Goodwin Tutum Anim

Last updated
Goodwin Tutum Anim
Born
Isaac Goodwin Aikens

(1929-05-29)29 May 1929
Accra
Died2 October 2020(2020-10-02) (aged 91)
Education
Occupation Journalist
Notable credits

Goodwin Tutum Anim, also known by the name Isaac Goodwin Aikins, was a Ghanaian journalist. He was the first African Managing Director of the Ghana News Agency and later Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Arts and Culture. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Anim was born on 29 May 1929 at Intsin, Cape Coast. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] He was christened Isaac Aikins by his maternal grandfather in the absence of his father. [3] [6] When he was five years old he was sent to his grandfather in Tudu, Accra, who changed his name to Goodwin Tutum Anim. [3] [6] Later in his lifetime, he changed his name to Isaac Goodwin Aikins. [3] [6]

Anim begun his early formative years at the Adabraka Government Boys School and later continued to Kinbu Government School. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] He had his secondary education at the Accra Academy from 1944 to 1950, [7] and later proceeded to the University of Ghana where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in English. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] He later entered the University of Iowa for his post graduate studies and in 1976, he graduated with his doctorate degree (PhD). [3] [4] [5] [6] His dissertation was entitled; Reconceptualizing the Role of the Press: The Case of Ghana"'. [8] [9] [10] [11]

Career

Anim begun his professional career in 1958 at the Ghana News Agency (GNA) as a trainee reporter, reporter sub-editor and foreign correspondent. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] While with the Ghana News Agency, he had a nine-month attachment studying media organisation, inter-media personnel relations, administration and news management at Reuters News Agency in London and Paris. [3] [4] [5] [6] From October 1960 to December 1960, he was a GNA Special Correspondent at the 15th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York. [3] [4] [5] [6] He became the acting Managing Editor of the Ghana News Agency, [12] and in 1961, he was appointed General Manager of the Ghana News Agency, becoming the first African and Ghanaian head of the agency. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [13] [14] [15] [16] A year later, he became the Secretary of the Association of Ghanaian Journalists (later Ghana Journalists Association), a position he held for two years, and between 1963 and 1965, he was made Secretary-General and later Vice-President of the Union of African News Agencies. He served as the General Manager of the Ghana News Agency from 1961 until 1966 when the Nkrumah government was overthrown. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Between 1966 and 1967, he had several short stints holding a Special Duties position at the Ministry of Information. In 1967, he was appointed Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. [3] [4] [5] [6] A position he held until 1968. He was appointed Managing Director of the Ghana Tourist Corporation from 1968 until 1970 when he was made Registrar of the University of Cape Coast. [3] [4] [5] [6] From 1970 to 1971, he was the Assistant Director of the Information and Culture Department at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Secretary of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration from 1971 to 1972. In 1972, he was named Director of the Ghana Information Services Department, where he remained Director for eight years. [3] [4] [5] [6] [17]

In 1978, he was a member of the 1978 Constitutional Commission that was responsible for drafting the constitution for the Third Republic of Ghana. [18] [19]

He became a UNESCO consultant to the Pan African News Agency (PANA) and to news agencies in West, Central and East Africa from 1980 to 1981. [3] [4] [5] [6] From 1981 until his retirement in 1989, he was the Programme Specialist at the Communication and Culture Division, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris. During this period, he spent nine months in Lusaka as UNESCO Coordinator news agency development in Eastern and Southern Africa responsible for training and structural design of news agencies in Tanzania, [20] Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Angola, and Mauritius among other countries. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Anim served on various boards as chairman. Some of which include; the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation from 1995 to 1996; the Ghana News Agency in 1992, [1] and the Ghana Tourist Board, Accra from 1991 to 1992. [3] [4] [5] [6] He also served on the board of directors of the Graphic Corporation, Accra from 1968 to 1970. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Personal life

Anim was married to the late Jane Anna Anim (née Golightly), a teacher and businesswoman. [21] Together they had seven children. [21]

Anim was a Christian and a deacon of the Anglican Church. [1] Following his retirement, he served as a Diocesan and Synod Secretary of the Anglican Diocese of Accra, he was the Chief Administrative Officer of the Diocese, and also the Supervisor of Staff Secretary to the Standing Committee and other committees. [1] [3] He founded Shepherd Star School and served as the Proprietor of the nursery and kindergarten school. [3]

Death

Anim died on 2 October 2020 at the age of 91 after a short illness. [3] [4] [5] [6] [22] [23] He was laid to rest in a private ceremony on Friday 16 October 2020. [3] [22] [23] A memorial service was held in his honour by the Ghana News Agency and the Ghana Journalists Association. [22] [23] He was survived by seven children, eleven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. [3] [4] [5] [6] [22] [23]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Clegg, Sam (1992-08-17). Daily Graphic: Issue 13977 August 17 1992. Graphic Communications Group.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Ghana Year Book. Graphic Corporation. 1964.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Agency, Ghana News (2020-10-16). "A TRIBUTE BY THE GHANA JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION (GJA) AND GHANA NEWS AGENCY TO THE LATE DR. ISAAC GOODWIN AIKINS (BETTER KNOWN AS DR. GOODWIN TUTUM ANIM)". News Ghana. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 FAAPA. "GNA loses first General Manager – FAAPA ENG" . Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "First General Manager Of GNA Has Died". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "GNA loses first General Manager". www.ghanaweb.com. 2020-10-10. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  7. 1 2 Ghana Year Book. Graphic Corporation. 1964.
  8. ↑ Anim, Goodwin Tutum (1976). Reconceptualizing the Role of the Press: The Case of Ghana. University of Iowa.
  9. ↑ Dissertation Abstracts International: The humanities and social sciences. A. University Microfilms. 1977.
  10. ↑ American Doctoral Dissertations. University Microfilms. 1976.
  11. ↑ Journalism Abstracts. Association for Education in Journalism, University of Minnesota. 1975.
  12. ↑ West Africa. West Africa Publishing Company, Limited. 1961.
  13. ↑ Communications, Unesco Clearing House of the Dept of Mass (1960). Reports and Papers on Mass Communication.
  14. ↑ Unesco (1962). Meeting of Experts on Development of Information Media in Africa, Paris, 24 January - 6 February 1962: Report of the Meeting.
  15. ↑ Unesco (1962). Le développement des moyens d'information en Afrique: presse, radio, film, télévision (in French). Unesco.
  16. ↑ Ghana Year Book. Graphic Corporation. 1966.
  17. ↑ Intergovernmental Conference for Co-operation on Activities, Needs and Programmes for Communication Development, Paris, 14-21 April 1980: Final Report. Unesco. 1980.
  18. ↑ Ghana (1978). Ghana Gazette. Government Printer.
  19. ↑ Commission, Ghana Constitutional (1978). The Proposals of the Constitutional Commission for a Constitution for the Establishment of a Transitional (interim) National Government for Ghana. Ghana Publishing Corporation, Print. Division.
  20. ↑ Media Asia. Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Centre. 1980.
  21. 1 2 "Memorial Matters". www.memorialmatters.com. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Agency, Ghana News (2020-10-21). "GNA, GJA honour memories of Dr Isaac Goodwin Aikins". News Ghana. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Agency, Ghana News (2020-10-21). "GNA set to maintain legacy of first General Manager-GM". News Ghana. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
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