MTN GROUP Vice-President for West and Central Africa, Ebenezer Twum Asante, has urged Ghanaians to support the government’s national identity digitisation scheme in order to help the economy grow.
According to him, national identity digitisation should be increased and accelerated as a requirement for the development of a contemporary society and economy, as a single-source identification for everything.
Addressing post-graduate students of the University of Ghana last Friday, Mr Asante noted that when societies are less organised, law and order suffer, while social and civic responsibilities are eroded due to skewed economic incentives.
According to him, resources are poorly generated and allocated, resulting in poverty and unemployment in a less organised society, necessitating the use of technology to bring the country back into order.
“I am very pleased to be here today and to join you on this august occasion as my first formal engagement in the New Year,” he told the students and congratulated them for studying and graduating in a most globally disruptive pandemic period.
“In these times of uncertainties and anxieties, it takes some stubborn courage to pursue a demanding programme such as postgraduate studies in an equally demanding University like my alma mater,” he noted.
Lessons from COVID
Mr. Asante further said that if one looked at what has been called as “Vaccine Apartheid,” the COVID-19 epidemic had taught the world many lessons and confirmed human vulnerabilities.
“Another reminder, that the global share of selfishness remains high. But beyond complaining, let’s play our part. It may be a clarion call to Africa to lift the selflessness balance and as the saying goes ‘Put our destinies in our own hands.’ Your degree therefore, should also serve others,” he indicated.
“Let me say upfront, the law of random distribution will suggest most of you will do okay, others may do well, whilst a small proportion will be extraordinary.”
“No matter where you find yourself, take a stand that you will diligently apply yourself to defy the odds of the bell-curve of life, with conviction and ethical values. Having said that, I also believe it is better to be just okay than cut corners in search of greatness,” he admonished.
Mr. Asante also urged graduating students to use their degrees to solve and uplift problems, saying, “It would take you well beyond securing the hard-to-get job, promotion, or career you so desperately want.”
“In Ghana, a lot of people are being encouraged to be entrepreneurs, which is very good. To me, being entrepreneurial means taking ownership of and actively making use of your ideas, talents and knowledge for a living,” Mr Asante noted.
He also wants the students to follow their ambitious goals and desires, but to start with a specialty that they can manage so that they may establish a foundation for the future.
