THE SAD STORY
OF THE GHANAIAN YOUTH
It is an undeniable fact that the strength and
future prospects of every nation rests on her
youthful population, which mostly forms the
largest workforce. It is in light of this that
governments must consciously strive to ensure
that the overall development and wellbeing of
the Ghanaian Youth is of utmost priority since
our development as a nation is inextricably tied
to that of the youth.
However, as we mark World Youth day on this day,
it is regrettable to state that the noble dreams
of many young men and women which flourished
under the previous NPP government have all of a
sudden become nightmares under the John Mahama
led National Democratic Congress government.
At present, the issue of unemployment has
notoriously assumed legendary dimensions. Yet,
government displays nothing by wanton
cluelessness and ineptitude in respect of how to
effectively deal with this national crisis with
the necessary finesse. Consequently, the whole
concept of youth empowerment has become a
mirage; leaving the youth of the country in a
rather sorry state. Thus, whiles for example the
previous N.P.P government under the
distinguished leadership of John Agyekum Kufour
bequeathed to Ghana, a thriving national youth
employment program which provided several job
opportunities to the youth, the NDC will for the
very first time in the history of our country,
be bequeathing onto Ghanaians, the Unemployed
Graduates Association of Ghana (UGAG) with
branches across the country. If our highly
skilled graduates cannot find jobs to do, then
what becomes of the ‘less educated ‘ in our
society. How pathetic!
Whiles the NDC government has woefully failed in
this venture, it is unfortunate to state that,
the complimentary role played by the private
sector has also been gravely affected by the
longest haul of ‘dumsor’ ever to be witnessed in
the history of Ghana. Consequently, businesses
have over the past few years been hit with
rather high cost of production with the
resultant effect of unprecedented job cuts.
The education sector has not also been spared as
performances of students continue to dip in the
wake of governments blatant refusal to provide
essential teaching and learning materials and
the unending dreaded ‘dumsor’ which has brought
so much hardship to the Ghanaian student. Today
for no fault of theirs, our students are forced
to assemble around street streets, candles and
lanterns with all the potential risk just to
prepare for exams. Thus although undesirable we
are not surprised with the recently released
results of the West African Examination Council.
A careful study of the results would reveal that
given the pass rate of core subjects, over
70,000 students would for the upcoming academic
year not be admitted into any tertiary
institution. What becomes of these young men and
women who are only victims of the mismanagement
of the John Mahama led NDC government.
As we celebrate International Youth Day, I
charge the teeming youth of Ghana to take their
destiny into their own hands by becoming Agents
of Change from the current status quo which
militates against their personal and self
advancement.
…Signed…
Samuel Awuku
(National Youth Organizer)
