Nicholas Atampugre attended Notre Dame Seminary Secondary School (1968-73) and St John’s School Sekondi (1973-75). He entered University of Ghana in 1975 and graduated in 1978 majoring in Sociology. He continued his education in the University of Leeds, United Kingdom where he did his Masters in Development Studies (1985) and obtained his PhD (1994). Since graduating he has been working in international Development, first with International NGOs (Panos and ACORD) and later with UK AID (now known as the FCDO) in Nigeria (1997-2003).
Nicholas Atampugre known in political activist circles in Ghana and internationally as Atams has been an important player in Ghana’s struggle for democracy and human rights. From 1975 when he entered the University of Ghana, he was among the group of student activists that led the struggle against military dictatorship and for democracy. The Aluta Magazine, set up as an organ of the student movement, played a key role in raising political awareness and Atams was a member of the team that produced and distributed what became a popular mouthpiece of students.
Organising under the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) and the Pan African Youth Movement (PANYMO), the student movement successfully campaigned against the Union Government concept designed as a no-party scheme to keep the military in power. In 1979, a new structure in the student leadership – National Coordinating Secretary – was created and Atams was elected in May 1979 as the first Coordinating Secretary of NUGS. From 1979 onwards, he was a key player in the political formations of the period, playing a key role in the formation of the June 4th Movement and subsequent efforts to promote a people’s democracy where the priorities of the majority is the primary business of government.
It was during this period that Atams and other comrades produced the Workers Banner mouthpiece of the June 4thMovement. His role, during the PNDC era was educational-mainly with the repressive arms of the State – the military and later the police. The aim was to heighten their awareness of how the colonial origins of the military and police helped transform them into oppressors of ordinary citizenry.
Atams paid a heavy price and was incarcerated in 1982 for a year (without charge or trial) and adopted in 1983 by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience. He was subsequently forced into exile in the UK in May 1984. He was key mobiliser in the Africa Centre (London) led campaigns against the Arap Moi dictatorship, was involved together with Nigerian Activists in London in campaigns for the restoration of the June 12 mandate and joined the Malian community in London in demonstrations against the dictatorship of Moussa Traore and in support of the student uprising of the early 90s. He joined other Africans in the diaspora to fight for human rights, social justice, and democracy in Africa. He was a founding member of the Africa Research and Information Bureau (ARIB) and sub-editor of ARIB’s journal – Africa World Review (AWR) and co-founded, in 1994 the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD) based in London.
Atams is a Pan-Africanist and fighter for a meaningful democracy in Africa, an Africa able to meet the hopes and aspirations of the majority of its citizenry. Since returning to Ghana to settle in 2003, and finding no credible political party that represents the interests of the oppressed, he teamed up with others to form the Social Justice Movement (SJMG) in 2017. The SJMG teamed up with the CNNA to form the Progressive Alliance for Ghana (PAG). He is currently a member of the board of PAG and the chair of the Orientation Committee of PAG. Atams’ ambition is to contribute his quota to ensuring that PAG becomes the party that genuinely represents the aspirations of the majority of Ghanaians and is able to walk in the footsteps of Nkrumah by adapting Nkrumah’s ideals to Ghana’s current realities and Africa’s yearning for a new type of political leadership on the continent.
Responsibilities
- Leads orientation and political education efforts.
- Supports grassroots organization and civic awareness.
- Promotes Pan-African values, democracy, and social justice.