GIVE GIJ HER FAIR SHARE

 

               GIVE GIJ HER FAIR SHARE

The story of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) is embarrassing. It is embarrassing not because the Institute has not paid its dues to the country and the continent at large, but because after fifty-two years of  training journalists and media practitioners all over the continent, GIJ is still where and how it was at the beginning. To a fresher, it sometimes looks unfortunate at first, but after few semesters you get used to it.  But the more you know the exploits of the Institute, you begin to equate that transformation with maturity,and this is where the greater disappointment comes in. The neglect of one of the first communication training institutions on the continent is unacceptable, especially when one looks at the critical role the GIJ has played and continue to play in the social, economic and political life of this country. The neglect of GIJ is not because the authorities concerned are ignorant about the plight of the Institute.

On 7th April 2008 the President of Ghana Prof. John Evans Attah Mills promised to develop GIJ’s  new site to enable the institute to relocate students from the former Governor's apartment. This apartment was turned into a school by Dr Kwame Nkrumah purposefully for the training of professional media men and women. Three years after the said promise, no visible structure has been erected on a foundation at Okponglo, GIJ’s new site which has lain fallow for decades. The President has carried out four ground breaking ceremonies for the construction of a university of Energy and Natural Resources in the Brong Ahafo Region and the University of Health and Allied sciences in the Volta Region. There is also is a building to relocate the University of Ghana Medical School from Korle-Bu to Legon, with a new School for biomedical sciences. Recently at Navrongo campus of the University of Development studies (UDS) the President cut the sod for the

construction of an ultra modern assembly hall auditorium.

This leaves one wondering whether the Ghana Institute of Journalism, which was specifically mentioned in the ruling government’s manifesto, is still on the government agenda. I believe strongly that tertiary education, as the President once said, is the pinnacle of human resource development. It paves the way to enhance the prospects of those who gain admission and get the opportunity to undergo the various academic disciplines for nation building: a venture GIJ has not failed in. The Institute has produced seasoned journalists, public relation practitioners, academics, advertisers, and some of the finest brains steering the affairs of our dear motherland in different capacities.

It is therefore rather unfortunate that such an institution which was conferred with a university status has not been given attention for the past 52 years of its existence, thus leaving students with painful experiences of inadequate library facility, absence of a radio station, limited parking space, and hostel facility. Sometimes, students are denied admission because there are no lecture halls to accommodate them.

The revamping of the new site will benefit of the thousands of prospective students willing to learn in the institute. Moreover,students can have practical knowledge of whatever they learn if eventually the radio station is realized.

I therefore use this opportunity to remind President John Evans Atta-Mills about his promise to GIJ. The students of GIJ want to see actual commencement of work on the new site. Now.

DANIEL LARTEY