The Board Chair of the National Youth Authority (NYA) Hon. Akwasi Afrifa-Mensa has called on Ghanaians to change their attitudes in order for the country to develop.
According to him, the call by a cross section of the citizenry to fix the country begins with them. The Ghanaian needs an attitudinal change.
“We all Need Attitudinal Change! We need to fix our mindset. We need to fix the way we do our things; Nobody, I mean nobody, will fix our country for us if we individually don’t fix ourselves”.
He maintained that our collective actions and inactions determines the state of our country at any given time.
Hon. Afrifa-Mensa, who also doubles as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Amasaman was speaking at the opening of the 2022 International Youth Day which also marked the first Annual National Youth Conference in the Akwapim North District.
The NYA Board Chair cataloguing among other activities militating against the development of the country indicated that “the destruction of our water bodies is something that will affect generations to come and must be resisted by all”.
He indicated that no one appears to hold himself accountable for anything in the country as we tend to blame each other for our misfortunes.
“Everyone seems to blame each other for our bad behaviors. The Lecturer who insists on sex from a student to pass is complaining about the rot in Ghana. The Rich Man who pays his driver GH₵300 a month, whiles his children schools abroad is complaining about the hopelessness in Ghana, the Trader who removes two bowls of rice from the bag, re-bags and sells as a ‘full’ bag is complaining about the wickedness in Ghana.”
The Amasaman MP continued: “The Provisions Store Owner who changes the expiry dates on his products and sell same products to innocent customers is complaining, the Civil Servant who comes to work late without even being productive or adding value but rather shows up at the end of the month to receive salary is complaining about low salaries. The Student who spends the weekend partying only to start posting Instagram pictures on Monday and is always after “apor” to pass exams, is complaining that Ghana is stealing his/her dreams”
Hon. Afrifa-Mensa insisted that until the National Young Leaders of Ghana, appreciate that, the value of Ghana today is the average of our own individual value, “we will keep messing ourselves forever. We are all architects of our economic developmental woes.”
The event brought together youth activists and participants from across all Municipalities of the country and offered the opportunity to celebrate mainstream young voices, actions and inactions and initiatives, as well as their meaningful, universal and equitable engagement.