DR GOBIND NANKANI — THE BOOKWORM

Story: Augustina Tawiah
For young Gobind Nankani, being born into a wealthy family had its challenges. This was because, as a young school boy, he had to contend with a lot of teasing from his schoolmates anytime he was studying because they thought with his family background, he should not waste his time on books.
"For me, having a rosy childhood was actually bad because my friends did not expect me to work hard since my family was wealthy. They always thought I was wasting my time studying."
But young Nankani did not allow those negative remarks by his friends to stop him from studying. "I ignored them because I felt as a young boy there were certain things I had to do and one of them was to study very hard and that was what I did."
Although his friends spent most of their time playing, he did not follow suit. “I was more selective with how much time I spent chatting and playing football. Sometimes, I spent only an hour playing and then went back to my books. There were times that for a whole week, I would not play.”
So serious was his attitude towards his studies that in those days when his father took him to their shop and cinema to help with the family business, he took his books along to read.
Indeed, his love for his books which he said, gave him a sense of achievement and fulfilment paid off. Today, he holds a PhD in Economics from one of the top universities in the world, Harvard University, USA. Dr Gobind Nankani, a former World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region is Ghanaian by birth and Indian by parentage. His father, a businessman is a partner of one of the biggest shops in the country known as the Nankani and Hagan stores. In Kumasi, where he was born and grew up, his father used to own one of the biggest cinema theatres there, known as the Nankani Cinemas.
Dr Gobind Nankani is based in London but visits the country regularly, especially now that he has been appointed the Chairman of Ghana's Economic Advisory Council, that provides advise to the President, Prof J.E.A. Mills. Junior Graphic contacted him while in the country recently to share his childhood experiences with children. In fact, except for the colour of his skin, hair texture and name that suggested he is Indian, everything about him is Ghanaian: He speaks fluent twi, had all his education in Ghana and is married to a Ghanaian, Mrs Helen Frimpong-Nankani. In fact, his own words sum it all, “I am completely Ghanaian”.
Taking us through his school days in Kumasi, Dr Nankani said he was not treated differently by his colleagues because of the colour of his skin. “I spoke the language (twi). Besides, we played together during break time and ate "red red" just like everybody else. He spoke with nostalgia about the happy moments he spent with his friends whenever they walked to and from school and the gutter to gutter football they used to play together.
But despite all his studies, young Nankani did not neglect his responsibilities at home. According to him, in those days, after school, during school holidays and weekends he assisted in the running of the family business. These included, going to work at their shops and cinemas. At the cinema, his responsibility was to check the tickets of the people that entered. “And I remember while at the gate checking the tickets, a lot of my friends would come and I allowed them to go in free," he said smiling.
Dr Nankani grew up at Adum, Kumasi, where he said as a boy, he witnessed a lot of the political clashes that occurred between the then ruling Convention People's Party of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and the National Liberation Movement (NLM) led by Baffour Osei Akoto. He said their house was just by the roadside, so he saw a lot of the violence between those two political groups. "It was disturbing for me as a young boy to see blood ooze out of people and others dead on the streets" he said.
Young Nankani started school at Asafo Kindergarten and then continued at St Anglican School where he ranked among the top students. On completion, he was enrolled at Asanteman Secondary School. From Asanteman, his mother wanted him to learn about the Indian culture, so he was sent there for further studies. However, after a three-and-half years stay there, he returned to Ghana and was enrolled at Opoku Ware SHS where he had his Sixth Form.
Dr Nankani had his Bachelor of Economics Degree at the University of Ghana, Legon, earning at the time, a rare first class honours degree and later Masters and PhD degrees from Harvard University, USA. He joined the World Bank in 1976 and left in 2006.
Dr Nankani loves reading medical literature because as a child it was his ambition to become a doctor as one way of serving society. He has twin daughters; Serwaah and Asantewaa.