Professor Kwame Gyan has said she would not trade the impact he has made in Ghana for the bigger salary he could have earned in the United States.
His comments came during a discussion about Abeiku Santana’s claim that he would prefer living in Ghana to earning $100,000 every month in the US or UK.
Prof Gyan said he had already faced that choice himself. After leaving Ghana in 1991, he studied at Temple Law School and NYU Law School before working at the Ford Foundation’s head office in New York. His basic annual salary was about $75,000.
He eventually returned to Ghana in 1998, despite having another opportunity to remain in the United States.
He began teaching at the University of Ghana School of Law on February 9, 1999, and has remained there for 27 years.
“I have taught for 27 years. I’ve never gone on leave,” he said.
Prof Gyan said the number of students he has taught over the years gives him a sense of fulfilment that cannot be measured only in money.
“I tell you the impact I have made in this country. I don’t believe I would have made that impact in America by any stretch of anybody’s imagination,” he said.
He noted that if each class had about 50 students, the number of people he has influenced through teaching would run into thousands.
“Why would I mean I would have made money in America? Yes. But is it all just about money?” he asked.
Prof Gyan said he has earned money in Ghana too and does not consider himself poor.
For him, being able to contribute to Ghana and engage people on important national issues has made his decision worthwhile.
