The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has said that notwithstanding former President Jerry John Rawlings’s outright rejection of proposals to name the University for Development Studies after him, it is still his strong belief that the university should be named after him to honour him for the key role he played in establishing it.
President Nana Akufo-Addo, speaking on Saturday, November 14, 2020, at a graduation ceremony at the Tamale Campus of UDS, maintained that naming the university after the deceased former leader will be such a befitting honour given his preeminent role in setting it up.
“The immense amount of work undertaken by President Rawlings and his government resulted in the establishment of this university. In 2017, I indicated to him through the Minister for Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, my decision to name this university after him.
He respectfully declined the honour and offer because of his principle not to have national monuments named after him…Notwithstanding these sentiments, and with all due respect to him, it is my strong belief, which I am sure has the backing of the majority of Ghanaians that such an honour be accorded him,” he said.
Through the late former President Rawlings’s instrumentality as Head of State, UDS was established in 1992. But he has consistently resisted attempts to name the University after him.
History of UDS
“The University for Development Studies (UDS) is Ghana’s first public University in the North. It was established in May, 1992 by the Government of Ghana (PNDC Law 279) to “blend the academic work with that of the community in order to provide constructive interaction between the two for the total development of Northern Ghana, in particular, and the country as a whole (http://www.uds.edu.gh/about-us/history-and-facts. Retrieved October 10, 2018).
UDS was borne out of the new thinking in higher education which emphasizes the need for universities to play a more active role in addressing problems of the society, particularly in the rural areas (Effa, 1998).
The University by its mandate and constituency has a pro-poor focus. This is reflected in its methodology of teaching, research and outreach services. The specific emphasis on practically-oriented, research and field-based training is aimed at contributing towards poverty reduction in order to accelerate national development.
It began academic work in September 1993 with the admission of forty (40) students into the Faculty of Agriculture (FoA), Nyankpala and currently has student population of 19,720…”
Source of history: uds.edu.gh
