2013, Here we come!

We are encouraged that President John Dramani Mahama led Ghanaians into the New Year with the assurance that there are better times ahead.

That, he said, was in spite of the challenges that confronted the country and urged Ghanaians to commit themselves to hard work, strong faith and determination to turn the challenges into opportunities in the years ahead.

In his New Year message to the nation, the President said  he would pursue programmes "aimed at creating jobs, investing in people, expanding the frontiers of democracy and ultimately improving the living conditions of the ordinary citizen".

Indeed,  we cannot, as a country, lose sight of the challenges that face the country, especially concerning the outcome of the December elections which we believe is in the hands of a very capable institution, the Judiciary.

After coming out of very successful elections which have been touted as free and fair, we must not do anything in the coming days or months to derail our  forward march seeking to improve the living conditions of the greater majority of our people.

There is the need to maintain our peace because without it no meaningful progress can be made in our quest for development. As exhibited in the past  year, Ghanaians should continue to show kindness and true love, good  faith and oneness in all we do.

Foremost, and as the President said, we must commit ourselves to hard work and believe in ourselves that we can make it as a nation. In fact,  it is only Ghanaians who can let this happen.

In this direction, the Daily Graphic calls on Ghanaians, especially the youth, to prepare themselves to take advantage of the opportunities that will be made available to them.

All Ghanaians, whether drivers, teachers, media practitioners, opinion leaders, security agents or civil servants, must think about our country first  because it is through our collective effort that we can build a strong nation.

Our politicians, especially those in the Executive and the Legislature, must also serve the people and not lord it over those who put them in leadership positions.

We should not make politics an opportunity for self-service but a public service aimed at initiating the necessary interventions for the resolution of society’s challenges.

The Daily Graphic is very optimistic that this New Year will bring us good tidings, provided we set out to work hard and enforce discipline on the roads, in our communities and at the workplaces.

 As we have all resolved to put the past behind us, let us do way with traits that have the tendency to draw us back and with a changed attitude, hard work, commitment and God’s guidance make Ghana a better place to live in.