{"id":116501,"date":"2026-02-23T11:48:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T11:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=116501"},"modified":"2026-02-23T11:48:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T11:48:26","slug":"keynote-speech-by-yaw-nsarkoh-at-the-noguchi-memorial-institute-for-medical-research-quality-week-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=116501","title":{"rendered":"Keynote speech by Yaw Nsarkoh at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research quality week celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>22 Minute, 19 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Chair, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,<\/b><\/h5>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thank you for this very important invitation. I consider it a tremendous honour.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some nostalgia<\/b><\/h4>\n

There is a sense in which returning to the University of Ghana\u2019s Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research (NMIMR or more simply just \u2018Noguchi\u2019) is a homecoming. For, as some of you no doubt know, Legon holds many fond memories of my childhood and youth.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is now more than four decades ago, though it feels like only yesterday, but I remember your present office premises, way back to when they were being constructed. The area in which it is situated was a thicket of bush that lay between the main campus and the South Legon residential area. To my youthful mind, South Legon was, among other things, the place where Wole Soyinka was to be found. <\/span><\/p>\n

Soyinka had, as he often has, significantly displeased the incumbent Nigerian military dictator of the time, General Olusegun Obasanjo. Soyinka found Ghana much less repressive and escaped into exile here. I am told that South Legon was his favourite haunt.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The period I refer to coincided with Soyinka\u2019s presence. You had an auspicious neighbour in a then-haunted neighbourhood. You may even have played a role in providing him solace as good neighbours; therefore, you perhaps deserve some of the praise for the literary fecundity that was to lead later to a Nobel prize. Congratulations.<\/span><\/p>\n

My friends and I would slip away from our parents to wander in the bush previously mentioned, to see what was a mega-construction project to our young eyes. When NMIMR was opened in 1979, we came many times to stare at the gleaming white buildings, which by themselves signalled a high-quality aspiration, if not perfection. We had to keep our missions secret, for our parents would have had cardiac arrests if they had known we were wandering through those dense bushes.<\/span><\/p>\n

A facility dedicated to the work of Dr Hideyo Noguchi, the respected Japanese scientist, was a delightful mystery to us. The young are curious about mystery and wonder, the true ingredients of philosophy. We wondered whether Hideyo Noguchi was related to our Japanese film hero, the Karateka, Bruce Lee. What was the institute being set up for? What was its real work? How would it impact society? Our young minds had no idea beyond that it was a genuinely nice facility,<\/span><\/p>\n

which thankfully, on my last visit less than a year ago, you seem to have improved. That feat alone earns you the licence to speak about Quality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Younger ones are probably waiting for me to show my recordings from that era on my social media pages. There are none; this was 1979. It is a tribute to the extent to which the world has changed and to the power of scientific inquiry and application that not many of you can imagine the technological environment of that day. There were no smartphones \u2013 indeed, no mobile phones, period. There was no internet, forget about the artificial intelligence of the modern<\/span><\/p>\n

variation. We had no e-mails, no SMSs, nothing of the sort \u2013 the world was a very different place then.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I narrate these not just as items of nostalgia, which they are, but also to cement the fact that<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Knowledge is the primary productive force in the advancement of society<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Science and Technology have great transformative power when development gives them pride of place.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The mystery about this institute has never fully disappeared. Worthier people than I must do more to highlight the significant contributions you have made to society. But I will take this opportunity to highlight, for what it is worth, that without the high-quality work you do here, the dedication and determined efforts from your committed staff, the story of COVID in Ghana and a bit more, would have been akin to carnage. Thank you for the quiet sacrifices you all made.<\/span><\/p>\n

To the matter at hand<\/b><\/h4>\n

You did not invite me here to share autobiographical notes. There are many more interesting lives than mine if that was your ambition. You have gathered to discuss the all-important subject of quality and sustainability.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is fitting that we begin our reflections with the words of Hideyo Noguchi himself: <\/span>\u201cThrough devotion to science, I want to contribute to the happiness of mankind.\u201d<\/span><\/i>1<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

To my mind, that is the whole purpose of the search for Quality in society \u2013 the genuine, long-lasting peace, dignity and happiness of humankind.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the lead thinkers who shaped the Meiji Restoration\u2019s intellectual climate, Yukichi<\/span><\/p>\n

Fukuzawa stated wisely: <\/span>\u201cIn essence, civilisation means to advance the levels of knowledge and virtue of the people, so that each and every person can be the master of his own affairs in his dealings with society.\u201d<\/span><\/i>2<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both men present important scaffolding for how we should see quality. It is a summation of society\u2019s determined search for a better life for all its members \u2013 in the deepest, most<\/span><\/p>\n

meaningful, and holistic understanding of \u2018better.\u2019 Quality is not just about financial metrics, nor is it about accreditation and sterile credentialing. In the end, it is about real and tangible improvements in the lives of ordinary people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But you may say, who is he to offer views with such sure-footedness? Therefore, I support my position with an authority you are likely to respect: <\/span>\u201c\u01eauality control is not just a technique. It must become a way of life. \u2026The most important thing in quality is to create a climate where everyone can speak up.\u201d<\/span><\/i>3<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

These are the words of the respected thinker most associated with what is known as the \u201cfish- bone approach\u201d to quality management, Kaoru Ishikawa. I will resist the temptation to say any more about why a focus on root causes is so important to the systemic and enduring resolution of society\u2019s problems. It may be worthwhile, though, to say that I have quoted a Japanese for the last time in this speech.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Humanity stands at a paradox: never before have we been so prosperous in aggregate, yet never before have so many been left behind. A society in which the many are caught in misery, while only the few enjoy the fruits of its collective exertion, is what I call THE PALANQUIN ECONOMY. The 1%, as Joseph Stiglitz<\/span>4 <\/span>reminds us, must care about the 99% \u2013 not out of charity, but out of<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

necessity. A society built on \u201cme only\u201d cannot endure. We must build a \u201cwe all\u201d or \u201cwe first\u201d society, where inclusion is not an afterthought but the foundation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Quality is the bridge. Not just in products or services, but in governance, institutions, and civic life. True quality demands that we confront root causes, not symptoms. Quality management is a systemic discipline \u2013 an insistence on learning from failure, correcting course, and embedding resilience. Above all, it requires true democratic accountability of leaders to the led.<\/span><\/p>\n

To pursue sustainable quality is to honour science \u2013 not just laboratory science, but the broad pursuit of truth through evidence, reason, and reflection. It is to elevate facts over fiction and knowledge over noise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Knowledge is the primary productive force of our time. Institutions like NMIMR do not merely generate data \u2013 they produce insight, shape policy, and safeguard public health. Their role must not only be acknowledged; it must be celebrated, protected, amplified and adequately rewarded.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Ghanaian quality and sustainability dilemma<\/b><\/h4>\n

I will mention just a few dismal realities to sharpen our focus on the fact that, despite the habitual merry-making which characterises the celebratory fests of neoliberal politicians, things are not quite what they should be. Politicians are constantly squabbling about who should get the credit \u2013 between NPP and NDC \u2013 for some supposed great current state of affairs. It is not always clear to me which one exactly. To be sure, we must commend recent macroeconomic stabilisation, but that must not obscure other hard facts and realities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

+ Only 3.8% of our population is above 65, compared to 8\u201314% in many middle<\/span>\u2011<\/span>income countries. This reflects both a high fertility rate and the dismal reality that far too many Ghanaians do not live long enough \u2013 or healthy enough \u2013 to enjoy a meaningful retirement.<\/span><\/p>\n

+ 65% of our adult population is unable to afford the level of nutrition required to keep optimally healthy.<\/span><\/p>\n

+ 20% of our population lives in extreme poverty.<\/span><\/p>\n

+ Open defecation stands at circa 18%.<\/span><\/p>\n

+ We are being ravaged by illegal mining, Galamsey \u2013 an existential threat to our entire ecosystem.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The tail of woe is endless, but I have not come here to create despair, so I will truncate it. We must keep hope alive; hope springs eternal. James Baldwin taught us to say, with signature<\/span><\/p>\n

eloquence and craft: <\/span>\u201cI can\u2019t be a pessimist because I\u2019m alive. To be a pessimist means that you have agreed that human life is an academic matter. So I\u2019m forced to be an optimist. I\u2019m forced to believe that we can survive whatever we must survive.\u201d<\/span><\/i>5<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We must survive and then \u2013 hopefully \u2013 someday thrive. Thriving means improving the collective quality of our lives. Three very distinguished Professors of Economics, two of them winners of the Nobel prize, authored the insightful book, <\/span>\u201cMismeasuring our lives.\u201d<\/span><\/i>c <\/span><\/i>In it, Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz and Jean-Paul Fitoussi, observed, with tremendous clarity and simplicity: <\/span>\u201c\u01eauality of life includes the full range of factors that make life worth living, including those that are not captured by monetary measures.\u201d<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In Ghana these days, it seems that we are being overwhelmed by the over-financialisaton and over-legalisation of all aspects of our lives. This is a feature of PALANQUIN ECONOMIES everywhere in the world. Governance is stripped of systems thinking and political-economy considerations completely. Nothing seems to matter if it is not stated as a ratio of GDP. This is a dangerous foundation on which to try to build a coherent society.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not everything that counts can be counted in GDP, and not everything that counts in GDP counts in society. For, not everything that counts can be counted.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Four main points to NMIMR<\/b><\/h4>\n

There are so many things about our society I would love to touch on, but we will choose brutally today, to enable focus. Focus, the ability to prioritise, is a core feature of high-quality cultures \u2013 especially when done with systems thinking on a whole-process basis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our forebears would say with great acuity: the moon does not take one day to cross the town; it takes some time for it to develop into the full moon. <\/span>\u201c\u0186sra-ni nfa da baako ntwa man mu.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I have chosen four points to make about how NMIMR can accelerate its role in the civic<\/span><\/p>\n

awakening, indeed, quality revolution, that Ghana so desperately needs \u2013 if the future is to be significantly better than the present. The word \u2018accelerate\u2019 is used advisedly, for you are already playing a key role in this regard. A role for which you do not always get enough support, acknowledgement, or credit, as an institute or team, in our society. This must change.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

My focus is somewhat external, because it is not my place to tell you what to do about your institution, an institute I hardly know, though your director was my esteemed classmate, and I have other friends here. Your director must be panicking that I am about to tell you about her youth. I have nothing to say beyond that she was an exemplary university student, and that my mates in the School of Engineering, where I was, produced a fine gentleman for her. <\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps that is my real qualification for speaking to you about quality, I was part of producing a very high-quality husband for your director.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proverb, <\/span>\u201cObi nnto Ananses\u025bm nkyer\u025b Ntikuma,\u201d <\/span><\/i>guides me in many of my endeavours. People know their spaces better than I do, it is not for me to meddle.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Therefore, I will merely make four suggestions that may be useful for you:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

+ Model and exemplify excellence (in our society which is threatened by anomie conditions).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

+ Exemplify and advocate a culture of science and facts (in a country mired in dysfunctional superstition).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

+ Champion civic education to deepen society-wide literacy (and appreciation) of the role of science in national development.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

+ Be organic intellectuals who work systemically and focus on providing solutions that secure the long term health of society.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

++Whatever else you do, HAVE FUN. Make NMIMR a wonderful place to work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mercifully, since I committed to speak for my allotted time and no more, after these four things \u2013 if you tolerate me till then, I will be done. I shall say no more. So, fasten your seat belts and let us proceed \u2013 through the valleys of the shadows of acceleration and modernisation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \n
  • \n

    Model and exemplify excellence<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    Understandably, you think of big, sophisticated, and complex things when you first hear this. But those who know and understand how to build and sustain high-quality cultures first focus on getting the fundamentals in place. Those who can avoid broken windows and unpainted walls have built some of the most functional societies.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    As stated earlier, since boyhood, your premises \u2013 clean and green \u2013 have fascinated me, in a country that, even in 2026, cannot sustainably manage garbage in its cities. This should be a national embarrassment of the most egregious kind, especially to our educated elites \u2013 but is it?<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    Or country broke or country no broke we dey inside? We should all cry our own cry \u2013 Obiara b\u025bgye ne bl\u025bdi fool afe yi.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    Certainly, excel in the big things, but do small things well. Become the place people talk about when they look to see how organically functioning, high-quality societies can look. Spotlessly clean, time-conscious, respectful of everyone, focused on customer service with systemic arrangements. And here, there should be no hierarchy-based arbitrariness in leadership. Put power in an institutional cage. If you can become the reference point in this, in addition to all else you already are, you would be making a great contribution to the advancement of our society.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    The sometimes controversial but always no-nonsense Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad, as a young man, spoke the truth when he uttered these uncompromising and unyielding words: <\/span>\u201cWhen there is no awareness of time, there can be no planning, and work is never reliable. \u2026 A community which is not conscious of time must be regarded as a very<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    backward society. It can never achieve anything on its own, and it can never be expected to advance and catch up with superior time-conscious civilisations.\u201d<\/span><\/i>7<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    He wrote these words fifty-six years ago, in 1970, but they are eternally true, and even more importantly, very relevant to us in Ghana today. There is no chance of building a high-quality civilisation if we do not improve in this area. <\/span><\/p>\n

    It is leadership that must exemplify this most, and the senior people from the government over here today must kindly take this message back to their colleagues. They need to commit to waging a revolution to improve in this regard.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    It is true, if we are to be sincere, that time consciousness cannot be reduced to just a matter of individual discipline. Our systems must improve. You cannot have a culture of timeliness when your public transportation is unsystematic, for example. Or when every politician, chief, or priest seems to think they have a licence to keep you waiting for<\/span>
    \n<\/span><\/p>\n

    hours, even if they gave you the time for an appointment. We cannot allow the situation where just any pastor, prophet, chaplain or Rasputin can hold up traffic for six plus hours, with no law enforcement consequences. If we allow this sort of impunity, to be sure, even the most diligent cannot keep time.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    Because we are human, sometimes, even the most well-intended will disappoint. These exceptions are not my concern. It is the disorderliness that has been normalised in mainstream culture, especially for so-called big people, who think they have divine<\/span><\/p>\n

    rights to be late and keep everyone waiting, that I am calling attention to. Let us move on to the next point before things get too uncomfortable here.<\/span><\/p>\n