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Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta
Every nation that has advanced technologically has done so because it committed itself and its resources to building and supporting entrepreneurial initiatives.
That is the global success story from Europe through Asia to South America. Indeed, in almost all of these nations that we find in these regions and continents, the greatest employer is the private sector, which is responsible for hiring youth into factory lines to create products, ranging from nails and blades; bolts and nuts; roofing sheets and plumbing pipes, to vehicles and spares as well as computers and accessories.
Worrying tradition
Over here in our part of the world, the worrying tradition is that even students who complete technical universities and others who study agriculture are found chasing government jobs – with threats to vote against government at the next general elections if their requests for job opportunities are not met.
Of course, we need to replace tired limbs and minds who are exiting in droves each year with fresh limbs and brawn. However, when the pressure is just to create opportunities for the sake of it, without ensuring that we are picking career officers, goals are defeated. In this case, we may end up recruiting mercenaries and opportunists instead of patriots and loyal citizens ready to die for their nation.
Propaganda
It is worse when politicians take undue advantage of such situations to attack incumbent governments, when the issue is really a national conversation that should be managed by effective policy and political will.
At all times, freshmen or graduate nurses, teachers, laboratory technicians and others from other fields have their ears, noses and eyes on the ground, hoping to hear about recruitments into the public service or security agencies.
Unfortunately, instead of the politician raising positive issues about how to break that worrying cycle, he or she would latch onto the mere lack of opportunities to slam his opponent, when there is really nothing positive and constructive about that.
Awareness to create jobs
That is why we must commend the government for drawing the attention of the youth to the lingering challenge, so that the millions of jobless youth, including hundreds of thousands of graduates that are churned out of universities annually, can be part of the solution and, more importantly, major beneficiaries of the unfolding vision to create jobs ourselves.
The report, therefore, that the Finance Minister is initiating a programme aimed at engaging the youth to buy into the package offered by the Obaatanpa deal should be refreshing to every citizen, particularly the youth.
Growth stimulus
As Ghanaians may be aware, almost every initiative and intervention which the government, under the able leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has designed and rolled out has been aimed at stimulating growth.
From the Free SHS and Nation Builders Corps, through the reforestation programmes, Planting for Food and Jobs, ‘Youth in Agriculture,’ among several others, the idea is to make the youth financially independent, while tapping out the best in them to enable them expand their horizons.
That is aside of the stimulus package that government has introduced into the various industrial sectors to help revamp distressed businesses and expand fledging ones in strengthening the sector to deliver jobs and economic growth and development.
Spreading the message
Dubbed the GhanaCARES Project, the initiative is aimed at weaning the youth off the crumbs that politicians throw at them, and go for the gold with their destinies in their hands.
That is the message the Finance Minister is seeking to convey to the bulging youth population.
So that the message seeps into the constituencies, we would urge all civil society actors and, particularly, the relevant desks of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to be inextricable parts of this engagement, not only in helping attain the desired goals but also mute negative propaganda from the opponent.