DR.JAMES EMMANUEL KWEGYIL AGGREY, aliyezaliwa mwaka 1875 na kufariki takribani miaka 100 iliyopita, ni Mghana ambaye kamwe hatasahaulika katika historia ya nchi yetu, ingawa takriban 90% ya Wabongo hawajawahi hata kumsikia!.
DR. AGGREY alikuwa ni Mwalimu mahiri aliyeheshimika duniani kote. Tarehe 15.5.1895, akiwa Mwalimu-kijana wa miaka 20 tu, alifanya mtihani pamoja na waalimu wenzake wengine 119 kutoka mikoa yote nchini Ghana uliotungwa Uingereza. Dr. AGGREY aliibuka kinara ambapo alitunukiwa cheti na Malkia kilichoandikwa- "This Certificate of Distinction, qualifies you, without further examination, to teach in any school in any British colony". Dr. AGGREY alikuwa Mwafrika wa kwanza kutunukiwa tuzo hiyo na Malkia!.
DR. AGGREY, kutokana na weledi wake wa kipekee, aliteuliwa kuwa mjumbe wa "Phelps-Stokes Fund Commission" iliyoundwa kuangalia namna kuwaendeleza Waafrika kielimu. Tume hiyo iliundwa kutokana na Mmarekani Bi. CAROLYINE PHELPS STOKES, aliyefariki 1909, kuacha kitita cha fedha na wosia uliosema- "I bequeath $ 1,000,000 to my trustees to be used for the education of Negros, both in Africa and the United States". Tume hiyo ilizuru mataifa 10 ya Afrika ambapo ilikuja Tanganyika na Zanzibar na kukaa toka Machi 1924 hadi April 1924. Dr. AGGREY alikuwa Mwafrika pekee kwenye Tume hiyo katika kipindi hicho ambapo ubaguzi wa rangi ulikuwa umetamalaki duniani kote. Hata kuwa mjumbe katika Tume hiyo ilikuwa ni kwa mbinde!.
Wajumbe wa Tume hiyo walipowasili nchini walifikia NEW AFRICA HOTEL, moja ya hoteli kubwa 2 nchini wakati huo. Katika hali ya kusikitisha, Dr. AGGREY alikataliwa katakata kupewa chumba kutokana na kuwa mweusi na hivyo ikabidi akatafute hoteli Kariakoo!.
Ubaguzi huu ulimuhuzunisha sana lakini haukumkatisha tamaa. Akiwa Kariakoo, alijichanganya sana na Watanganyika na kupelekea kujuana na KLEIST SYKES, Mtanganyika msomi aliyekuwa akiongea Kiingereza na Kijerumani kwa ufasaha na mjuzi wa mambo mengi ambaye asili yake ilikuwa Afrika ya Kusini.
DR. AGGREY "alimpiga shule na kumpa nondo kali" Bw. KLEIST juu ya umuhimu wa kuanzisha chama kwa minajiri ya kupigania haki za Watanganyika. "Shule"hiyo ilimuingia vilivyo Dr. KLEIST, kama alivyokiri mwenyewe baadae, na hatimaye yeye na wenzake wakaanzisha chama cha AFRICAN ASSOCIATION (AA) mwaka 1929. AA ilibadilishwa na kuwa TANGANYIKA AFRICAN ASSOCIATION mwaka 1948. AA ndiyo ilikuwa chimbuko la TANU iliyoundwa tarehe 7.7.1954.
Tume ilipotoka hapa nchini ilikwenda Belgium Congo kuendelea na jukumu la kuwaendeleza waafrika. Baada ya kazi ya siku nzima ya kwanza, Gavana MARTIN RUTTEN aliialika Tume hiyo Ikulu kwaajili ya "dinner". Gavana huyo mbaguzi alichukia sana kumuona mtu mweusi kwenye Tume hiyo hivyo akamuamuru Dr. AGGREY asikanyage ndani bali abaki getini!. Dr. AGGREY akakaa hapo getini na walinzi kuanzia saa 1 hadi saa 8 usiku "dinner" hiyo ilipoisha na "hakuna rangi aliyoacha kuiona" kwani kulikuwa na kibaridi kikali na mbu wengi!.
Figisufigisu hizi za ubaguzi hazikumkatisha tamaa bali zilimuongezea morali zaidi wa kuwasaidia Waafrika wenzake kielimu. Tume hiyo ikaenda Angola ambako nako masaibu ya ubaguzi "hayakumuacha salama" na yaliendelea kumkumba ambapo ilibidi tu "apambane na hali yake". Kuna siku alionja "joto la jiwe" aliposukumizwa nje ya treni kwavile tu ni mweusi na hivyo kuumia mguu wa kulia na mkono wa kushoto na kulazimika kuchelewa mhadhara wake wa elimu!.
Tume hiyo, baadae, ikaenda Afrika ya Kusini ambako Dr. AGGREY alitoa Hotuba Bora kabisa kuwahi kutolewa na Mwafrika katika karne ya 20. Dr. AGGREY, kwa ufupi, alisema kuhusu elimu:
"By education I don't simply mean learning. I mean the training of the mind, in morals and in a hand that helps to make one socially efficient. Not simply the 3 Rs, but the 3 Hs ie the Head, the Hand and the Heart. No race or people can rise half slave, half free. The surest way to keep people down is to educate the men and neglect the women. If you educate a man you simply educate an individual but if you educate a woman, you educate a family."
"I am proud of my colour and whoever is not proud of his colour, is not fit to live. Keep your temper and smile. That is what JESUS CHRIST meant when he told men to turn the other cheek".
"I have no time for revenge, that is not African. Some white people ought to be transformed to Negros just for a few days so as to feel what we feel and suffer what we suffer. I prefer to be a spokesman of my entire country: Africa, My Africa!".
"My fellow Africans I don't care what you know, show me what you can do. Many of you who get educated don't work, but like to drink. You see white people drink and think you can drink too. You imitate the weakness of white people but not their greatness. You won't imitate the whiteman working hard!".
"If you play only the white notes on a piano, you get only sharps; if only the black keys, you get flats. But if you play the two together, you get harmony and beautiful music".
Baada ya kutoa hotuba hiyo, umati mkubwa uliokuwepo ulimbeba msobemsobe huku SMURTZ MCNAMARA, Kiongozi wa "White settlers, akitamka- "Damn his colour, He is a Saint!".
Kwa miaka mingi, hotuba hiyo ya kihistoria iliyosheheni "madini" lukuki, imekuwa ikinukuliwa na viongozi wengi duniani akiwemo marehemu Nelson Mandela, ambaye wakati akigombea urais, tarehe 2.2.1994, aliulizwa akishinda atawachukulia hatua gani makaburu waliomtesa kwa miaka 27, nae akajibu "My answer is very short: let me quote from one of the speeches of my idol, Dr. JAMES AGGREY, " I have no time for revenge. That is not African".
DR. AGGREY alikuwa mjuzi wa mambo mengi na "Hobby" yake kubwa ilikuwa ni kusoma vitabu vya kila aina hadi usiku wa manani. Alipokuwa akisinzia, alichukua kitambaa akachovya maji ya baridi na kujifunga kichwani na kuweka miguu kwenye karai la maji ya baridi! Aidha, DR. AGGREY alikuwa anaongea "Queens English" ya hali ya juu na alipelekea Waziri Mmarekani, Mh. HEC BRYANT aseme: "He is dark as dark, but very few in America can use English as he can!".
DR. AGGREY alifariki dunia mwaka 1927 na kuzikwa North Calorina, Marekani alikokuwa akiishi na kufundisha.
Nchini Ghana, kwa heshima ya Dr. AGGREY, picha yake iliweka kwenye moja ya noti za nchi hiyo (5 Cedi Bill)! Hii ilikuwa ni ajabu sana kwani marais wengi wa Afrika hupenda "kuuza sura kwenye noti!.
Kutokana na umuhimu wake katika historia ya nchini yetu, mtaa mmoja jijini ukapewa jina lake kama kumbukumbu "MTAA WA AGGREY". Mtaa huo uko maeneo ya Kitumbini kuelekea Kariakoo jijini Dar Es Salaam.
Huyu ndiye DR. JAMES EMMANUEL KWEGYIL AGGREY, Mghana mahiri mwenye mchango mkubwa katika historia ya nchi yetu.
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