Researching Decolonization: Exploring the Applicability of the Concept of Decolonization to Student Activism in Ghana

Abstract

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the role university students played in the decolonization discourse in Ghana. It analyses whether or not the concept of decolonization can be used to investigate the resistance of student movements through their activism. The consciousness of student movements such as the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) of the continuous existence of forms of colonialism despite nominal independence can be seen in student struggles for socio-economic and political justice especially struggles against neocolonialism and neoliberalism from the 1960s to the early 1990s. It investigates the continuities and discontinuities of different historical conjunctures of student movements and how these fed into the wider debates on decolonization. Using a qualitative multidisciplinary approach and relying chiefly on primary sources, open-ended interviews, newspapers and archival data, this paper analyses the connection between student political activism and the concept of decolonization in Africa. The article situates student actions within decolonisation discourses in Africa by analysing student efforts to ensure the total liberation of all African states, oppose neocolonialism, and contribute to Africa’s development.

Plain language summary

Were students decolonial in their mindset from the 1960s?

This article seeks to understand the contribution of students to the decolonization in Africa. In which ways were students pro-Africa and anti-west in their desire to maintain African sovereignty? The article provides evidences of students’ efforts at decolonisation through the protests, debates, symposia organised to inform the populace on the happenings in other parts of Africa.

Introduction

In December 2018, students and staff of the University of Ghana (UG) protested for the removal of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the basis that the Indian activist had been a racist who denigrated blacks. This was to send a strong statement to the university authorities, government, and the international community on the consciousness of students and academics of the continuous existence of forms of coloniality in the 21st century. Additionally, it illustrated how activism was crucial to the broader discourse of decolonization as it led to the resurgence of conversation about the place of university students in the decolonization discourse. By the close of the 20th century, the momentum on the fight against neocolonialism had greatly diminished in West Africa as Western influence had sifted into all fabrics of the society despite three to four decades of independence. Due to the recent detachment of students from the political state, one may easily assume that the concept of decolonization does not apply to students.

In this article, I conceptualize decolonisation to imply efforts made by students to ensure the total liberation of all African states from colonial rule and undue Western influence, especially ones that undermined African sovereignty. I further analyse key historical events which could be interpreted as decolonial including the Pan-African solidarity of students (protest against the murder of Patrice Lumumba in 1961, protest against the 1965 unilateral declaration of independence by Rhodesia from Britain, and protests against the apartheid government in South Africa); support of anti-Western/anti-liberal ideologies as well as resisting forms of neocolonialism. Students supported initiatives which aimed at an African-centered solution to nation-building and socio-economic development. I action fits within the continental nationalist efforts at ensuring the perpetual liberation of African states.

Taiwo’s (2022) assertion that decolonization has become the “catch-all trope,” often used to perform contemporary “morality” or “authenticity.” Taiwo (2022) adds that when you are inclined to decolonise African music, art, literature, and philosophy, one must bear in mind how colonialism created, caused, determined, conditioned or influenced it. Colonialism, he posits, is rarely straightforward or clear-cut, therefore, the place of colonialism in its genealogy must be considered and demonstrated to show why it is a candidate for decolonizing. This paper discusses whether or not the concept of decolonization can be applied in the analysis of student activism. By extension, I seek to answer the questions: In which ways does the concept of decolonisation apply to student activism, in all forms or certain specific contexts? Were university students consciously decolonial in their activism approach? In the 21st century, there is a growing interest in re-assessing the re-colonization of former colonies by old and new imperialist powers (Getachew, 2019; Mignolo, 2000, 2014; Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2013, 2018, 2020). The paper establishes the credentials of university students to the broader discourse of decolonization. Historically, student movements in the metropoles played a key role in the fight against racial prejudice and discrimination as well as the liberation struggle of Africa (Boahen, 1994). This became ideologically foundational for student movements in African universities to fight dictatorial governments, undue foreign influence, systematic racism, and the exploitation and dehumanization of Africans.

The qualitative phenomenological method is used in this article to understand the common experiences of student activists related to decolonization. This paper deploys an multidisciplinary research approach that adopts key concepts in history and historiography, political theory, ethnography, education, and philosophy. Key oral and written sources such as semi-structured interviews, archival data, and published secondary data are used. Between 2020 and 2022, data was gathered from the Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) and University of Ghana Archives included pictures, newspapers, student minutes, press releases, magazines, commissions of enquiry reports, as well as student-university-government correspondents. Semi-structured interviews were conducted within the same period. In addition, selected participants were re-interviewed between October 2022 to July 2023 (since this research is an extension of the author’s PhD thesis). Respondents, who were purposively selected based on their experience as past students, student leaders, activists, and university administrators between the ages of 30 to 88. Their consent was acquired to use their names in the research to add to the credibility of the research. The phenomenological reduction approach is used to analyze the data by identifying significant evidence on the phenomenon of decolonization among student activists. Information gathered did not lay precision to the consciousness of students toward decolonisation. However, inference and contextual descriptions can be drawn from a thematic textual analysis of the field notes and integrated secondary literature on ways in which students contributed toward the decolonisation discourse. The research concluded that student activists were products of their era and were mostly reactionary to the policies of their institutions, government, and the international status quo. Most student activists, most simply caught on to the momentum of the epoch without necessarily having a decolonial mindset. This paper properly situates student activism in the concept of decolonisation and gives an overview of the initial efforts made by Kwame Nkrumah to decolonise the universities. It then looks at instances where students’ activism can be considered decolonial and ends with the methodological challenges to investigating decolonisation from students’ perspective.

A Conceptual Note on Decolonization and Universities in Ghana

The concept of decolonisation is complex and entangled with ideations such as the trans-Atlantic slave trade, m imperialism, colonialism, Eurocentrism, apartheid, neocolonialism, and globalization at multiple levels since the inception of colonization in the 15th century (Falola, 2022). The term “decolonization” was first clearly used at the Bandung Conference in 1955 to refer to the processes of the liberation of former European colonies in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, South America, the Caribbean, Native American and Latin American societies (Mignolo et al., 2021). It, therefore, implies the struggle for national sovereignty by means of the founding of nation-states. However, scholars and political actors have extended its use to represent the continuous resistance to the domination of the West on former colonized states (Maldonado-Torres, 2011, p. 2) even after nominal independence.

Nationalist leaders through speeches, books, essays, and strategic policies sought to counter hegemonic thinking and attitudes between the West and the rest, as illustrated by Chinweizu (1975). Nkrumah (1965) on neocolonialism; Leopard Senghor on Negritude; Cabral (1973) on anti-colonial revolution; Biko (1978) on black consciousness; and Lumumba (1974) on egalitarianism, social justice and liberty, sought to depose colonial legacies. Key scholar-activists including Franz Fanon on French imperialism and internalization of black inferiority (1967, 1968); Aime Cesaire on negritude (1950); Walter Rodney on the underdevelopment of Africa (1972); Ngugi wa Thiong’o on decolonizing the mind and language (1981); Cheikh Anta Diop on black consciousness (1974, 1987); Albert Memmi on the colonizer and the colonized (2003) among others have contributed diversely to the decolonization discourse. Getachew (2019, p. 2) acknowledged the foundation laid by Nkrumah and Nyerere in the decolonial project through the “institutionalization of a right to self-determination at the United Nations, the formation of regional federations, and the demand for New International Economic Order.” These initial political and intellectual nationalist projects on decolonization sought an authentic African initiative at nation-building and socio-economic development and set the tone for other nuances of decolonization. It became foundational to the anti-colonial internationalism, which manifested itself in students in the 1970s to 1990s.

Contemporary decolonization scholars from Africa (Getachew, 2019; Mbembe, 2018; Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2013, 2018, 2020; Nyamnjoh, 2018) and Latin, South, and Central America (Anzaldua, 2007; Lugones, 2008; Mignolo, 2000, 2014; Maldonado-Torres, 2008; Quijano, 2000), therefore, use decolonization to mean the structural, systemic, cultural, and epistemological opposition of colonial elements in indigenous societies and the questioning of the concept of western modernity and its attendant globalization. This has resulted in the world power structure where the West occupied the apex of the global power hierarchy while Africa is at the bottom (Spivak, 1990). Taiwo (2022) problematizes the application of decolonisation beyond the struggle for independence and its outcome. He indicates, extending its parameters to include cultural and ideological de-Westernization of the disciplines and institutions, would mean chasing shadows and incorrectly identifying causality. It would hinder its understanding because African disciplines and institutions are a fine-tuning of Western scholarship (Taiwo, 2022). ¹ Colonialism and its aftermath in almost all aspects of the lives of former colonies is not straightforward and therefore, must be considered carefully.

The main areas where decolonization is applied include politics, economics, education, racial and structural inequalities, epistemicides (killing of indigenous people’s knowledges) and linguicides (killing of indigenous people’s languages; Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2018; Thiong’o, 1981). This paper is focused on the use of decolonization in the areas of higher education because it remained one of the key mediums through which the political elite and intellectuals sought to achieve decolonization. Decolonizing education meant the de-westernization of the processes of education. Thiong o’ (1981, p. 9) notes “Berlin of 1884 was affected through the sword and the bullet. But the night of the sword and the bullet was followed by the morning of the chalk and the blackboard. The physical violence of the battlefield was followed by the psychological violence of the classroom. But where the former was visibly brutal, the latter was visibly gentle.”

In this paper, the concept of decolonisation is used to imply efforts made by students to ensure the total liberation of all African states from colonial rule and freedom from undue Western influence, especially ones that undermined African sovereignty. Students were consciously anti-colonial, anti-imperial, and anti-racial (Interview with Graham on 13 July 2023) seen through the contestations of neocolonialism, imperialism, racism, and discrimination against African nationals by their governments or external forces. The support students gave to governments that sought to fight neocolonialism and liberalism while opposing pro-western, conservative, and authoritarian governments can be interpreted as decolonial. For instance, in 1961, students in Nigeria took a decolonial stance against the proposed Anglo-Nigerian Defence Pact, which initially permitted British military bases. To this end, students disrupted debates in the House of Representatives and in the process manhandled some legislators. Eventually, the pact was abandoned in January 1962 (Idang, 1970; Livsey, 2017). In Ghana, student’s anti-neocolonial support for revolutionary and populist government policies such as Acheampong’s egalitarian and anti-capitalist economic policy—Operation Feed Yourself and the Yentua (repudiation of foreign debts) policy and Rawlings’ pursuit of an egalitarian and socially just society through the purge of the supposed capitalist while pursuing a non-Western solution to Ghana’s problems.

The main challenge and contribution of this paper, to borrow Morrison’s (1989, p. 11) “speaking things unspoken” is to link concepts and practices not normally associated with one another in order to perceive different or alternative understanding. Until recently, historians rarely used theories to explain the past because theory has a less central place in history (Sewell, 2005; Strong, 1961). Sewell Jr (2005) notes that history is defined by its careful use of archival or primary sources, its insistence on meticulously accurate chronology, and its mastery of narrative instead of a general or covering law. Nevertheless, there are several social science theories and concepts that can be used to explain historical events. This paper problematizes why decolonization could be used as an analytical lens to investigate student activism. Generally, one finds works on student activism in Africa to be descriptive and interpretive in the attempts to capture the uniqueness and particularity of the phenomena. Nevertheless, some works on student activism are hinged on psychological theories especially the conflict of generation theory by Sigmund Freud (Altbach, 1966, 1984; Sapong, 2009), social movement theory (Barnhardt, 2012), or theory of collective behaviour (Byaruhanga, 2006) with a few connected to political ideology, democracy, and development concepts. Why then, should decolonization become a lens of analyses for student activism?

First, academics have remained at the centre of the discourse on decolonization as the political elite looked up to the universities for concrete, practical measures to enhance Africa’s development beyond independence (Mamdani, 2016; Sawyerr, 2004). Second, the African state was characterized by repression, intimidation, disappearance, public execution and violence resulting in passive resistance and detachment from the state by most social actors. More usually than not, national reform movements were shaped and sustained by intellectual social movements including students. Students, therefore, emerged as a vital barometer that helped to shape popular opinion (Chazan et al., 1999, pp. 95–96). Students were, therefore, at the centre of the fight for the total liberation of Africa.

Student movements such as the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS), and Uganda National Students Association (UNSA) did not limit themselves to advocating the rights and interests of students but also focused on addressing institutional, national, and international issues. Students fought against forms of neo-colonialism and advocated for African unity and Pan-Africanism during the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and the black civil rights movement while campaigning for an end to colonialism, especially in Southern Africa (Altbach, 1966, 1984; Munene, 2003). One of the theoretical lenses that can be used to investigate students’ activism is decolonization. Student Pan-African outlook and support of liberation struggles in other parts of Africa furthered the decolonial agenda of the political elite. This agenda of students pushed the intellectual agenda of scholars and vice versa. It is important to point out that student posture was often contradictory because in a larger sense, though they usually proclaimed themselves as utopian, radical, progressive, and revolutionary, their activism also revolved around “bread and butter” issues and expected to be treated better and enjoy more privileges than the rest of the society instead of the utopian outlook they projected for the entire society.

The Foundation of the Decolonization Movement in Ghana: Nkrumah and Decolonization

The British initiatives at higher education in Africa was mainly motivated by the desire to fill higher appointments in government service reserved for colonial officers (Guggisberg, 1924, p. 10). ² With the increase in demand for African universities and based on the recommendations of the Asquith, Elliot, and Bradley Commissions’ reports, the University College of the Gold Coast and the College of Technology, Science and Arts were established in Legon and Kumasi in 1948 and 1951 respectively under the tutelage of the University of London, which oversaw its syllabi, examinations, quality of teaching, and administration (RG3/5/1297; Ashby, 1964). These universities were, therefore, English in form and function as curriculum taught mostly by non-African academics reflected the colonizer’s perceived superiority (Adu-Gyamfi & Anderson, 2021). David Mowbray Balme, first principal of University College of Gold Coast, justified that “the things which are studied at universities…are themselves the instruments of civilization. It happens to have started in Greece…and it spread first through Europe” (Ashby, 1964, p. 37); thereby insinuating the centrality of Europe to world civilization. This informed the Western outlook of staff and students. Nkrumah notes:

The colonized African student, whose roots in his own society are systematically starved of sustenance, is introduced to Greek and Roman history, the cradle history of modern Europe, and he is encouraged to treat this portion of the story of man together with the subsequent history of Europe as the only worthwhile portion… [Therefore] African intellectuals… [became] alienated from their own immediate society (1965: 5).

The 1960s decade was declared as Africa’s decade of decolonization because about 30 countries gained independence (Turner, 2013). Ghana’s independence on 6th March 1957 was crucial to the question of decolonisation in Africa because, its leader, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah tied it in with the deliberate liberation of all Africans when he declared “Our independence is meaningless until it is tied with the total liberation of the African continent.” Nkrumah highlighted that most independent African states had outward international sovereignty; however, their political and economic systems were directed from outside (Nkrumah, 1965, p. x). This paper illustrates how Nkrumah’s decolonisation influenced the decolonial stance of student movements in Ghana.

Diverse postcolonial attempts were made by Nkrumah to use empiricism, ideological interventions, and activism to recalibrate knowledge and ensure development in Africa. He perceived the universities as “alien” and “anti-nationalist” (Nkrumah, 1970). Nkrumah reports: “Some of the European trained African intellectuals, especially those educated in Europe resisted changes in curriculum or pattern of course because they confuse such changes with a lowering of standards. They are accordingly suspicious of any divergence from the British pattern. Some of them are particularly allergic to proposals for incorporating African studies into the curriculum” (Cited in Ashby, 1964, p. 61). Botwe-Asamoah (2005, p. 147) comments that Nkrumah’s policy was to create an African university, which could engage in intellectual decolonisation, yet this received opposition from both students and academics.

The opposition was also due to ideological differences and the quest by staff and students to maintain academic freedom. Finlay (1968) notes that the CPP practised socialist egalitarianism which conflicted sharply with the university’s dedication to the principles of meritocracy. Nkrumah perceived the university as the “breeding ground for unpatriotic and anti-government elements” with the Busia-Balme mentality (Nkrumah, 1973, p. 167). He further indicated that the universities were “the fountain heads of reaction and fertile grounds for imperialist and neo-colonialist subversion and counter- revolution” (Ghanaian Times, 1st July, 1961). The CPP asserted the university did not adequately recognize its obligations to Ghana’s social needs and, more importantly, that students and faculty were hostile to the party and, therefore, to the society. The university was perceived as unproductive in the socialist and pan-African revolution in Africa. In reality, most students were apathetic to Nkrumah’s ideology and initiatives (Interviews with Darkwah on 21 July 2020; Addo-Fening on 29 January 2020). Britwum, a former UG student (Interview on 13 July 2023) posits, “The level of political consciousness was very low and the level of support Kwame Nkrumah got from the campus from lecturers and nationalists and students was very, very low.”

Nkrumah introduced a three-tiered decolonization initiative. First, he autonomized the University College of Ghana and the University College of Technology, Science and Arts as the University of Ghana (UG) and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) with himself as chancellor in 1961. The second effort was the dismissal of non-loyal, perceived imperialist staff. He terminated the appointment of one Ghanaian and five Europeans including Prof. W. B. Harvey, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Mr R.B. Seidman, Senior Lecturer of Law, Mr Jean Preve, Mr Greco French Department and Mr Schuster, Professor of the School of Administration and revised the conditions of service of others; despite the opposition of staff and students, (UG1/3/7/4/11). This caused fear, anxiety and uncertainty among both students and staff (Interview with Darkwah on 21 July 2020). Thirdly, he established the Institute of African Studies (IAS) “for the reinterpretation of the past and culture of the African people” (Nkrumah, 1965). The IAS was expected to be the center of pan-African education to project the “African personality,” Nkrumah’s Pan-African aspirations, and a conscious Africentric knowledge production (Frehiwot, 2015). The Institute was tasked to study “the history, culture and institutions, languages and arts of Ghana and Africa in new African centred ways—in entire freedom from the propositions and presuppositions of the colonial epoch, and from the distortions (Nkrumah, 1963). Nkrumah made African Studies a compulsory course in the universities to create an African-centered education (Wilks, 1996; Botwe-Asamoah, 2005). The impact of these initiatives became evident in the 1970s as student movements, were actively seen promoting the organizational preferences of Nkrumah and opposed regimes seen to promote Western outlooks. From the evidence presented here, decolonization partly meant “dewesternization of the educational institutions and their curriculum to create an African-centered university. His approach was opposed by many, especially the political and intellectual community as it was seen as radical than moderate. At the University of Ghana, there was the Balme-Busia faction opposed to the Nkrumah-Stoughton faction (Hagan, 1994). At the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science University, it was seen in the Nkrumah-NLM conflict. ³

Nkrumah’s pan-African outlook had diverse implications for students. Though established as a party school to disseminate socialist ideals, Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute (KNII), for example, provided external courses for students from African nationalist countries and organizations (Biney, 2011, p. 102). Nkrumah provided financial aid to liberation movements in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa to fight oppressive colonial governments (UG1/3/7/11/27B, Aluko, 1975; Poe, 2003). This accounts for why revolutionary leaders such as Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe National African Union (ZANU) became a student at Achimota College and subsequently a teacher at St Mary’s Training College. Students took inspiration from Nkrumah to also provide an enabling environment for nationalists who studied in Ghana’s universities. Graham, Tagoe, Kwashie, and other student leaders interviewed identified that in the 1970s and 1980s, foreign university students especially from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia among others were given platforms to address the student body on issues in other parts of Africa.

Student Decolonization Praxis

Pan-Africanism and Anti-Colonial Internationalism

A form of anti-colonial internationalism flourished at the universities sustained by intellectuals and students. University students were inspired by the Pan-Africanism liberation struggles of African leaders such as Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Amil Cabral, and Steve Biko of South Africa (McEwan, 2019). Student political activism was therefore an admixture of institutional, national, and transnational activism as they saw a link between the domestic and the international political contexts (Aseidu-Acquah, 2018). This article draws reference to the influence of Nkrumah’s pan-African outlook on students’ anti-colonial internationalism. Nkrumah became an icon of Pan-African nationalism with the independence of Ghana in 1957. Nkrumah noted, “With the achievement of Independence, the main theme of my speeches changed. I began to concentrate on the long-term objectives; economic freedom for Ghana, and African emancipation and unity” (Poe, 2003, p. 103). The All-African People’s Conference was held in Accra in December 1958 sought to encourage nationalist political movements toward continental unity and a socialist transformation of society.

Drawing inspiration from Nkrumah, students approached their national activism with a transnational outlook. In Ghana, the first Pan-African solidarity after the murder of Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is asserted that the UN, CIA and Belgian government knew about the assassination plot of Mobutu’s military forces and yet, they did nothing about it (Church Committee Report, 1975). Therefore, it is asserted that they played a role in his assassination triggering worldwide protests. Students in Ghana joined in the protests against his assassination (Interview with Addo-Fening on 29 January 2020). In addition, the unilateral declaration of independence of Rhodesia from Britain by Mr Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia, on 11 November 1965 caused the displeasure of students. Britain’s refusal to use force against Ian Smith caused universal displeasure. University students considered it as grave discrimination against blacks. In November 1965, student protests erupted in a number of cities—Delhi, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Accra, Kumasi, and Dar es Salaam. Students of the University of Science and Technology reacted with a demonstration when six visiting UK parliamentarians who were guests of the Regional Commissioner of Ashanti came to dinner at the Republic Hall on 30th November 1965 (ARG2/8/41; Pitcher, 1976, p. 25). The students condemned the British government for its passive opposition in Rhodesia and declared, “it is a clear demonstration to the leaders of Africa and the coloured race as a whole that problems of Africa can only be solved by Africans and Africans alone” (ARG2/8/41). In this statement by students, one finds a clear instance of students demanding an African-centered initiative for the transformation of Africa. Britwum, a former student in UG (interview on 13 July 2023) recalls how a few students in University of Ghana rallied to support the cause for the liberation of Rhodesia from British control. It is important to note that few students initiated these events.

Another clear case of the Pan-African solidarity of students was the fight against apartheid. Several African states supported the black liberation movement in Southern Africa. To show solidarity with discriminated blacks in South Africa, the African Union imposed a series of economic sanctions on the apartheid Afrikaner National Party of South Africa. However, in Ghana, the Busia government rather preferred to adopt a policy of dialogue at the end of December 1969 (Chazan, 1983). In the Pan-African spirit, students led a series of anti-apartheid demonstrations against the Busia government (UG1/3/7/11/27B). In April 1971, at the NUGS annual congress, students demanded an end to the policy of “dialogue” with South Africa when it demanded “the government to abrogate at once all contracts signed between Ghana and firms and other financial institutions in South Africa” (Daily Graphic, 7th April 1971). Further, students compared Nkrumah’s open-door policy which created an enabling environment for nationalist fighters all over Africa with Busia’s anti-apartheid stance with Busia’s policy. NUGS therefore, urged the Busia government “to grant amnesty to all Ghanaians in political exile, particularly, the former President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah” (Daily Graphic, 7th April, 1971). In the 1970s and 1980s, students continuously engaged with different governments to support the independence struggle in Southern Africa (Interview with Abaidoo, 12 July 2023). Student anti-colonial internationalism was enhanced through their membership of trans-national student associations such as the All-Africa Students Union (AASU), ⁴ Commonwealth Students Union (CSU), and United Nations Students Union (UNSU) facilitated their transnational outlook and Pan-Africanism. The anti-apartheid movement had an office in Ghana. These organizations thrived because of the intensity of student internationalism in Ghana.

NUGS showed concern for situations which involved Western alliance with Eastern China in Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe, Azania, Namibia, West Sudan, repression in the Philippines by printing of leaflets for distribution to students or pasted on notice boards to educate students on happenings in other parts of Africa. On 14th November, 1975, about 150 to 200 students’ members of the Students Movement for African Unity (SMAU) in Legon organized a demonstration to sympathize with Angola in particular for foreign involvement and interference in Angola and African liberation and freedom in general. (UG1/3/7/4/27; UG1/3/7/4/11F) The initial student support for the Acheampong government was also partly a result of the aid provided for liberation movements in Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa to fight oppressive colonial governments (UG1/3/7/4/11F). The government provided scholarships for students from these countries to study in Ghana’s universities.

Resistance Against Neocolonialism

Post-colonial activists sought to institute different initiatives to resist neocolonialism overtly or subtly, especially the economic and political exploitation by the West. The writings of nationalist intellectuals such as Kwame Nkrumah on neocolonialism is key in this discourse. Nkrumah highlights that most independent African states had outward international sovereignty; however, their political and economic systems were directed from outside (Nkrumah, 1965, p. x). He noted, “Neocolonialism is the worst form of imperialism. For those who practice it, it means power without responsibility, and for those who suffer from it, it means exploitation without redress” (Nkrumah, 1965, p. xi). The global financial crisis, inflation and Ghana’s external debt crippled the nation’s economy. This plus Busia’s pro-western and anticommunist and his liberal stance caused him to turn to the creditor countries such as the USA and Great Britain and Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) especially the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) (Aluko, 1975). Internally, the populace, especially students, viewed these IGOs with much suspicion. As a result, there was some level of political resistance to IMF programs among the popular masses (Hutchful, 1985).

Clear evidence can be seen in the support Acheampong received as a result of his egalitarian and anti-capitalist economic policy—Operation Feed Yourself and the Yentua (Literally means we will not pay/repudiation of foreign debts). To show solidarity, male and female students from the three universities, University of Ghana, University of Science and Technology, and University of Cape Coast participated in the harvesting of sugarcane at Asutsuare to feed the Kommenda sugar factory and the irrigation project in Tono, Dawhenya, Okyereko, and Afife (UG1/3/7/4/11C; Anderson et al, 2024). UG students dug the Dawhenya canal while UCC students dug the Okyereko canals (Interview with Ahwoi on 14 December 2020; Manuh on 20 January 2020, Arthur on 13 July 2023). Similarly, when Rawlings’ pursued an egalitarian and socially just society through the purge of the supposed capitalist, students churned, “Firing squad for nation wreckers” and “let the blood flow” (Nugent, 1995, p. 30; Yeebo, 1985, p. 65; See Figure 1). On 5th January, 1982, the PNDC government asked the university to suspend reopening for the second term so that students could join in the various task forces to rehabilitate the economy (Interviews with Atim on 11 September 2020; Musmudi on 26 October 2020; Pwamang on 26 August 2020; See Figure 2).

Figure 1.

Students demonstrating in favour of the June 4th Revolution.

Figure 2.

A Picture of students aiding in the evacuation of cocoa from the hinterlands.

It can, generally, be inferred that students in the 1970s and early 1980s were inclined to anti-liberal ideologies and therefore supported military juntas that appeared to have an anti-liberal and anti-West appeal. Socialism, Marxism, and populism (these were Western ideologies with elements of African political ideologies) generally appealed to students because students were generally anti-establishment and perhaps because these ideologies were considered ideologies of the opposing force, and fostered their student decolonial stance (Interview with Sawyerr on 19 December 2022; Abaidoo on 12 July 2023; Tagoe on 14 July 2023; Kwashie on 14 July 2023; Ofori on 11 July 2023). The support students gave to governments that sought to fight neocolonialism and neo-liberalism while opposing pro-western, conservative, and authoritarian governments can be interpreted as decolonial.

Africa’s failing economies by the 1970s and 1980s as a result of corrupt practices and mismanagement of the economy, forced states to resort to SAPs recommended by the World Bank and IMF (Boafo-Arthur, 1999, p. 42). The discussions on introduction of academic user fees began in the 1970s under Busia to implement the student loan scheme that would replace government subsidies for higher education (ARG/2/8/41; Report on Educational Review 1970). NUGS went on demonstrations on the 21 and 22 of June 1971, describing the student loan scheme as “premature and completely incompatible with the social standards of the ordinary Ghanaian” (UG1/3/7/4/27; Daily Graphic, 7th April 1971). Cann-Tamakloe, NUGS president, described the loan scheme as reactionary and a form of social injustice, thereby against the interest of the masses (Daily Graphic, May 3rd, 1971; Interview with Cann-Tamakloe on 20th December, 2021). NUGS demanded “a suspension of the scheme until sufficient social justice exists and equal opportunities abound for all sections of the community” (Daily Graphic, 7th April 1971).

The inability of the Provincial National Defence Council (PNDC) to acquire the desired help from the Eastern bloc, in December 1982, “forced” the government to abandon its socialist ideology as it embarked on the World Bank/IMF-inspired SAPs (Boafo-Arthur, 1999). The major features of the policies pursued included labor retrenchment, trade liberalization and devaluation, withdrawal of subsidy on feeding, and accommodation, and the introduction of academic user fees (Boafo-Arthur, 1999; Kortey, 1992). This triggered vehement opposition from students who fought against what they termed as a form of social injustice to society. Koffie (Interview on 3 August 2020), “At a NUGS central committee meeting held at Winneba College of Education, we resolved to go on strike because that was the language the then military govt understood.” While part of this struggle was against the military dictatorship of the PNDC, part of it was against the imperialist interference in higher education through the imposition of the SAPs. Koffie, recalled how students held a funeral ceremony for Rawlings and the IMF. They were unsuccessful in the fight against academic user fees.

Student opposition was not simply in the light of their individual interest in paying or not paying fees but the consciousness of disallowing neocolonial institutions to interfere in the sovereignty of states by reinforcing Western systems. Tagoe (interview on 14 July 2023) notes, “The argument of the student leaders at the time was that the poor were paying taxes to send you to school. When you come out of school, you become the bosses of that particular person and that we needed to show solidarity.” Oteng adds that students who fought against the imposition of structural adjustment programs were not entirely focused on themselves since the policy would not directly affect them and for some of them, their parents could afford to pay. Despite the vehement opposition, in 1997, cost-sharing of higher education was fully introduced as a result of the Akosombo Accord consensus reached in 1997 (Anderson, 2022).

It is important to emphasis that academics played a role in guiding students’ understanding of neocolonialism. As a result of Nkrumah’s efforts at Africanizing the curriculum by emphasizing on the study of African history, culture and institutions. Academics focused on courses that were African centered and exposed diverse forms of neocolonialism. There was a curriculum shift geared toward an exposure of students to the politics and economics of imperialism (Serra, 2015). For instance, four new research units were established in UG: Economics of African Unity, Econometric Model and National Income Studies of Ghana, Economy of Ghana I: Special Problems, focusing on fiscal and monetary policy, and “Economy of Ghana II: Miscellaneous Problems,” focusing on planning methods, the cocoa industry, labor issues and consumption expenditures (The Economic Bulletin of Ghana, 1964). Sawyerr, a Law Professor and former VC of UG (interview on 19 December 2022) indicates the role played by academics in student posture against the Bretton Wood institutions. He notes, “we took the posture of history and the underpinnings of the Bretton Wood institutions where IMF and World Bank and all of that, and the raw message of our approach was to guiding the students in the reading and thinking beyond the surface because at the time IMF was supposed to come and help us so that the economy will rise the World Bank will say, we exposed that this were post war constructions, they were not just set up because the world was…, they had a purpose, to reinforce the colonial system, in its neo form, they were deliberately imperialism.” He adds, “students were very conscious not only about the lesson they are learning and what they are reading but was the very real impact of what was going on the ground.” This greatly influenced the student momentum as they actively opposed Western “aid” in Ghana. Sapong (2014, p. 39) adds that “We [academics in history] are interested in explaining and analyzing the complex web of interactions which developed in the 19th century, for instance, between local societies, kingdoms and Europeans. Within these interactions, we explore issues like industrialization, the nature of the Atlantic economy, urbanization and African agency in the historical process.”

Methodological Challenges to Investigating Decolonisation From Students Perspective

Back to the main issues raised in the introduction of this article, as to whether or not I was “forcing” the concept of decolonisation in my analysis of student activism, this paper relates that the application of decolonial ethos to aspects of student struggles in Ghana may appear superficial. Yet, one can consider decolonization ubiquitous in use because colonialism affected all aspects of the lives of former colonial subjects, therefore, the application of the concept of decolonization would depend on the evidence available. Asking whether students were decolonial may at a glance appear too straight-jacket or mechanically. As product of their era, students fought oppression and injustice some of which could be considered as anti-colonial, anti-apartheid, anti-racial and pro pan-African in outlook. This is to say that most members of the student movements were not intentionally decolonial in orientation but interpretations of decolonization can be applied to aspects of their activism just as social theories can be used to explain historical events. One agrees with Falola (Interview on 26th February 2023 via zoom) that “You cannot exclude student’s activism from decolonial projects. And these student activisms everywhere in Africa were intense.” It is the intensity of their activism that makes them ideal candidates of investigation.

One of the challenges in this research was finding clear messages of decolonisation from sources used. Most respondents when asked the question: Were students conscious of the concept of decolonisation indicated in the negative. Tagoe (interview on 14th July 2023) noted that students did not consciously operate with a decolonisation mindset. Coca-Appiah (interview on 13th July 2023) also indicated that “I don’t think so. The time that I was there was soon after the overthrow of Nkrumah in the 1966 coup all the way we struggled after the coup we struggled and then the 72 coup. I think for me at the time, the focus was more on what was happening within the country than what was happening elsewhere. Mind you at the time, in 1968 and 1970, a lot of the African countries in East and West Africa were independent. It was only a few in Southern Africa that were not independent.”

This quote raises three important arguments. First, student activism in Ghana was mainly focused on institutional and national “bread and butter” issues as well as the fight against oppressive governments (Anderson et al, 2023). Students’ concern with “oppressive” politics can be interpreted as an extended form of decoloniality if compared with the oppressive colonial government, only here the target is not European but the Ghanian state. Secondly, students in West African countries that had gained independence were not direct witnesses to dehumanization and racial discriminations as witnessed in Eastern and Southern Africa. Therefore, the urgency to decolonize was not vehement. Third, students showed solidarity to the struggles for independence and an end to racial discrimination in Southern Africa but were not directly involved in the efforts to totally liberate Africa. However, the consciousness of students of the decolonial struggles of other African states can be clearly seen in the solidarity initiatives indicated through the oral interviews. One will agree with Sawyerr (interview on 19 December 2022) that “the extent to which the posture is anti-colonial or decolonial depends upon what they are opposing or attacking.” The student movement could not be put in a single box to say that the student movement were decolonial or not as different forces within and outside the universities determined students’ reactions to policies of government and the international status quo. From student memories, one finds clear instances of decolonial initiatives of students, however, there is very little written evidence of substantiate the oral evidence.

Conclusion

This article presents a contemporary interpretation of the past action of students outside the relationship of their intention. The resurgence of debates on students’ role in the decolonization discourse is inspired by the #RhodesMustFall movement in the University of Cape Town as students and academics protested systematic and entrenched privilege of whiteness over blackness, institutional racism, and colonial symbolism in South Africa (Nyamnjoh, 2018). Post colonial activists sought to institute different initiatives to resist neocolonialism overtly or subtly, especially the economic and political exploitation by the West. This article injects an essential, yet missing component to the decolonization discourse—Students. Student socio-political consciousness greatly influenced other social groups including the trade unions, professional associations, and the political elite. As the direct recipients of the attempted decolonised initiatives of governments and the universities after independence, it is essential to analyse approaches adopted by student to contribute to the discourse—mainly including protests, engaging in public debates and symposia, releasing press statements, and providing a nurturing environment for African revolutionaries. Students protest against the murder of Patrice Lumumba in 1961, the 1965 unilateral declaration of independence by Rhodesia from Britain, and the attempted collaboration with the apartheid government in South Africa by Busia sought to draw the attention of the public to issues affecting Africa’s sovereignty and development. Though their consistent resistance of forms of neocolonialism especially the structural adjustment programs of the Bretton Wood institutions was unsuccessful, students forced the various governments to reassess their policies on higher education in Ghana. In addition, their support for African-centered at nation-building fostered economic progress (Though this progress was short-lived due to economic mismanagement and corruption). Decolonization from students’ perspective did not introduce a mountain of changes as they lacked tangential institutional power to imbibe mountain of changes. This paper has demonstrated specific contexts in which the concept of decolonization can be applied to student activism. Therefore, it can be aptly said that university students’ decolonial consciousness depended on their immediate interest, the opposition to their interest, and the influence of internal and external forces. In addition, student ideological inclinations were very fluid and was heavily influenced by the socio-economic and political conditions, nationally and internationally. As predicted by Nkrumah, higher education produced student movements that served as vanguards in the fight against neocolonialism.