Members of the University Community are hereby invited to the first Inter-College Lecture to be delivered by Dr. Caesar Atuire (Department of Philosophy and Classics)
Topic: Multi-Partyism, Social Fragmentation and Nation Building
Date: Thursday, February 23, 2017
Time: 4:30 pm
Venue: ISSER Conference Hall
Chairman: Prof. Samuel Agyei-Mensah, Provost, College of Humanities
All are cordially invited.
Please click here to access the calendar of Scholarly Lectures
ABSTRACT
Ghana, like many African nations, is a product of colonialization. Peoples from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds were lumped together into nation states by the colonial rulers. With independence, African leaders were faced with the challenge of forging national identity and unity as a fundamental part of nation building. Kwame Nkrumah had a vision that was outlined in Conscientism and other discourses. The task of nation building requires social, ethnic, religious, and cultural cohesion.
In recent times, since 1992, Ghana has embraced multi-partyism as a system of government. Ghana is admired and respected as one of the few African countries that successfully run free elections where peaceful transitions are made from one party to the other.
A critical look at the dynamics of partisan politics reveals that there is a risk of entrenching internal divisions along ethnic, social and religious lines. Ironically, the very multi-partisan democratic system that makes Ghana the emblem of peace in Africa, could also be mining the roots of cohesion that are essential towards nation building.
I would propose that a possible solution to this challenge lies not only in good governance and institutional efficiency, but also, and primordially, in educating citizens towards a better understanding of the nature and use of the power conferred on them by democracy.
PROFILE
Dr Caesar Atuire joined the University of Ghana in January 2014 as Lecturer. He began his university education in Civil Engineering at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine (London). He branched off to Philosophy where he obtained a BA (Summa cum laude). In 1994, he earned a Licentia Philosophiae from the Gregorian University (Rome). He obtained a PhD in Philosophy with an Enquiry into Suicide at the Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum (Rome) in 2005. Dr Atuire also holds a Master’s degree in Theology and Diplomas in Bioethics and Pedagogical Sciences.
Prior to joining the University of Ghana, Dr Atuire lectured in Italy, Spain, Colombia, Mexico and Tanzania. His most recent works include:
1. Atuire, C.A., The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Still Universal? Paper presented at Conference on ‘Normative Disorientation and Institutional Instability’, organized by the LeverHulme Trust Research Network, University of Ghana, 24-25 March 2015.
2. Atuire, C.A., Power and Responsibility in African Democracy: Guardinian Perspectives, Paper presented at ‘Inaugural Conference of the Research Group on Global Justice’, McGill University, Canada, 8-9 September 2016. The Paper has been presented for publication in the peer reviewed journal ‘Quién: revista de filosofía personalista’, Spain.
3. Atuire, C.A., Understanding the Christian faith, IF Press, Essay Research Series, Rome, 2017, pp. 150.
