Steven Odarteifio, a concerned citizen, has made an impassioned appeal to state authorities and the Ghanaian public, calling for the renaming of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to the Kwame Nkrumah International Airport.
He is urging the President to take decisive action to rename the country’s main international gateway, describing it as a step that would help heal what he calls a long-troubled national conscience.
According to Mr. Odarteifio, a nation divided in conscience cannot move forward with a united sense of purpose.
“I believe—deeply—that when a nation’s conscience is settled, its path becomes clearer,” he said. “When our national symbols reflect our values, progress becomes steadier. And when we honour our founding father fully, our future becomes more secure.”
He appealed to the President directly, describing the issue as a defining moment of legacy.
“Sixty years on, every constitutional leader has inherited this unresolved national question,” he said. “You now have the rare opportunity to be the one who finally answers it.”
To him, Ghana’s international gateway should send a clear and unmistakable message to the world—one that reflects the country’s history, values and aspirations.
“Let our front door speak with one voice,” he said. “Kwame Nkrumah International Airport.”
He questioned which legacy Ghana should choose to honour at its national entry point.
“For whose spirit would we rather have resting in peace—Kwame Nkrumah or General Kotoka?” he asked.
Mr. Odarteifio argued that the sign at Ghana’s front door must represent what unites the nation, what uplifts its people, and what Ghanaians are proud to project to the world. He noted that in many countries, major airports are named after cities or national figures whose legacies inspire unity and national pride—not individuals primarily associated with unconstitutional changes of government.
Speaking at the launch of the advocacy campaign to rename the Kotoka International Airport on Monday, he posed a direct question to the nation:
“How can we, as a people, continue to honour the memory of an overthrow at the very door of the Republic?”
He reminded the audience that an airport is more than just infrastructure.
“My brothers and sisters, an airport is not just an airport,” he said. “It is the nation’s handshake. It is the first greeting. It is the first sentence Ghana speaks to the world.”
Further, he indicated Kwame Nkrumah is the founding father of Ghana. On July 7, 1972, his body was returned home, bringing the nation to a standstill as his glass casket was received at the country’s main gateway.
But that homecoming carried a painful irony. The airport welcoming him bore the name of a man linked to his overthrow. A nation that claimed to honour its father received him at a front door marked by betrayal.
His body returned. His legacy lives in books and monuments. Yet until that contradiction is addressed, the honour remains incomplete.
