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Mr. President, Please Engage Our Youth In The Nation's Agenda

Feature Article Mr. President, Please Engage Our Youth In The Nation's Agenda
DEC 26, 2019 LISTEN

We need a youth summit with our President ,now!
Recently, the President of Rwanda ,Mr. Paul Kagame, gathered 3,000 youths of his country to map out the development agenda for the next 25years and beyond. The gathering was aimed to provide the opportunity for the president to engage the youth in his nation's aspirations and potentials .Why not in Ghana?

Rwanda, once upon a time was a war -torn country which was ruined by tribal infamy and yet it has able to get up and be counted as one of the pillars of Africa. What is their secret?

With that in mind, I would like to suggest to our President to have a youth SUMMIT(ASAP) and invite about 3,000 of our young people across the nation (from all walks of life)to plan for the next 25 years and beyond. It's a right thing to do!

By so doing he would be able to gauge the temperature of the nation and the potentials of our future leadership. The youth would be able to tell him what he doesn't want hear ,but needs to hear. The question is this: If they're our future leaders how come we're not preparing them for any leadership skills or role? How come we're not engaging them in the national debates? How come they're not playing any meaningful role in the national development?

It's so sad that the only time we want the youths is when we want to use them for our own political interests and then we abandon them like used tires ;right after election. But, can we sincerely say that this nation can prosper without the inputs of our youths?

Mark my word, if the NPP wants to retain power in 2020 there is no guarantee than bringing the youths of this nation together and ask for their contributions and their visions for the nation. This should be done before the year ends.

In fact, history will continue to judge our past and present leaderships for not making use of our youth. The fundamental reality is that Ghanaian youths appear to be falling way, way, behind the youths of comparable nations with limited natural resources and potentials than Ghana.

I don't think if our leaders knew this: This much is known about the so-called our future leaders. They're poor, unemployed, living in rural areas , underemployed, probably hungry and angry as hell. The average young person in this country is lacking education, mis-educated or having inadequate education, as are essential services and adequate skills for the new knowledge economy. That is why they're easily lured into substance abuse ,risky sexual behavior, crime, violence, and over-consumption of 'imported life-styles and cultures. The general exclusion from the decision-making process has also left them disillusioned and angry.

In addition to our decrepit education system, the youth's lack of opportunity, and other related crisis have not been addressed enough by our leaderships, politicians and policy makers. In fact, our youths feel rootless, isolated, neglected, hapless, hopeless, unloved, untouched, and simply unattended to.

But, how long can we ignore them? The volcano is hot and ready to erupt ,but can we contain the ashes or the 'lava' ,when things fall apart? The youth summit is not a choice, but a necessity for the nation's growth, welfare and sanity.

I hope someone is listening to my call.
Until we meet here again, stay tuned. Be blessed, and educated about issues of our nation.

Kwaku Adu-Gyamfi(voice of reason)

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