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By Isaac Ato MENSAH
Tema – 13 March, 2019
The Narh-Bita Hospital is 40 years old – and Dr Narh is 80 – this 1st August! Hurray!!!
The family of Dr Edward Narh together with his staff in all the Narh-Bita institutions have every reason to be proud of themselves.
The Narh-Bita College (NBC) logo, no doubt, symbolises a more complete representation of the mission of Narh-Bita.
Symbols – even words used in mottos, slogans and taglines – open themselves to speculative analysis, which when properly performed must be consistent with history, logic and the traditions in use within the organisation.
So let us attempt to unveil this corporate logo.
‘Deus Auctor Vitae et Cogitationis’, Latin, to wit, God is the Author of Life and Knowledge’.
So true.
This motto is written on a ribbon emblazoned across the bottom of a shield, and on either side of the shield, the ribbon is folded in three steps.
Is THREE, or TRINITY, not an allusion to the Creator?
Does the shield not represent an attribute of God, who protects us in all situations?
On the shield, to its right, is a folded scroll bound with a ribbon and to the left, a variant of the Adinkra symbol Kuntinkantan, which means ‘Do not boast or do not be arrogant’.
Other interpretations are ‘extravagance’ or ‘boastfulness’.
Narh-Bita College teaches us that if our knowledge, symbolised by the folded scroll, is founded on God or godly and sound ethical principles, we have every reason to utilise our knowledge with humble confidence for the benefit of humankind.
But here there is a powerful veiled warning about those with half-baked ideas – the ‘Dunning-Kruger types’.
Does the folded and sealed scroll not tell us plainly that we have to shield our secrets, that is, refuse to share our knowledge with those who will treat us and our pearls with contempt?
In the words of my mentor, such half-backed postulants ‘will attack you like ravenous dogs’.
Indeed, there comes a time when you have to avoid their company discretely for your own safety.
Pico della Mirandola, the Italian Renaissance prodigy and St Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, agree with ancient philosophers that all true pursuit of knowledge will lead us ‘to the Throne of God’.
In the words of Augustine, ‘You have made us for yourself Oh Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you’.
The colour of the shield is gold, which represents wealth in many cultures. True knowledge founded on divine principles is everlasting wealth.
The upper part of the shield has five pikes pointing into a deep blue background. Is this not a reminder of the five eternal conflicts of man?
Between the scroll and the Kuntinkantan is a cross with three nails in the left, centre and right, equidistant from each other.
The shield is circumscribed in a circle using red ink. Red, for sacrifice or love.
An outer red circle covers the words ‘NARH-BITA COLLEGE GHANA’.
The circle has from time immemorial represented God in whom ‘we live and move and have our being’.
The sum total of the NBC logo is a strongly emphasized and repeated message on the importance of the pursuit, use and indispensablity of true knowledge – knowledge grounded on sacred and ethical principles, used for the benefit of our fellow human beings to glorify GOD.
Dr Edward Narh, Order of the Volta.
Happy 40th anniversary Dr Narh, Auntie B and all members of the Narh-Bita family, past and present, far and near.
As Dr Narh continues to admonish, we have to ‘listen to the still small voice of the Spirit’.
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