University of Cape Coast (UCC) has conferred on Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang the first ever Distinguished Fellow Award, the highest honour of the university, for her exceptional contributions to national and global development.
The Vice President was honoured for her unwavering commitment to public service, gender equality, society, academia, democracy and governance, as well as her remarkable services to UCC in various capacities.
The university convened a special congregation on Friday graced by eminent scholars, traditional and political leaders, diplomats, students among others to do her the honour.
At the historic colourful event, Prof Opoku-Agyemang was gracefully robed by Sir Sam Jonah, the Chancellor of UCC, supported by Prof Denis Worlanyo Aheto, the Vice-Chancellor, and Justice William Atugubah, Chairman of the university’s Governing Council as symbol of the conferment.
Addressing the congregation, Sir Jonah laid a strong basis for presenting the Vice President the first highest honour, describing her as one of the school’s finest leaders who exuded courage, grace, and rigour.
He praised her for her trailblazing records of repeatedly breaking longstanding barriers and setting new standards to motivate the younger generation of women and girls.
He described Prof Opoku-Agyemang’s tenure as the first female Vice-Chancellor of UCC and of Ghana as “a remarkable era of great transformation and development” for the university.
The Chancellor was even more awed by the distinguished academic’s historic feat of being the first female Vice President of Ghana, extolling her as a quintessential woman of substance and a perfect model for young girls.
Sir Jonah testified to the Vice President’s integrity and unblemished record throughout her professional and leadership roles, describing her as selfless and a true patriot.
He congratulated her for her latest achievement and thanked her for her service to nation and the world.
“We don’t honour you because you need the honour, but we honour you because we need the example,” he said.
The Chancellor implored young girls to emulate the Vice President and choose her path of hard works, diligence, commitment and courage.
“Let her life be your instruction and her example be your vision,” he added.
Prof Aheto, the Vice-Chancellor explained that the award was reserved for persons whose accomplishments resonated with the values and vision of the school.
He tabled an endless and incredible profile of the Vice President highlighting some of her major achievements and contributions to the growth UCC.
Before rising to the position of first female Vice-Chancellor, Prof Opoku-Agyemang was the first female Dean of the Faculty of Art as well as the School of Graduate Studies.
During her tenure as Vice-Chancellor, Prof Opoku-Agyemang saw to the establishment of the Oil and Gas Institute, the Faculty of Law, a UCC Crèche at the Preschool and the Amissah-Arthur Language Centre.
She also expanded the University’s Printing Press, completed the Faculty of Education Lecture Theatre Complex, and the Diagnostic Centre at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital among other things.
As a distinguished fellow, she also laid a strong foundation to position UCC for national and international recognitions including being adjudged the best school in Ghana and West Africa for the fifth consecutive time by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Prof Aheto said the Vice President’s journey was a “powerful testament to excellence” and motivation to Ghana and the globe.
In midst of the joy, Prof Aheto quickly turned to the darker side of the university, pointing to the longstanding challenge of inadequate accommodation for students which was affecting teaching and posing security risk to many students.
In that regard, he said the university aligned itself with government’s Big Push which aimed to provide adequate critical infrastructure across the country.
The Vice-Chancellor appealed to all stakeholders to support efforts to provide accommodation to support teaching and learning.
The Vice President thanked the university for the honour, describing the feeling as “special” having come from an institution where her higher education began and where professional life took shape.
In her acceptance speech, she called for a paradigm shift in higher education to address the real needs of society.
She stressed that Ghana’s education must go beyond theoretical knowledge and make tangible improvements in the country, maintaining that higher education must serve the people.
“The value of our work should be judged not so much by how loudly it is praised, or by what we discover for our own generation but above all, whether what it leaves for Ghana is stronger, clearer or is more valuable than what we received,” she said.
“If knowledge is meant to light our way, our goal is to carefully the world of discovery and leave the path clearer than we found it.
“If we do that well, and it is our duty to do that well, the next generation will go further than we did,” she added.
“They will see more clearly, develop more skills and act with greater confidence than we put in our time,” the Vice President noted.
