The light of liberty cannot chart its course across Africa without the mentioning of Professor George B.N Ayittey. His demise is a great loss to us all especially the younger generation in Africa. The works and contributions of Professor Ayittey have influenced most if not all within the liberty movement of Africa and the world at large.
Everyone at YAFO is sudden by his demise. In the words of our Co-founder, Nathaniel Dwamena:
‘Through the works of Professor Ayittey, we have a clear understanding of the historical free market underpinnings of the African society, indigenous African institutions and the why Africa should be free. I am very sudden for we have lost a great father, an inspiration, and a pillar of liberty’.
As the final burial service comes off on Friday, 8th April 2022, we join everyone who loved and enjoyed the rich scholarly works of Professor Ayittey. We are heartbroken, the guiding hand of a father is lost and his absence brings to bear the cold hands of death. We, however, take solace in the words of Albert Einstein:
“Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us; our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life”
Professor Ayittey is gone, but his works, influence, and the chart of liberty he created would forever live on and passed on, from one cheetah generation to another, until the reign of Hippos on the African continent ends.
Professor George B.N Ayittey is a recognized authority on political-economic development in Africa. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada; an M.A. University of Western Ontario, London, Canada, and a B.Sc. Univ. of Ghana, Legon, Ghana. Professor was a distinguished scholar and economist in residence at American University and President of the Free Africa Foundation. Professor Ayittey has championed the idea that “Africa is poor because she is not free.” True freedom never came to much of Africa after independence from colonial rule, says his first book, Africa Betrayed, which won the H.L. Mencken Award for “Best Book in 1992.” He is the father of the Cheetah generation, having a focused effort on identifying profitable enterprises for Cheetahs in Africa. This was made popular by the powerful impact of his speech “Cheetahs vs. Hippos for Africa’s Future: at the TED Global Conference 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania.
Rest in peace, Professor George B.N Ayittey.
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