Stop hero-worshipping; J.B. Danquah did nothing for Ghana - Captain Smart
Controversial media personality Blessed Godsbrain Smart, popularly known as Captain Smart, has downplayed the role Ghanaian politician, scholar, lawyer, and statesman J.B. Danquah played in building Ghana.
His comment comes after family members of J.B. Danquah and traditional authorities of the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council poured libation on the tomb of the statesman to express their anger after an MP, Murtala Ibrahim, called him a traitor during a debate on the floor of Parliament recently.
The Traditional Council subsequently followed up with a petition to the Speaker of Parliament, asking him to get the MP to retract his comment against J.B. Danquah and apologize.
But Captain Smart, during his show in a video shared on social media, said J.B. Danquah did not do anything significant for Ghana and should not be hero-worshipped as he is being done.
"I heard some people poured libation on the tomb of J.B. Danquah. J.B. Danquah did not do anything in Ghana. What did he do? Show us just one of his achievements. Point us to just one thing he did in his own hometown. Everyone wants to celebrate an icon from his or her hometown, no problem. But the fact is that if you did not do anything significant to help build the nation, you cannot be celebrated. Today, NPP members have forgotten about Busia, really? What did J.B. Danquah do for Ghana? I dislike tribal politics, but it is about time people in other regions look out for people from their hometown who did something for Ghana."
Captain Smart continued: "I will never stop saying that J.B. Danquah was a gossip; he said a lot of things about Nkrumah. Yes, he's from your hometown, we agree. If you want to honour him, we have no problem. But we need to tell Ghanaians all the facts about him. Was it not J.B. Danquah who said that Kwame Nkrumah could not build the Akosombo Dam? But it got to a time when people were fighting for electricity extension to J.B. Danquah's hometown from the Akosombo Dam built by Nkrumah. I just don't speak—there are documents to show."
He added: "What did J.B. Danquah write about the Kade match factory? He claimed that Kwame Nkrumah, by building the match factory, was going to teach Ghanaian children how to smoke cigarettes. Meanwhile, check his family members who eventually worked at the match factory. He wrote this; he did not just say it."
Meanwhile, watch this Ghana Month special edition of People and Places as we hear the story of how the head of Kwame Nkrumah's bronze statue was returned after 43 years, below: