Utilising heritage fund – best option
The present government’s desire to take strategic decisions to fix the country’s traumatised economy immediately after assuming the reigns of governance was a result of persistent public outcry that greeted the New Patriotic Party (NPP) before and after the electioneering.
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Many pundits, including those from the other political divide, as well as a few of the country’s academic dons, have vigorously and vehemently thrown tantrums, vilifications and vituperations at the government for the mere fact that the education policy publicised would be actualised through the utilisation of the Oil and Gas Heritage Fund; a special fund that had been created with the advent of oil/gas find for futuristic necessities.
Apparently, in the face of all these hullabaloo emanating from a section of the public, one very peculiar thing has become so obvious; that is, most people putting up such criticisms perceive this all-important policy initiative as too grandiose, or in effect the vision and conviction of the President that promptly gave birth to this life-saving ingenuity is just too big for the country to implement. However, Azim Premji, a leading Indian Professor and an Entrepreneur, once averred that; “If people do not laugh at your vision, it means your vision is too small.”
Brian Tracy, a world acknowledged leadership guru, went on to postulate that; “All successful people, men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.”
Indeed, Robert H. Schuller summed it all up by concluding thus; “Commit yourself to a dream . . . Nobody who tries to do something great but fails is a total failure. Why? Because he can always be rest assured that he succeeded in life’s most important battle – he defeated the fear of trying.”
Conspicuously, as a sovereign state, the need for our leaders to dream big and have bigger vision to enable the country to surmount the insurmountable supersedes all other considerations. Incontrovertibly, the essence of education can never be downplayed, in that, it is the only known pathway that can extricate an entire society and continents from the shackles of poverty.
Looking at the current unfolding trend, what will it profit the country if an entire colossal accumulated revenue meant for developmental agenda of the country is unduly reserved in some foreign vault, whilst the bunch of the youth continue to wallow in despicable conditions because of their inability to fund mere secondary education? Figuratively, the circumstances in which as a country we find ourselves is synonymous to ‘a father who refuses to feed his children and leaves them to perish although he has bigger savings for future eventuality.’ It doesn’t sound too pleasant as an independent state. One thing we should not lose sight of is that monetary resources expended towards the youth of this country in the area of senior high school (SHS) funding, which may lead to sustainable development of human capital, is likely to be recovered in diverse forms with superior cost effectiveness in the long term.
It must, therefore, be emphasised that sovereignties within the global northern hemisphere and those within the Asiatic enclave have irrefutably caused a paradigm shift in the realm of massive infrastructural development coupled with interminable wealth creation, these and many more, owing to the fact that education was absolutely entrenched in its prioritization. The visions and aspirations such leaders brought on board upon assuming the reins of governance were unconditionally bought into by the citizens. Today, what do we witness? Those countries within the global southern hemisphere, which of course includes Africa, have almost naturally been relegated to the background due to the fact that accessing quality education has been a daunting task; the main variable being optimal resources coupled with adequate funding.
It is in the light of the above that there is the urgent necessity to rally behind His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo to actualise his dream of the free SHS concept which is likely to enroll virtually every SHS potential candidate to ensure that not a single soul is left behind in climbing the educational ladder.
Obviously, with the rolling out of this programme, parents and guardians have the biggest opportunity to physically make prudent savings that could disentangle the vicious cycle of poverty confronting the populace. Armed robbery, gangsterism, nefarious activities emanating from truancy and extreme social vices would significantly be truncated.
Ultimately, as Ghanaians, we should be very proud of such a God-appointed leader who is so determined to ensure that the present generation and even those yet unborn have better and predictable inheritance, therefore, utilising the Heritage Fund is the best option under the present circumstances.
The writer is Logistics Control Limited.
Writer’s E-mail: [email protected]