Guys, I went through this write up about the life and times of John Attah Mill, and I was perplexed. Ghana really had a president.
Please read through and ask yourself if you can say that of President Goodluck Jonathan. Keep in mind that they both had no shoes, they are both married, they are all phd holders and lecturers and they all became presidents who relied on sponsors.
Happy reading.

EPITAPH ON GHANA's LATE PRESIDENT, JOHN ATTAH MILLS by DELE MOMODU

Fellow Africans, please permit me to pay this special tribute to our departed hero, a great son of Africa, world scholar, seasoned administrator, experienced politician, humble and transparently honest leader, eloquent and articulate speaker, decent manager of men and resources, respectable and respected statesman, father of the nation and above all a God-fearing soul, Professor John Evans Fifi Atta Mills who died on Tuesday, July 24, 2012, at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.

At a time it seems Africa is overwhelmingly polluted by reckless and careless, insensate and insane, corrupt and corruptible, incompetent and unproductive, disgraceful and shameless leaders, it was re-assuring and definitely rewarding that President Atta-Mills stood out and sparkled like a million stars amid the gloom that had enveloped our notorious continent for so long. His was a veritable example that it was still possible to have African leaders with the pre-requisite intellectual grounding and clear-headed vision needed to propel our countries forward. Prof, as we loved to call him, was a simple administrator who did not see power as an end in itself but as a means to a positive end.

He was a man who saw himself as a mere servant of the people given the privilege to steer the wheel of state and not the authority to grind the nation to a halt. He was a careful driver who appeared too cautious to take foolish risks.His critics could call him Mr Slow but could never call him a pen robber like most of his infamous colleagues that litter many countries of Africa. He lived a simple life that was difficult to imagine for one of the most influential countries in West Africa and the new gateway to Africa. Prof was very conscious of the fact that Man brought nothing to this world and that he shall take nothing with him when the appointed time comes to re-join his creator.

He was a philosopher king who knew the treasures imbedded in a good name and a worthy legacy. He did not suffer the inferiority complex of many leaders who saw power as only the means to making up for deprived youths. His country was kind to him, gave him so much and he knew much was expected of him. He did not misappropriate the nation’s wealth for personal aggrandizement. Even if there were disciples who messed up under his nose and did not share his vision of humility and selflessness in power, he did not condone them and everyone attested to his visible integrity.

Had he not been a scholar and administrator, perhaps, President Atta-Mills would have been a priest or preacher or both. He was never tired about preaching the virtues of honest leadership. He was ready to open up his private life and accomplishments to public scrutiny. His booming voice resonated with the common man every time he spoke with a passion and deep conviction about the responsibilities of a good leader. He would always be fondly remembered as one serious-minded leader who refused to waste public funds on frivolous projects. He would be loved eternally as a man who was ready to sacrifice personal comfort for the common good of all.

Prof did not carry himself with the arrogance of a monarchical President. He did not intimidate nor harass his fellow citizens with the appurtenances of power. No member of his family was unnecessarily loud or irritating. They kept an enviable low-profile and allowed the man to concentrate on the job he alone was employed to do. We did not read of his wife thundering down the streets like a raging caterpillar. Prof did not disturb the peace of his neighbours in the housing estate where he lived in his private home even as the President of the Republic of Ghana. There was nothing extra-ordinary about the cars he drove. His convoy did not shut down the city. He did not buy up properties all over the place to flaunt his awesome powers and freshly-acquired wealth. 

His mien and composure often reminded one of the late Tanzanian leader, Nwalimu Julius Nyerere. His intellectual capacity brought back memories of those days when Africa was governed by true intellectuals and not academic pretenders who could never articulate their vision in life. 

A cursory peep at Professor Atta Mills resume would reveal a man of impeccable pedigree, well-educated and well-exposed to international standards. Here was a man who was born on July 21, 1944 and attended the famous Achimota School where he completed his A-level in 1963. He studied Law at the University of Ghana and graduated in 1967. He proceeded to the prestigious London School of Economics & Political Science for his post-graduate studies. He bagged his PhD in Law at the School of Oriental & African Studies at the    University of London. He wrote his doctoral thesis in taxation and economic development. He later returned home to take up teaching appointment at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, and other institutions, where he spent about 25 years cumulatively.

Professor Atta Mills was so brilliant that in 1971 he became a Fulbright scholar at the Stanford University Law School in the United States of America. He was also a visiting Professor at Temple Law School, in Philadelphia, USA, between 1978 and 1979 and again at Leiden University in Holland from 1985 to 1986. He authored many publications and he was a respected authority on taxation. For several years, he was Acting Commissioner of Ghana’s Internal Revenue Service and became the substantive Commissioner from 1993-96 when he became Vice President to President Jerry John Rawlings.

He was the presidential candidate for the National Democratic Congress at the December 7, 2000 elections but lost to the candidate of NPP, Mr John Agyekum Kufuor. Professor Atta Mills contested and lost again in 2004 to the then President Kufuor who ran away with victory a second time. His third and final battle came in 2008 when he faced and defeated the NPP candidate, the effervescent Nana Akufo-Addo who was widely tipped to win after a hell of a fight. 

I had little but powerful contact with Professor Atta Mills before his last election which saw him become President. He was clearly a man of destiny. I really don’t know how else I can describe him. Months before that controversial election, not many people gave him a chance to win. First his party had been out of power for eight years. Two he was not a rich man by any standards and he did not seem to know how to cultivate the friendship of Africa’s rich and famous.