CENTRAL CAFETERIA - PRELUDE

[Central cafeteria. The room is filled to capacity with students. The usual uproarious and cacophonous tendency akin to students is evident here. Some too are speaking in undertones and the youthful scene displayed exudes youthful exuberance and innocence. Almost all them were holding pamphlets or something associated with the theme of the conference. Others too are wearing t- shirts with inscriptions extolling the virtues and power of education and knowledge. A banner with the inscription knowledge is power is been brilliantly displayed. On the dais in front are seated some lecturers and students. The special guest of honor was Professor Ellison from Edifice University. He is asked by the host to assume the floor. He stood up obeisant for the microphone. The students welcomed him with a thunderous applause.]

Professor Ellison. [He is overwhelmed by the delightful reception.] Thank you. Thank you very much. It affords me the greatest pleasure to be in Legon of red roof tiles. Of somber beauty and majestic grandeur. Of balmy shades of enlightenment and edification. I am very happy to be present in front of the towers of learning, herald of intellectual advancement and accomplishment. I am very happy to be at the premier university, [applause from students] to be in this very hall, my precious central cafeteria. But alas, my message is a sad one. A pathetic story that will not darken but illume the learning towers of Legon. As gray tells us, the path of glory leads but to the grave. that as students of this great institution, we must not make the mistake of thinking that once we are receiving a university education, we are the fortunate and privileged few and that the ordinary people are burning in a coal black hell and we have been plucked out. Superiority is a stinking word. Invocation of aggrandizement by virtue of education is delusion - illusion. As students, learners, we must bear in mind that we have a huge task ahead of us - we have a great duty to perform for our dear country. This country is beset with innumerable problems. People are suffering; wallowing in ignorance, there is massive unemployment, moral degeneration, corruption, and cultural depravity. Now we are here to be armed with the weapon of education to liberate our people. it is incumbent on us to use the knowledge we acquire to improve upon our appalling and humiliating circumstances. We live in the nadir of the world - the peripherals where all the filth, the abominable and wretched dross of the earth is discarded. The knowledge we acquire must be used to combat all these negative woes amongst us. We must not detach, alienate ourselves from the less fortunate ones. We must help them with what we have acquired. Education is not only for an individual but an assert of the community.

If you claim to be a leader, then you must prepare to serve. For a leader must identify himself with the people. No one can lay claim to being a good leader if he separates himself from the very people he claims to serve. He must approach them and identify their burden as his burden. The secrets we acquire here must be selflessly revealed to the ordinary people, the masses. So that we can create a collective consciousness, which will help us a lot in our quest for the betterment of our society. We must let them understand everything. We must strive to be their interpreters. The sound of the magic flute from the learning towers must echo and re echo in the consciences of all and sundry, the magic words, open sese me that we desperately seek on our lips must not only be used when acquired to transform our situations alone but must reflect and impact positively in the lives of the citizens of our dear nation. No man is an island entire of itself. We have seen a lot, we have learnt a lot and are still gathering more experience. We are fully aware of the price; we know the repercussions of living in ignorance, being benighted in the dark.

I find it intriguing and quite amazing that some of the most serious and shameful things do originate on campus. The very validity and relevance of the premier university is being questioned. What the towers symbolize, what they represent in the psyche of the community is what we must guard and not destroy. The action of some students in this institution is like a huge hammer battering the towers to debris. So many things have happened here that I know. Revolution itself starts in Legon. So why don’t we rebel against the negative things that are plaguing us. Let us all contribute to combat the specter haunting Legon and bring it to its superior position again. Thank you.