(UPDATED) A call has been made for a National posthumous Award for late Professor Claude Ake, a renowned African political economist and pioneer Dean of School of Social Sciences of University of PortHarcourt (Uniport).
The late scholar Ake was one of 144 people killed when ADC airlines Flight 86 between PortHarcourt- Lagos flight crashed on the 7th of November 1997. He was also the founder of Centre for Advanced Social Science (CASS) in Portharcourt.
The call was made at the weekend in PortHarcourt by Comrade Issa Aremu,mni, Director General of Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies, (MINILS) Ilorin at the 2021 Annual Professor Claude Ake Lecture/ Award night and unveiling of the Almuni magazine organized by University of PortHarcourt Alumni Association, Rivers state Chapter.
Comrade Aremu, an alumnus of the university who was also the guest speaker at the function said the late Professor dedicated his scholarship and research to Africa’s growth and development through “time- tested policy recommendations to stimulate productivity and guarantee equitable distribution of resources to the majority poor Africans”.
According to him, “long before the Arab springs of 2010, Claude Ake had warned of the danger of mass poverty and youth unemployment for stability of the continent in his celebrated published book: Revolutionary Pressures in Africa”.
He therefore advised policy advisers in Africa to revisit “Claude Ake’s original conclusions” instead of what he called “the current fad of down-loading received policy prescriptions from IMF and the World Bank which in turn further under-develop Africa, fuel inequality, wars and violence”.
Comrade Aremu said, “political economy as a tool for explaining socio-economic dynamics of Africa almost ‘died’ with the death of the political economist, Claude Ake” . He said a posthumous honor for the late scholar would motivate young African social scientists to initiate same thoughts that would uplift Africa from underdevelopment to prosperity. Aremu added that Claude was an Africa’s optimist who never despaired as it is now fashionable among the continent’s intellectuals.
In a similar vein, the Director- General praised Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Ezenwo Nyesom of River state for their respective contributions to national development.
“ Regardless of their acrimonious politics, both Minister Rotimi Amechi and Governor Wike are worthy ambassadors of University of Portharcourt, whose motto is ‘For Enlightenment and Self-Reliance’. One is passionately reinventing railway nation- wide, the other is called ‘Mr Projects’ building roads and projects. The two alumni are united more by development than politics which turns them apart,” Aremu said.
