Thank you very much for that introduction. Professor Akilakpa Sawyer, whose life and work we are celebrating in his eightieth year, Mrs. Judith Sawyer, the entire Sawyer family here present, the organisers of this event, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, invited guests, welcome to the second and last day of this exciting two-day celebration of what has been described aptly as a life of academic excellence, public service, thought leadership and activism.

As Yaohas said, we were treated yesterday to a wonderful lecture by Adebayo Olukoshi on "Democratisation, Active Citizenship And Africa's Transformation". That lecture and the discussants' comments that followed and some of the remarks from the floor underlined the importance of the economic and social dimensions of Africa's democratic dispensation, and the ways in which the failure to make progress on these aspect has impoverished democracy and active citizenship in Africa.

Today, we will turn the lens on these neglected dimensions of democracy to which Prof Sawyer has made immense contributions to elucidate his work on African high education, or renegotiating natural resource agreements, whether with Kaiser Aluminum or with the gold mining companies and in his work, drawing attention to the failure of institutions to safeguard the national interests in such agreements. We will spend what I think will be a worthwhile evening delving into these economic and social issues as they concern the crisis of work, wages and wealth and the fallout from these crises.

First of all, my profound gratitude for doing me this honor of asking me to chair today's event. While I was not Aki's student, he had left the then Law Faculty by the time I got there in 1980. I had just finished as an undergraduate when he became Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana. I can testify that the 1980s were hard times at Legon when the exodus of faculty was a great threat to the quality of education, not to speak about the power cuts, the deterioration in infrastructure and the student unrest that threatened academic life. But this was a time of personal growth and development for me and I am grateful that I encountered ProfSawyerr in those formative years. First, there was a great excitement about his appointment as Vice Chancellor among the group of young leftists in and around Legon that I was a member of.

I was of course very curious, and wanted to meet this person. By the time I returned to Legon as a young academic in 1991, it was clear to me that the good professor did not disappoint the high expectations that accompanied his appointment. He left Legon much better than he found it and set our university firmly on the path to recovery. Sadly, this period also coincided with the fundamental questioning of the value of high education by the World Bank's rate of return theories and the acquiescence of governments across Africa, sparking a decade of reforms that have transformed the landscape of high education as we used to know it.

Professor Sawyerr became an influential voice in producing an impressive body of work that critically examined the effects of neo-liberal policies on Africa's universities. This is the work that he was to continue in his productive years at the AAU. I tried to take the test that the commentators in that short film we watched yesterday about him failed very woefully, 'describe Aki in one word.' I came to understand why they failed. It is difficult to describe such a multifaceted person in one word. My first word was "gravitas". However, I looked it up again and I saw that while it summed up a large part of him, it missed certain key characteristics; the sharp analytical mind, his effortless ability to mentor and to mix with young and old, high and low, his amazing capacity to synthesize debates and chart a clear path forward, the mischief in his eyes and in his smile, his gentle teasing, a man confident in his skin and inspiring confidence and last but not least, a man always elegantly dressed in the African print shirts that he made his signature. I have never seen Prof in a suit, although from the photos on the wall, he does wear them on occasion. I wonder what he made of that wonderful welcome that the Ghana Dance Ensemble yesterday offered when they accompanied him into the hall dressed in shirts and ties to depict his status as a gentleman.

I was to especially thank Prof Sawyerr for three ways in which he has mentored and supported me. The first, which is familial, is a direct result of sharing my life with one of Aki's students who over the years, has become like a younger brother to him, and with whom he shares an enduring bond of mutual admiration and appreciation. Yao and I have been guests in his home on numerous occasions, hosted with wonderful generosity by Prof and Judith. Their partnership has always inspired me and provided me with a living example of what a marriage of progressive people should look like.Judith is an accomplished educational professional herself and for many years was the head of Ghana's foremost international school, GIS. Since her retirement, she has spent her energies working with others to advocate quality education in Ghana and the need to bridge the gap between schools in rich and poor neighborhoods. In all of this, she has found the space, the time and the commitment to support ProfSawyerr and all of his endeavors. A good friend of mine always jokes that, that saying "that behind every great man is a wife" is wrong. While this is a joke, I think there is a kennel of truth in this. We all owe you a debt of gratitude Judith, for keeping Professor Sawyerr honest, just as we owe a huge debt to Prof's parents, particularly his mother for her sacrifices and care.

My second point of gratitude is with respect to our work at CODESRlA. CODESRlA has had 15 presidents since it was established in 1973. And three have been Ghanaians. Professor Kankam Twum Barimah, Professor Aki Sawyerr and I, have been the second, the eighth and the fourteenth presidents respectively. I had not realised this but it seems that there is a six yearly return of the presidency of CODESRIA to Ghana. From the time I became active in CODESRlA, Prof Sawyerr was the gold standard to aspire to and when I became President, I very much felt the responsibility to follow in his footsteps to provide honest, committed and principled leadership. I don't know if I have succeeded but I do know that without his wise counsel and concrete support, the task would have been much harder. He and Tadesse, first woman to be elected CODESRIA president who is here with us today, mentored me and provided me with wise counsel whenever I reached out to them. Even before then when I was vice president, both of them were appointed to committees established by CODESRlA to evaluate different aspects of CODESRIA's institutional capacities, governance, management and intellectual agenda and to make proposals for reform. Prof Sawyerr worked together with others on governance reforms and their recommendations resulted in substantive constitutional changes that we sought to implement in my time as president. In all that period, his unstinting and reliable support kept me going in very tough times. Thank you very much Prof.

Third, I register my deep gratitude for Prof Sawyerr 's support for the Institute of African Studies. He is our go-to person for all things Kwame Nkrumah. His special brand of deep intellectual and political appreciation for Nkrumah's legacy and his ability to link this with current developmental concerns in our country and continent, has made him indispensable to us; whether it is to chair our launch of the Kwame Nkrumah Chairs Intellectual Festival or to chair the panel to recruit a new Kwame Nkrumah Chair. Most recently, he and I coordinated the commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the All Africa People's Conference of 1958. At the heart of success of that conference was Aki. His reputation, his leadership in crafting the intellectual agenda of the conference and its communications, his readiness to advocate for the conference and his overall leadership of the 4-day event as conference chair. This conference has contributed immensely to our reputation as a foremost center of Pan-African thought and we could not have done it without you Prof. Thank you very much.

Finally, I cannot thank you enough for the opportunity of continuing education on how to steer institutional transitions and reforms. Serving as a member of TWN's Executive Committee under your leadership, and being in numerous informal and formal strategy meetings with you, that you've chaired and steered has been a privilege, free lessons in how to manage strong views around a table, how to find points of commonality, how to keep your focus on the prize, being firm on points of principle and values and how to do all of these without causing offence or losing friends. I look forward to enjoying many more years of your mentorship and teaching and I thank you in advance for that.

And now, I'd like us to hear statements from some of the associations in the following order: Yesterday, we heard a few. Today we 'II be hearing from Third World Network-Africa, Star Ghana, and the Sawyerr family, and perhaps PAWA or GAW who want to make a presentation. So let's start with Third World Network· Africa please. Thank you.