Features
Our Political leaders need to tread cautiously in their utterances
Holding a political position in government is noble, sensitive and very important and, therefore, you have to be courteous, sympathetic, respectful and comport yourself in whatever ways you find yourself so that in the long run, you can earn a lot of respect from the very people who made you who you are. You do not have to display arrogance and talk anyhow to the electorate even in times of provocation.
NEGATIVE STATEMENTS FROM POLITICIANS
It is becoming increasingly clear that some of the politicians we gave them our mandate to rule us, are now turning their back on us through their loose utterances, forgetting that without the people, they cannot govern this country. Government of the day does not work in isolation, it is the people whose back you rode to power and, therefore, there is the fervent need to show respect to them accordingly.
The famous US President Abraham Lincoln said in November 19, 1863 that,“Democracy is a rule of the people for the people and by the people”. That simply means democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people. The citizens of the country elect the President to rule the country and the elected President works for the welfare of the people. Nothing should allow the party in power to lord it over the people in a democratic regime.
SEEKING THE MANDATE OF THE PEOPLE TO RULE
It is quite unfortunate that in this beautiful country called Ghana in which the people have accepted democratic governance as the practice, when our politicians are seeking for political power to form a government, they try to adopt and use every available means to convince the people to vote for them, after getting that mandate which they needed most, they completely lose sight of the very people who gave them that power and, therefore, try to lord it over them.
Their behaviours, become completely different from that time they were seeking the people’s assistance, behaving selfishly, serving their own interests, that of their families, friends and cronies and talking loosely and anyhow to the electorate, particularly the youth on whose tickets they rode to power.
Just recently, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, the Member of Parliament for Bekwai, in the Ashanti Region who doubles as the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, our law making institution, was reported to have urged Ghanaian youth to venture into entrepreneurship and stop chasing non-existent white-collar jobs.
According to him university graduates in the country must initiate the process of generating wealth before others support them. His comments came at the launch of the 29th GRASAG Week celebration at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi.
UNFAVOURABLE STATEMENTS FROM JOE WISE
Hear the astute lawmaker, “Every graduate is going round with a certificate searching for the job whereas the training was able to enable them to create the job. I think it was time we bridged the linkages between the knowledge we have acquired and the wealth in our land. Parliament will continue to provide the facilitation but first thing is that graduates must apply the knowledge they have acquired”.
According to him, even though white-collar jobs are good, the opportunities out there are limited, because only a handful of people with specific qualifications are needed at any point in time.
He dispelled the notion that only people from poor homes acquired technical training skills, adding that the youth must be allowed to venture into professions they had talent to operate effectively rather than force them into areas of education, which might not be suitable for them, and end up jeopardising their future.
REACTIONS FROM THE YOUTH
These unfavourable statements from the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament have infuriated Ghanaian students and graduates from our universities and other tertiary institutions, attracting a lot of bashings with unprintable statements from them describing his comments as most unfortunate, irrelevant, unnecessary and in bad taste, especially coming from no other person than a leading member of government and a lawmaker. Some have questioned how they can create a business account without the basic capital, saying a lot of people even struggled financially to go through university education.
Others are interested in knowing how many jobs he had created as a leader and even with a certificate? A questioner has also put to him to tell Ghanaians how many parliamentarians created their own jobs before entering parliament and whether they have been able to help the few graduates who have been able to set up their own jobs to cut down the unemployment rate in the country?
AGITATED YOUTH
The simple truth is that times are, indeed, very hard and there is total frustration among Ghanaians, especially the youth most of whom are graduates with good qualifications, yet finding it very difficult to secure jobs to fend for themselves. They are so agitated that they don’t want to hear unpleasant statements from our politicians and members of government that will make them more infuriated.
This means that our parliamentarians and members of government need to weigh whatever statements they want to churn out to the public in order not to create disaffection and anxiety among the people, particularly the teeming unemployed youth.
GOV’T SHOULD PROVIDE START-UP CAPITAL FOR BUSINESS
Indeed, creating their own jobs will need an initial capital to start with and as fresh students who have not worked before, how can they raise that funds to set up their own businesses, let alone to absorb others.
They are not magicians to raise funds on their own without any means and, therefore, will need a start-up capital from government to embark on the project Joe Wise is talking about.
Nobody should look down on our graduates because they are people who have been well groomed by our public and private universities with high academic performances.That is why our graduates are highly accepted anywhere beyond the borders of Ghana.
Due to lack of jobs, quite a number of the nation’s graduates, trained with hard earned foreign exchange have travelled to other foreign countries and are in gainful employments to the detriment of our country.
Many are still leaving by day because they do not find hope in our dear country where only few people in responsible positions are enjoying. The current education system of our country, will continue to produce a large number of graduates every year, without the corresponding jobs to absorb them.
THE LOOSE STATEMENTS MUST CEASE FORTHWITH
It was time we put an end to those loose and reckless talks from our leaders and rather to find ways of creating the necessary jobs to absorb the teeming number of graduates who are churned out from our universities every year.
Our law makers should lead the way in enacting pragmatic and effective laws that will find lasting solutions to this monster called graduate unemployment in our country, rather than making all kinds of negative statements to the annoyance of the youth who are so much agitated or incensed.
By Charles Neequaye
Writer’s email: ataani2000@yahoo.com