And make our nation Great and Strong

Six decades ago, Ghana envisioned becoming prominent and great within the community of globally progressive nations. The collective aspiration of the nation, evident in the words of our national anthem, became our prayer and cry to the great God of nations. Deep down the soul of the nation has been a burning desire to become a proactive and influential global player in all spheres of human endeavour, one that has great thought and solution-driven leaders who function within a bigger collective of a crack intellectual community, a self-determined population with a militant and revolutionary drive for success, and the courage to capture a decent niche in the global marketplace.

Indeed we expected to be a nation moving positively and comprehensively on many fronts to make the best life for itself, constantly creating new paths to access its humanity and dwelling on the whole, thinking collectively, open to collective intelligence, pursuing future possibilities, spotting innovative solutions, constructively engaging different stakeholders, with long term sustainability prominent in its view, and challenging itself with the necessary dare to achieve the highest heights of humanity.

In the words of our first President Dr Kwame Nkrumah, we set the tone for our "GREAT NATION DESTINY PROJECT" :

"COUNTRYMEN, THE TASK AHEAD IS GREAT INDEED, AND HEAVY IS THE RESPONSIBILITY, AND YET IT IS A NOBLE AND GLORIOUS CHALLENGE - A CHALLENGE WHICH CALLS FOR THE COURAGE TO DREAM, THE COURAGE TO BELIEVE, THE COURAGE TO DARE, THE COURAGE TO DO, THE COURAGE TO ENVISION, THE COURAGE TO FIGHT, THE COURAGE TO WORK, THE COURAGE TO ACHIEVE - TO ACHIEVE THE HIGHEST EXCELLENCIES AND THE FULLEST GREATNESS OF MAN. FOR UNLESS WE ATTAIN ECONOMIC FREEDOM, OUR STRUGGLE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN VAIN, AND OUR PLANS FOR SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ADVANCEMENT FRUSTRATED”

“REVOLUTIONS ARE BROUGHT ABOUT BY MEN WHO THINK AS MEN OF ACTION AND ACT AS MEN OF THOUGHT”

“WHAT OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE TAKEN THREE HUNDRED YEARS OR MORE TO ACHIEVE, A ONCE DEPENDENT TERRITORY MUST TRY TO ACCOMPLISH IN A GENERATION IF IT IS TO SURVIVE”

“UNLESS IT IS JET PROPELLED, IT WILL LAG BEHIND AND THUS RISK EVERYTHING FOR WHICH IT HAS FOUGHT. SOMETHING IN THE NATURE OF AN ECONOMIC REVOLUTION IS REQUIRED”

“OUR DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN HELD BACK FOR TOO LONG BY THE COLONIAL TYPE ECONOMY”

“WE NEED TO REORGANIZE ENTIRELY SO THAT OUR COUNTRY CAN SPECIALIZE IN PRODUCING GOODS, CROPS AND SERVICES FOR WHICH IT IS BEST SUITED”

“WE HAVE THE BLESSING OF THE WEALTH OF OUR VAST RESOURCES, THE POWER OF OUR TALENTS AND THE POTENTIALITIES OF OUR PEOPLE. LET US GRASP NOW THE OPPORTUNITIES BEFORE US AND MEET THE CHALLENGE TO OUR SURVIVAL. WE WELCOME FOREIGN INVESTMENT PROVIDED THAT THERE IT FITS IN WITH OUR PLANS FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION. THE HAPPINESS AND PRIDE WHICH OUR PEOPLE TAKE IN MANAGING THEIR OWN AFFAIRS. WHAT WE REQUIRE TO ACHIEVE THIS IS CAPITAL, INDUSTRIES, AND MARKET, AND THESE WE MUST GET. WE MUST GO THE RADICAL COMPREHENSIVE WAY WITH AN INTEGRATED APPROACH"

Fellow citizens and builders of The 21st Century New Ghana, it is very obvious to all that we missed our path, evident in the wild wilderness of a destination in which we find ourselves. Certainly too late in the day to apportion blame and waste progressive energy on litigating the failed past, it is worth noting as the late Nelson Mandela put it :

" THERE IS NO PASSION TO BE FOUND PLAYING SMALL, IN SETTLING FOR A LIFE THAT IS LESS THAN THE ONE YOU ARE CAPABLE OF LIVING"

It is game-changing time, a game-change that refocus on the "Great Nation Project" we abandoned some decades ago. We must urgently re-embark on the GREAT NATION DESTINY PROJECT beginning with a revolutionary reinvention program that will galvanize the vast creative potentials of all citizens to be channelled into a major transformational agenda. This will bring into sharp priority focus, the nation’s engagement to harness what we have in such a massive way, ultimately resulting in a mega intensification, diversification, expansion and broader based prosperity agenda.

To achieve greatness, our nation needs innovation for sustainability, based on our ability to think together, cooperate across sectors, districts, regions, nations and cultures, and to mutually respect differences. We must recognize at this crucial moment that the capacity for constructive result-oriented dialogue and value-based collaboration is at the core of human kinds ability to master challenges of all sorts.

We should kick-start aggressive, strategic, long term-focused structural reforms of our economy, that is inclusive of a major intensification, expansion, and diversification, premised on scientific thinking, thorough complimentary research, the establishment of hard cold facts and practical calculations.

We must decide and establish for a fully energized take off, our core competency and specific areas of sharp focus (whether multiple new types of local and export-focused complete manufacturing industries, being a part of global supply chain manufacturing industries, assembling and packaging industries, our establishment as the West African warehouse and distribution point for globally manufactured products, or a major centre for services including international educational institutions, offshore banking and insurance, positioning ourselves as the West African medical services centre or a globally attractive free zones enclave) for perusal into greatness.

Offcourse the agricultural sector cannot be over-emphasised. Others expected outcomes of these reforms would be real growth of the overall economy, the creation of a strong and viable indigenous economy, massive job creation, and the strengthening of our currency.

With respect to the clear direction and destiny as a great leader ought to do, these were the specific words of Dr Kwame Nkrumah :

" WE MUST LOOK TO INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE TO PROVIDE A HIGHER STANDARD OF LIVING, BUT THESE TWO SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY ARE DEPENDENT ON ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF SUITABLY EDUCATED AND TRAINED MANPOWER - QUALITY RELEVANT HIGHLY SKILLED AND ROUNDED EDUCATION AS THE MAINSPRING OF ECONOMIC PROGRESS - AN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM THAT PRODUCES A DIVERSE WORKFORCE THAT SUITS OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENDA."

"IN THE INDUSTRIAL SPHERE, OUR AIM HAS BEEN TO ENCOURAGE THE ESTABLISHMENT. OF FACTORIES WHERE WE HAVE A NATURAL ADVANTAGE IN LOCAL RESOURCES AND LABOUR , OR WHERE WE CAN PRODUCE ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES REQUIRED FOR DEVELOPMENT, OR FOR DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION “

Dr Nkrumah finally made very clear the direction and priority of education :

"WITH RESPECT TO OUR SPECIFIC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PATH, EDUCATION MAY BE VIEWED IN TWO ASPECTS :

(1) FIRST, IN ORDER THAT PRODUCTIVITY OF THE PEOPLE MAY IMPROVE, THEY OUGHT TO BE MADE GENERALLY RECEPTIVE TO NEW IDEAS.

(2) SECONDLY, EDUCATION SHOULD HAVE THE FUNCTION OF TEACHING THE POPULATION THE SPECIFIC SKILLS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO PRODUCE THE GOODS AND SERVICES NEEDED BY THE ECONOMY.

THIS FOCUS WILL LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR THE GREATEST REVOLUTION IN GHANA'S HISTORY. FOR UNLESS WE ATTAIN ECONOMIC FREEDOM, OUR STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN VAIN AND OUR PLANS FOR SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ADVANCEMENT FRUSTRATED."

Truth be told, our fathers took us down the garden path of self-destruction when we failed to sustain and innovate in a forward looking direction, our initial transformational leadership drive to keep it progressing with changing times. They also failed to fashion out a relevant, appropriate, and futuristic educational system, put in place a pragmatic and constantly progressing science and technology order in line with progressive happenings in the world, build on the solid foundation of our industrial and infrastructure development, and add value to other viable sectors of the nation.

We must look ourselves in face and tell each other the truth that

"WE HAVE FAILED AS A PEOPLE AND NATION, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE OUR HIGHLY ENERGETIC YOUTH NEED TO GET THE TRUE PICTURE OF OUR REALITY AND BRACE THEMSELVES UP TO DO A FAR BETTER TASK AT BUILDING THE NATION THAN WE HAVE DONE HAS BEEN DONE TILL NOW. THIS NEW AND POTENTIALLY EXPLOSIVE CONSTITUENCY OF NEW GENERATION GHANAIANS IS ON THE GROUND NOT JUST CALLING FOR, BUT PUSHING FORCEFULLY, A NEW DIRECTION. THEY ARE PROMOTING A BIG COMPREHENSIVE CHANGE FROM THE FAILED PAST AGENDA."

WE MUST URGENTLY AWAKE FROM OUR DEEP SLUMBER, UNSERIOUSNESS, COLLECTIVE HYPOCRISY, DECEPTION AND FAILED PAST THAT WE CONTINUE TO SENSELESSLY LITIGATE VERY LATE IN THE DAY. OUR PAST HAS CAUGHT UP WITH OUR PRESENT, AND CAGED UP OUR FUTURE WHICH OTHER MORE PROGRESSIVE NATIONS BEGAN YESTERDAY. IT IS GAME CHANGING TIME !!!

Coming to the NOW, in embarking on THE NEW GHANA REVOLUTION, the globally respected President of Ashesi University, Patrick Awuah, sets the tone for us to kick start our new game in this clarion call :

" WE HAVE REACHED A MOMENT FROM WHICH CAN EMERGE A GREAT SOCIETY WITHIN ONE GENERATION, AND IT WILL DEPEND ON INSPIRED LEADERSHIP. SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, BUT WE MUST BELIEVE THAT THESE KIDS (OUR YOUTH) ARE SMART. AND IT IS MY CONTENTION THAT THE MANNER IN WHICH WE EDUCATE THEM WILL MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE"

Men and women of thought and action, it is a dawn and a new moment of promise. Never has there been a more opportune, energised, and exciting time as this, a moment in which the nation is constituted by a majority aspirational population of reasonably educated, exposed and vibrant new generation middle class, as well as a highly energetic youth, brimming with hope, desirous of modernisation, enthusiastic for status quo change and on heat with the necessary dare, militancy and revolutionarism to build a more progressive future. This strategic combination, constituting "Ghana's Success Formation" is the nation's game-change that will deliver real change, rebuild the broken walls of Ghana, transform our land, and make the nation worth her promise.

This is a clarion call on the generation of possibilities, strategic action, and tangible results, to arise and swing into action. It's all about a new kind of inclusive politics, a new era of great collective leadership, a relevantly educated, enlighted, and collective thing population, actively engaged citizens and connected communities, a very robust economic development agenda, a highly modernised, technologically driven, humane, compassionate, progressive society, and a strategically positioned and proactive influential global player. These constitute a great nation, precisely what we must aspire and work diligently to become. This is the agenda we must demand of our politicians this election season.

God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong.

God bless the rise of The Great Ghana Destiny Project

Charles Sam, Golden Future Promotions
Accra-Ghana

Tel/Whatsapp : +233 544 144 551

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