graduation, my immediate reaction was: “what on earth am I going to tell Ashesi graduates?” Let me admit, that I was very relieved when the date was changed. You know why? I was not ready. I was struggling with what to say.

In all humility I am one of the most sought after public speakers in Ghana. I have spoken on hundreds of youth platforms around the country. So one will ask how a person like KSM, who has given so many speeches, could have difficulty in preparing a commencement day speech? I will tell you why. It is because you are Ashesi graduates.

I would have loved to talk to you about striving for excellence, but you are young men and women who already have a passion for excellence, and it is a part of your educational philosophy.

I would have loved to tell you to redefine the standards, but you are young men and women who are determined to raise the bar and set globally competitive standards.

I would have loved to tell you to shun mediocrity, but you are young men and women who are determined not to sink into the culture of mediocrity that has engulfed Ghana.

So what do I tell you? There is no point preaching to the converted.

Ashesi has given you great education. Let us pause for a second and reflect on the word “education”. What is education? I am sure there are a myriad of definitions but to me it is simple:

It is a system that equips you with knowledge and analytical skills that are globally applicable but more importantly, locally relevant.

If you claim to be “educated”, and yet lack the capacity to diagnose, solve and improve your own condition then what you have gone through is a system of miseducation - not education.

By the way that is why we have many academics that have brilliant theories and hypothesis - ideas that are GREAT ON PAPER - that unfortunately are neither relevant nor applicable to our conditions. This is the crisis of miseducation and I am sorry to say we have too many academics in Ghana who are miseducated.

Enter Ashesi University, a university that has redefined the focus of education; a university that is bent on making education globally competitive but relevant to the African condition; a university whose philosophy is to train new leaders who can bridge the past and shape the future; a philosophy that is defined by a shared value of excellence.

May I take a moment here to express my deepest love, respect and admiration to your President Dr. Patrick Awuah, an educated man in the strictest sense of the word. He is a visionary Ghanaian who lived abroad and returned to Ghana not to look for opportunities, BUT TO CREATE THEM. He is a man whose dream is to elevate Ghana through EDUCATION. It takes a vital few to create an avalanche of change. Shall we rise to our feet and appreciate Dr. Patrick Awuah.

The first time I hosted Ashesi students on my show “Thank God It’s Friday”, they had designed an intelligent traffic light system that through a sensor could direct traffic better. That is education.

With this in mind I now know what to say to you Ashesi graduates. Only three words: GHANA NEEDS YOU!

Ghana needs you to help practically solve our problems;
Ghana needs you to instill in us the value of excellence;
Ghana needs you to raise the bar;
Ghana needs you to interpret our economic situation for us in a way that not only works on paper but has practical realistic applications.

GHANA NEEDS YOU. YOUR TIME HAS COME!

I am inspired by the words of the Methodist hymn:

Land of our birth, we pledge to thee
Our love and toil in the years to be,
When we are grown and take our place as
Men and women of our race.

GHANA NEEDS YOU! TO TAKE YOUR PLACE AS MEN AND WOMEN ON THIS NATION.

I love the opening of the classic novel, a tale of two cities:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness
It was the season of light, it was the season of darkness
It was the spring of hope, and it was the winter of despair.”

This is an apt description of the state of our dear nation.

On one hand, It is the best of times in Ghana, an emerging middle income country, a sudden increase in and patronage of domestic flights, a growing banking industry, a robust telecom sector, Ashesi churning our a new generation of leaders, etcetera.

Strangely, it is also the worst of times. It is a country deeply polarized by petty infantile partisan politics, six months into an election violence ahead of the election constantly looms, the class gap is widening, etcetera.

GHANA NEEDS YOU.

Ghana is operating on a decayed, analogue system. What Ghana needs now, is a new digital operating system and I am telling you that from this day forward it is your task to create. I am going to end on a poem I have written for you. It is called: I AM IMPRESSED.

“In my time, Apple and Blackberry were fruits. In your time they are gadgets. I am impressed.

In my time nobody went to a shop to buy a mouse. We killed them even. In your time a mouse is a gadget. I am impressed.

In my time, we painted our walls and protected them. In your time, you write on walls. I am impressed.

In my time, we had few friends that we knew and had nice conversations with once in a while. In your time you have thousands of friends that you have never met and you chat with them always! I am impressed.

In my time, the only net I knew was the mosquito net. In your time the “net” is a highway to unlimited knowledge. I am impressed.

In my time cocoa was Ghana’s biggest export. In your time it is Azonto. I am impressed.”

Don’t abandon Ghana. I have a dream and I may not live to see it, but Ghana is destined to be the leader of Africa. A generation of Ghanaians will emerge that will put in place what I referred to as a new and dynamic operating system AND YOU ARE THAT GENERATION.

ARISE AND TAKE YOUR PLACE AS MEN AND WOMEN OF YOUR NATION. CONGRATULATIONS AND GOD BLESS YOU.