The Greater Accra National Service Personnel Association (NASPA) has held their first delegate conference in Accra on the theme: “The role of the 21st Century Youth Leader in Nation Building” to throw more light on the need of ensuring the integration of youth concerns into national development.
According to Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the youth, defined as those aged 15-35 years, constitutes 34.1 per cent of Ghana’s total population.
Again, the 2013/14 GLSS report estimated the youth unemployment rate at 6.5 per cent compared to the national average of 5.5 per cent in 2013.
But speaking at the conference, the Deputy Director for Monitoring and Evaluation Division of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Nana Opare-Djan encouraged the National Service Personnel and the youth at large to take positive advantages of the ICT tools since the world has become a global village to easily make one successful.
He added that, success in life cannot be achieved if one has a bad attitude hence patriotism, avoidance of vandal and negative acts and punctuality at work, among others are essentials deemed to aid them achieve their goals if carefully followed.
“The world has become a global village. It means we need to take advantage of the technological tools available to us. The ICT is at hand. The use of it has been positive as well as negative but we would like to see the use of ICT positively to make your lives better.
“Attitudes must be changed. We know how we litter around and no one cares. Noise pollution in our environment must be stopped. Youth rampage in our communities deemed fun should shun. The youth can engage to bring all these to peace…,” he said.
He further noted that, the National service personnel should avoid losing hope when they are posted to places out of their interest.
Office work, he said, isn’t the only option to take one far in life. The youth, he confirmed, can find a lot of ways to help the community and the nation as a whole to make their lives worth it.
“We want them to exercise patience. Even if the government sends them off to work in the agricultural sector, they should embrace it… it’s not only the office work that can take you far. The youth can find ways and means to help the community. Even if it’s a communal work, it’s fine.
“They have to find means to work for the country. The shortcut to money is what the youth is after. If we want to survive it depends on the activities of the youth. We urge them to continue to work hard and they should avoid all forms of harshness and quicker ways for cash…” he maintained.