Renowned Pan-Africanist and anti-corruption crusader Professor P.L.O. Lumumba has urged Africans to move beyond slogans and monuments and give the ideas of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah practical meaning.

Prof. Lumumba said the 117th anniversary of Nkrumah’s birth should be used not only to praise the former Ghanaian leader, but also to examine whether Africa is making progress towards the ideals he championed.

Speaking in an interview with JoyPrime’s Isreal Laryea, Prof. Lumumba said listening to Nkrumah’s daughter, Samia Nkrumah, speak about her father reinforced his belief that the former President’s ideas remained relevant.

“When I listened to Samia Nkrumah talk about her father, I knew that Nkrumah is alive and well,” he said.

He said people who believed in Nkrumah’s vision had a responsibility to ensure that his ideas were translated into practical action rather than being confined to commemorative events.

“It is our duty for those who believe that he had ideas which are implemented to use the occasion of his 117th birthday to remember that he should be given his pride of praise, that his idea should be given practical meaning,” Prof. Lumumba said.

Prof. Lumumba cautioned against reducing Nkrumah’s legacy to slogans, speeches and monuments while failing to address fundamental challenges facing African societies.

“We can sloganeer all we want, we can erect monuments all we want,” he said.

He argued that Nkrumah would instead have challenged Africans to assess their progress in areas such as food security, scientific development, freedom of movement, defence, policy coordination and economic self-reliance.

“I believe that the Osagyefo would ask: are you feeding yourselves?” he said.

Prof. Lumumba also questioned whether African countries had developed sufficient scientific and technological capacity to improve the quality of life of their people.

“Do you have scientific knowledge that can change the quality of Africans?” he asked.

The Pan-Africanist further highlighted freedom of movement as an important test of the continent’s progress towards greater integration.

“Can Africans move from one corner to the other without hindrance?” he asked.

He also raised questions about Africa’s capacity to protect itself and coordinate its policies.

“Are you capable of defending yourselves? Do you have one common and coordinated policy?” Prof. Lumumba asked.

He said economic self-reliance was equally central to the questions Nkrumah would pose to Africans today.

“Do you produce what you consume and consume what you produce?” he asked.

Prof. Lumumba said these were among the issues that should form part of contemporary reflections on Nkrumah’s legacy, rather than limiting his commemoration to historical praise.

“These are some of the things the Osagyefo will be posing to us,” he said.