NKRUMAH’S LEGACY: “We Had Only One Graduate in the Whole of the North” — Prof. Edmund Delle

Rabito Clinic founder says Nkrumah’s free education opened doors for Northern Ghana and helped bridge the educational gap between the North and South.

Before Northern Ghana could boast of professors and other highly educated professionals, Naa Prof. Edmund Delle recalls a time when the entire region had just one graduate.

For the veteran dermatologist and founder of Rabito Clinic, that history explains why Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, holds a special place in his heart.

Speaking in an interview with broadcaster Kafui Dey, Prof. Delle reflected on the educational challenges facing the North around the time Ghana gained independence and credited Nkrumah’s policies with helping to transform opportunities for people in the region.

“Because when Nkrumah took power, won elections and came to independence, we had only one graduate in the whole of the North,” he said.

Prof. Delle attributed the progress that followed to Nkrumah’s commitment to education, recalling how free education gave young people opportunities that had previously been beyond the reach of many families.

“Nkrumah loved the North. He gave us free education, and all he said was, ‘Learn, I want you to learn. You people should learn,’” he recounted.

For Prof. Delle, the impact went beyond the number of people attending school. It created opportunities for a generation that might otherwise have been denied formal education.

He recalled that within less than nine years, some beneficiaries of the educational opportunities had gone on to become professors.

The government also made efforts to help older people who had missed out on schooling because of limited access to education.

According to Prof. Delle, some were given special examinations and opportunities to advance academically, despite not having had the chance to attend school when they were younger.

“We owe him a lot,” he said, reflecting on what Nkrumah’s policies meant to the North.

Prof. Delle said Nkrumah did what he could to narrow the educational gap between Northern and Southern Ghana, a disparity he believes the country continues to grapple with.

“The North, Nkrumah did all he could to bridge the gap between the North and the South, and we still woefully miss that,” he said.