Celebrating 60 years of nationhood
To celebrate or not to celebrate the country’s Diamond Jubilee or 60th anniversary has been embroiled in so much debate.
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While some Ghanaians believe it is a momentous occasion worth celebrating in pomp, others think marking our 60th year as an independent nation would be a total waste of scarce resources.
But be that as it may, we have come a long way as a nation although we may not have accomplished as much as we would have wanted.
The Daily Graphic believes, therefore, that we cannot just let the 60 years pass quietly as if nothing has happened.
It is true that we can decide not to have any major celebration, defer the commemoration to another year when we believe our economic situation would have improved, or wait till we are 70 before we celebrate in grand style.
Our take on the matter is that we should not overspend or invest money in things and activities that may not be needful or add value to the celebration. As the old adage goes, we should “cut our cloth according to our size.”
The Ghana@50 celebration was steeped in so much controversy and we believe it should serve as a guide to the planning committee and other people who would be involved in seeing to the smooth execution of activities to mark the celebration.
The Daily Graphic is also of the view that the celebration, which will be on the theme: “Mobilising for Ghana’s Future”, can be fully or partly supported by corporate institutions so that no extra burden is placed on the national kitty as the President said during the unveiling of the Ghana@60 logo.
Already the President has indicated that the estimated GH¢20 million cost of the celebration would be borne not only by the state, but also corporate institutions.
We believe that what Ghanaians wish to be told, is how much exactly the government plans to put into the celebration. The provision of that figure, we believe, will put every Ghanaian at rest and douse the fire on the fiery debate.
In our view too, the planning committee would do us all good by coming up with programmes that will aid the country to make money from the celebration which can be easily accounted for, rather than spend a lot of money.
We are of the firm belief that organisations will rise to the occasion, just as they have been supporting worthy national commemorations such as the annual National Farmers Day.
The Daily Graphic also encourages the government to be truthful to the public regarding the actual amount spent on the celebration when it is all done, by conducting an audit and publishing the findings.
Again the Daily Graphic calls on the government to use the platform of the celebration for national re-orientation that will help us to rediscover our values.
