Conservative Economist, Professor George B.N. Ayittey: R.I.P.!
Assensoh, Akwasi B.
Sabella Abidde
Good evening Prof. Assensoh:
So sad! A committed Pan-Africanist, a first-rate scholar, and a truly great man have joined our ancestors. My condolences to his entire family!
I got to know Professor George B.N. Ayittey in 2005 when he responded publicly and privately (and kindly too) to an online essay I wrote. It wasn’t until several months later that I got to know that he was an eminent scholar at the American University in Washington DC. So, I bragged to my friends and classmates at Howard University that “I know Ayittey…Ayittey Knows Me.”
Many years later, he kindly agreed to come onboard a book I was co-authoring entitled, “China in Africa: Between Imperialism and Partnership in Humanitarian Development.” In the intervening years, we’d exchange emails sporadically. Although he was a busy man, he was generous with his time and intellect.
May he rest.
Sabella Abidde
George B.N. Ayittey, October 13, 1945-January 28, 2022 (76). R.I.P.!
--Sadly shared by A.B. Assensoh.
--
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Toyin Falola
As an aside, but significant for its import, is the question: when and how do you announce the death of someone?
We knew from several sources that our brother died a long time ago but we could not announce it. Three people asked me to but I refused. It was even posted on the Internet that it was a rumor.
Should we instruct our next-of-king to grant immediate authorization?
TF
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
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Emmanuel Udogu
“Death–comes for us all…Yes, even for kings, he comes, to whom amidst all their royalty and brute strength he will neither kneel nor make them any reverence nor pleasantly desire them to come forth, but roughly grasp them by the very breast and rattle them until they be stark dead (p. 119)... Death comes for us all; even at our birth–even at our birth death does but stand aside a little and every day he looks towards us and muses somewhat whether that day or the next he will draw nigh. It is the course of nature and the will of God (p. 128).”
Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons
My special condolences to the family of this great scholar and Pan-Africanist whose poignant book, Africa in Chaos (1997), I had the privilege of reviewing over two decades ago.
May his soul rest in perfect peace with our other great intellectual ancestors!
Ike Udogu
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Akinloye Ojo
George B.N. Ayittey, October 13, 1945-January 28, 2022 (76). R.I.P.!
--Sadly shared by A.B. Assensoh.
--
Harrow, Kenneth
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2022 1:28 PM
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [External] Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ayittey and The politics of announcing death
Sabella Abidde
Good Greetings Brother Akinloye,
Long time, how are you? Ghana, and indeed, Africa has lost a truly remarkable man. Professor Ayittey was not at all docile or validation-seeking; rather, he was an activist, a scholar, and a public intellectual all rolled into one. Many of us will miss him.
Cordially,
SabellaTo view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAAwwaEYdRWcfodyL-ngNhHFuz%2BjNTpO4XE4yhW47dPgWqwH_mA%40mail.gmail.com.
Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association
Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2022 11:52 PM
EXTERNAL EMAIL: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click any links or open any attachments unless you trust the sender and know the content is safe.
Assensoh, Akwasi B.
RE: The Sad Death of Professor B.N. Ayittey (1945-2022) and the Hesitation in Announcing the Event in a Timely Fashion
Dear Big Sister Gloria, my fellow Historian:
Due to many factors -- including sheer African customary-cum-discretionary reasons -- I may not be able to let you and our other distinguished dialogue forum participants know all that I have learnt -- since January 28th -- about the passing of our dear Pan-African brother and compatriot, Professor George B.N. Ayittey (who lived from October 13, 1945 to January 28, 2022). However, I will try to be transparent, with some explanation, if that helps here.
Our own SIR Toyin was correct, in pointing out recently, that some concerned persons contacted him about the passing of Dr. Ayittey, indeed back in early February of 2022. I possibly belonged to the number of persons, who did contact SIR Toyin. Sorry to point out, however, that the sad death was not just a political issue but a matter of who had the right (or authority?) to announce that, in fact, he ceased to live ion that fateful Friday of January 28, 2022! I knew, from a very reliable Ghanaian family source, as far back as December of 2021 that Professor Ayittey had suffered a massive stroke, and that he also fell down, as a result, and that he was in admission at a Virginia hospital for treatment; I wanted to be helpful, but when I tried to make inquiries, I did not have the relevant "pass-words" or "codes" to be allowed to learn more. Therefore, I sadly ended my inquiries.
I was concerned because I had known my fellow Ghanaian scholar that I always referred to or called as "Brother George" since our years at Stanford University in the late 1980s. That was when he was a National Fellow at The Hoover Institution, and I was Assistant Editor and Director of Research for the then Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers' Project of Stanford University (now The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute). Thanks to my dear cousin (Dr. Stephen Agyepong), himaself an Economist and a Computer Engineer, who introduced me to Brother George (Dr. Ayittey); he and I hit off very well, and I am happy to mention today that he appreciated my advisory editorial roles on the manuscripts that subsequently became his earlier initial published books. Thanks also to The Hoover Institution, Cato institute as well as other conservative Think Thanks that -- to the best of my recollection -- either encouraged or actively supported his research.
Most certainly, Sister Gloria, I am not surprised that some activities surrounding Brother George can, sometimes, be either political or controversial, including simply announcing in good time that, indeed, he had joined our
ancestors. For example, I still recall that one of the first public lectures, at Stanford University, by Brother George -- which was about an aspect of Indigenous Institutions in Africa, which later became the subject of his first substantive book of a similar
title -- degenerated into a "free-for-all" shouting match and "chair-throwing" event toward the end. Why? Because some of our African brothers and a couple of our sisters present at the lecture were incensed by Brother George's unabashed criticisms levelled
at African nations and their leaders that he described as being corrupt and despotic. "Why don't you go to Africa to say all that nonsense," I heard some African brothers shouting such a query at him. His equally loud response was: "I will be dead, if I dared
to say those truths anywhere in Africa."
As a trained Journalist, with unlimited belief in freedom of speech, I was bewildered by what I saw or heard at this first lecture given by Brother George (Profesor Ayittey). That was why I declined to accept any further invitations to attend any events at which he ws to speak on either Stanford University campus or in nearby San Francisco; I often urged him to give me a "rain check", and he politely smiled about my usual refrain.
What Happened Before and After January 28, 2022?
My understanding was that, allegedly, it was a visitor, who found Brother George on the floor of his home when he fell, and that visitor reportedly called an ambulance to take him to the Virgini hospital. What about the female companion that we, allegedly, heard that he usually had in the house? The answer is anybody's guess!! However, everything else was unclear after that. Then, at the end of January of 2022, I was reliably informed verbally and in a terse email message that Professor Ayittey passed away. Was it at home or in the hospital? It was never confirmed; since I heard that he had passed away, I thought, in the interest of closure for loved ones, it was necessary to get the word out. I also thought as well that -- no matter how controversial he was in life, as a conservative Economist -- Professor Ayittey (my Brother George) deserved a measure of a dignified announcement, hence I contacted SIR Toyin with a brief one for the dialogue: simply to make that terse announcement and bring about closure!!!
SIR Toyin and I, also, agreed that maybe, I was not the proper person to announce Professor Ayittey's death, especially to confirm that it occurred on Friday, January 28, 2022, hence the hesitation, but the delay was not due to politics. Thanks, however, to my cousin (Dr. Agyepong, also a good friend of Brother George's), I again got hold of the funeral announcement from Ghana, with a human voice and its trappings, which also, in good taste, listed several of his accomplishment, including published books; interestingly, it did remind me of the first CV of Brother George, which I received from him to send to a publisher on his behalf: it included an aspect of his superior final academic transcript from University of Manitoba in Canada, displaying glittering "A" and "A+" grades he earned. That, indeed, was classic Brother George!!!!
Now that Professor George B.N. Ayittey has taken a deserving seat with our ancestors, may he (as my Brother George)
Rest In Peace (R.I.P.). After all, all of his earthly battles have ended in America and Ghana, respectively; therefore, he deserves a peaceful rest in our Maker. Amen.
A.B. Assensoh.
-------
Rev. A.B. Assensoh, LL.M., PH.D.,
Co-Book Review Editor, African & Asian Studies Journal,
Professor Emeritus (Indiana University),
Courtesy Professor Emeritus (University of Oregon),
Department of History,
McKenzie Hall (2nd Floor), University of Oregon,
Eugene, OR 97403, U.S.A.
Telephone: (541) 953-7710
Fax: (541) 346-6576
Sent: Sunday, March 20, 2022 5:03 AM
To: Sabella Abidde <sab...@gmail.com>; USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [External] Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Conservative Economist, Professor George B.N. Ayittey: R.I.P.!
Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association
Sent: Sunday, March 20, 2022 11:25 AM
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>; Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu>
Cc: Sabella Abidde <sab...@alasu.edu>; Samuel Zalanga <szal...@bethel.edu>; Andoh, Samuel K. <and...@southernct.edu>; Kwame Karikari <afumka...@gmail.com>; Nnaemeka, Obioma G <nnae...@iupui.edu>; doy...@gmail.com <doy...@gmail.com>; Nana AB <aben...@gmail.com>; Godwin Ohiwerei <drohi...@gmail.com>; rig...@yahoo.com <rig...@yahoo.com>; afaug...@yahoo.com <afaug...@yahoo.com>; Damien Ejigiri <deji...@yahoo.com>; Ucheoma Nwagbara <unwa...@yahoo.com>; Onyumbe Lukongo <onyumbe...@subr.edu>; baf...@kufuorfoundation.org <baf...@kufuorfoundation.org>; Samuel Zalanga <szal...@bethel.edu>