....made blunder in opening Wilberforce Institute
London, July 16 (BlackBritain) -- Pan African critics have launched an scathing attack against the President of Ghana for paying tribute to a new university which presents William Wilberforce as the man responsible for ending slavery, ignoring the ongoing African resistance against enslavement, the Maroons of Jamaica and Haitian Revolution.
The President of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, provoked mixed feelings from the black community when he opened the University of Hull’s Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation last week.
Kufuor congratulated the city for it’s commitment to continuing the legacy of William Wilberforce - who reportedly led the campaign to abolish the slave trade.
Kufuor's presidential visit also commemorated the millions of Africans taken by the Europeans to the Americas as slaves, many of them from the area of West Africa that today makes up the independent nation of Ghana.
Named after William Wilberforce, WISE is led by internationally renowned academics from the University of Hull and is located next to the birthplace of Wilberforce, Wilberforce House. A host of national and international guests were present at the opening of the Institute including the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott MP and and popular BBC news presenter Moira Stuart. Professor David Drewry, Vice Chancellor at the University of Hull said:“2007 is the bicentenary of the legal ending of the British slave trade, an event indelibly associated with Wilberforce. It is fitting that 200 years after this act, which was a fundamental turning point in world history, Hull is once again at the heart of bringing to the world’s attention modern forms of slavery, and reminding us all of the need to encourage the research necessary to address and tackle them.”
Professor David Drewry, Vice Chancellor at the University of Hull, also claimed that Hull was again bringing modern slavery “to the world’s attention” Pepukayi, executive member of the Pan African Congress Movement [PACM] however, claimed – just days after Ghana High Commissioner for the United Kingdom pleaded with the media to stop ridiculing Ghanaian leadership- that it is very important that we remember slavery in a “sensible” way and “recognise and immortalise the glorious work” that our ancestors have done. Pepukayi told Black Britain: “First and foremost we need to register very seriously our concern with the president of Ghana. Because oftentimes we have these buffoons who just play in the hands of our enemy. They have no knowledge of self and therefore are just willing to be used because if he was not compliant in this we wouldn’t have this problem.”Europeans hellbent on glorifying themselves rather than acknowledging truth
Pepukayi also criticised the way in which William Wilberforce and other abolitionists has been elevated above black African freedom fighters for his role in abolishing slavery. Pepukayi told Black Britain: “We need to be very clear that William Wilberforce freed no one. He assisted yes but he freed no one. It was out of our efforts and our ancestor’s efforts that they had to abolish slavery because we resisted. It’s what we did and what our abolitionists did not what William Wilberforce or Granville Sharpe did” Pepukayi concluded by insisting that Africans need to be extremely careful how their legacy and history of resistance is represented.Papukayi told Black Britain: “We have to watch what the Europeans have lined up for us because this so called emancipation that they are planning is about glorifying them and we have to be very careful about that.”
Papa Kojo, President of the Campaign for the Advancement of Afrikan People [CAAP] insisted that Kufuor was playing the role of a servant when he opened the institute. Papa Kojo told Black Britain: “The master asked the president of Ghana to come and front it. Kufuor can’t think of doing that – he hasn’t got b*****! It is the master calling ‘hey come and stand here and do this for your brother to see’ and he will run like a baby. If we understand the meaning of liberation we wouldn’t start celebrating it yet until we’ve got it.” Papa Kojo also said that he didn’t believe in the concept of memorialising the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Papa Kojo told Black Britain: “Well there shouldn’t be a slavery memorial day. We [CAAP] have African memorial day this year as a holocaust because we can only remember the suffering that has been perpetuated against us.” Papa Kojo concluded by claiming that all such initiatives were ultimately useless because Africa and Africans are still not free. Pap Kojo said: “I personally don’t accept that because there isn’t a single African country that is free. I don’t attend African Liberation day because we aren’t fee. The interpretation of liberation is when you can take your own decisions. Not a single state out of 54 African states can decide anything without coming back to their master. Neo-colonialism is still working on us.’
