The University of Ghana has caught the same fever that caused President Mahama to decree all streets must be named! Previously nameless Ghanaian roads now have uniform blue signs whose purchase and installation were funded by international aid agencies.
On campus, a traffic circle and three-way intersection are, as of today, officially the George Benneh Circle and the Ivan Addae-Mensah Intersection. Previously, they were “The traffic circle near the stadium” and “The junction near All Needs.” The link between the two newly-named landmarks is now the Akilagpa Sawyerr Road. (Unfortunately, the Ivan Addae-Mensah Intersection signs, and there are three of them, make the junction more dangerous than before; they block the view of oncoming traffic.) Theoretically, the benefit of this national naming exercise is improved service delivery and speedier emergency response.
But even the best schemes can go awry. Indeed, a significant challenge is that naming remains inconsistent, despite the new signs. For example, the major thoroughfare to the east of campus is signed Jerry Rawlings Avenue, but Google calls it Legon East Road, Apple calls it Dodowa Road, and people call it Liberation Road, the moniker given by both Google and Apple closer to central Accra. It’s great to have names, but benefits accrue from individual behaviours in the collective context. If you can’t agree on the names, what good are they?
—Matt
