Nkrumah in Retrospect

Extract

Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, who fell from power two years ago, was surely one of the more spectacular leaders of the newly emerging nations, at least in the romantic and dramatic days of their early emergence. Nkrumah had a number of advantages which he exploited to the hilt: his successful drive for independence led the parade in Black Africa; Ghana itself had a head start in development and sophistication fostered by a generous British colonial policy; and the rest of the world was anxious that Ghana and others to follow it succeed in the business of attaining genuine nationhood.