(EDITOR’S NOTE: His Excellency Sidney Collie, Bahamas Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), participated in the ground-breaking ceremony for the Obokese University of Excellence in Ghana on Wednesday, November 25, 2020. Ambassador Collie was invited to speak at the ground-breaking by Nana Obekese Ampah I, founder of the university, during a visit to Washington, D.C. on October 7, 2020. He posted the following first-person account of his visit on his Facebook page that I decided to share as a Guest Commentary for readers of BAHAMAS CHRONICLE.)
GUEST COMMENTARY BY SIDNEY COLLIE
CAPE COAST, Ghana, November 27, 2020 — I began my first week of 2020 vacation in Cape Coast, Ghana, West Africa. I first came to Ghana approximately 20 years ago with my wife and two young daughters. On that occasion, among other things, we visited the dungeon and famous door of no return at Elmina Castle. They were participating in Panafest as members of the National Children’s Choir, under the auspices of the late iconic Patricia Bazzard and Audrey Dean-Wright (deceased).
This time I came as a board member of The Obokese University of Excellence and chairman of the fund-raising committee. I was invited by Nana Obokese Ampah, co-founder of OUE and Nana kwamina kra ll, provost and HRH PROFESSOR OKATAKYI VII, overlord (king) of The Asebu traditional area.
We went to celebrate:
- The year of return;
- The Wakanda city of return;
- Panafest;
- Sod cutting ceremony over the 40 acres of land granted to OUE by the Obokese foundation.
I was honored to participate in all of them as well as a guest on live stream radio/television to talk about the Afro-centric, kinetic teachings of the university; and guest speaker at the ceremony .
The highlight of the trip was my visit to the door of return, where the remains of ancestors from Jamaica, Barbados and the USA were returned to be entombed as a part of the return of the Diaspora. I also visited the river where the slaves took their final bath before being shipped to the Americas from Elmina Castle dungeon through the now INFAMOUS DOOR OF NO RETURN.
An additional highlight of my visit was being installed as development chief of the entire 26 regions of the Asebu Kingdom, an awesome responsibility and the first such honor being awarded to a member of the African Diaspora. My new title is NANA KWASI OBOTAN I (A solid rock).
VIDEO FROM GROUND-BREAKING CEREMONY: https://www.facebook.com/100000117874933/videos/pcb.5388985621115314/5388984374448772
