Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah

As a ship that has been freshly launched, we face the hazards of the high seas alone. We must rely on our own men, on the captain and on his navigation. And, as I proudly stand on the bridge of that lone vessel as she confidently sets sail, I raise a hand to shade my eyes from the glaring African sun and scan the horizon. There is so much more beyond… (Dr. Kwame Nkrumah)

Yesterday, when I announced that my second book had been published, some people were surprised. Some were surprised because I had not mentioned anything about writing a book and others because they did not “know” I “liked” Nkrumah.

Well today I am writing this to help everyone understand why I wrote the book and what you can expect from it. First of all this is not propaganda material nor is it an attack on my former President. What I aim to do with this book is to get readers to see and/or understand Dr. Nkrumah from a perspective not previously considered.

Why now? There are two main reasons I decided to write this book. The first being that although Nkrumah is viewed as an important political figure, especially in the history of the African liberation struggle and fight against colonialism, there is limited study conducted on his rhetoric. It was therefore my view that a focus on his rhetoric would offer a different perspective and fresh insight on the man/politician/statesman. Secondly, there is in relative terms, not too many studies conducted on and about Africa by Africans. This analysis therefore, was an attempt by an African (the author is an African and more precisely a Ghanaian) to offer scholarly endeavor to what there is.

So what is the book about? The book details the journey of the Volta Dam project from its inception to the securing of the funds for its completion, and concludes by providing a rhetorical analysis of the speech that Dr. Nkrumah gave at its inauguration. At this point most people would ask, “what is a rhetorical analysis?” The simple answer is this, a rhetorical analysis requires you to apply your critical reading skills in order to “break down” a text. In essence, you break off the “parts” from the “whole” of the piece you’re analyzing. The goal of a rhetorical analysis is to articulate HOW the author writes, rather than WHAT they actually wrote/said. To do this, you will analyze the strategies the author uses to achieve his or her goal or purpose of their piece.

The rhetorical analysis that was employed in this study was that of the Quest Hero/Quest Story. The concept of the Quest hero derives from the rhetorical critical analytical tool known as the Quest Story (also referred to as a Hero’s Journey or a Heroic Monomyth) which was developed by Joseph Campbell. According to Campbell, all stories regardless of cultural differences have a typical storyline which portray a hero in quest of some precious object. Campbell’s work sought to showcase “the commonality of themes in world myths, pointing to a constant requirement in the human psyche for a centering in terms of deep principles” (xvi). The Quest story describes the seeking out of a Precious Object where it is only upon the successful completion of the quest that the seeker/Hero would know if his or her quest/journey had been necessary or not. Think of your average Hero movie, yes it takes its premise from the Quest story. There are basic elements that all these stories have in common from Harry Potter, to the Matrix to Starwars.

In the book, I provide more detail about the Quest story and explain how I made the jump from this rhetorical device being used to analyze and/or write movie scripts to using it to analyze a speech. I also go into detail about Dr. Nkrumah by providing a brief biography on the man. For me the most exciting part of the writing, however, was the chapter entitled “U.S.-Ghana relations”, this is where I detail how the U.S. became involved in the whole Volta Dam project.

This book is relevant and was important for me to write because I love knowing where I came from and the events that shaped my country. Dr. Nkrumah is a great man not only because he gave the example of what to do in politics, but because he also gave the example of what not to do. He was a man, and that is what we all have to remember. At the end of the day, he teaches that the people will always have the final say in how they are governed (break from colonialism) and that Africa as a continent can one day be free from everything that tries to hold us down.(tribalism, corruption, greed etc.)

I truly hope you enjoy reading this, because I truly enjoyed writing it. A big thank you to my mother, my editor and my proof reader who spent countless hours making sure all my I’s were dotted and T’s crossed. The only person who submitted rewrite suggestion after suggestion (even when I ignored them). They say behind every good man is a (good) woman, I say behind every stable person is a good person. I love you mummy (and daddy) and could not have done it without you guys.

Thank you,

Augustina Amakye, Ph.D.