Ghana'sbreakthrough for not only itself but for Africa as a whole came through theelite Kwame Nkrumah. His famous words that marked the turning point were "Atlong last the battle has ended. Ghana your beloved country is free forever" areechoed in the hearts of Ghanaians all over the world. Mr. Nkrumah further wenton to emphasize that "The Independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it islinked up with the total liberation of the whole continent of Africa." He wantedone thing and that was for a united Africa that was absolutely self dependent.The birth of Ghana as a new nation reshaped the map of Africa and even itsdestiny. Ghana' independence acted as an inspiration to what soon became acontinent wide spread process of change. Within 3 weeks of gaining Independence20 other African colonies had claimed their Independence. In recent years Ghanahas emerged as one of Africa's most respected democracies and more solideconomies.

For the peoplein Ghana the year of Jubilee will be marked with a year long of Celebrations.The big day itself had more than 20 dignitaries from across the world withPresidents from South Africa, Nigeria and Zimbabwe attending. Rev. JesseJackson and Steve Wander also graced the occasion with the latter performing asong dedicated to Ghana. The streets of Accra were lined with thousands ofpeople who gathered in the city centre to re-enact the declaration ofindependence at the exact time it was done 50 years earlier and with a budgetof $20million the Government has gone all out to make sure that the Ghanaiansin an around the world remember the year for along time to come.

 For the Ghanaian students at Jacobs Universitythough, the day marked one of reflection, a time to look at how far theircountry has come and how far it is going in the future. One student inparticular was able to pinpoint what 50 years to Ghanaians meant his words werethat "Each and every person has a defining moment in their lives. Ghana had herdefining moment 50 years ago and grabbed hold of it. The thing with definingmoments is that either you define them or the moment defines you." Ghana choseto define its own moment when it gained Independence and the fruit of theirlabor is visible all over the continent of Africa.

With half acentury down and another on its way one can only wish Ghana and its people thebest for the future.

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