'The gown must go to town'

For a number of years, our academics and intellectuals have been retreating from the public space back to the confines of university classrooms and offices, away from public platforms and media commentary, and to a certain degree, even from the political space. Is the country experiencing a near lapse into some sort of ‘Orwellian groupthink’ as a result? It is time they returned.

In 1963, in his revered speech, “The African Genius”, Kwame Nkrumah famously argued that “the time has come for the gown to come to town.” As the country battles some of its most pressing challenges, indeed, the ‘gown must come to town’ and intellectual thinkers, professors, writers, artists and teachers must rise to the occasion and play their part in transformation and critical thinking.