Ghana needs exceptional leaders - Rev. Joyce Aryee
Ghana needs exceptional leaders to run the affairs of the country, the former Executive Director for Salt and Light Ministries, Rev. Joyce Aryee, has stated.
According to her, the country’s socio-economic development can only improve when it is led by exceptional leaders.
Rev. Aryee who was a Minister of State in the PNDC era made the statements at the maiden edition of the GRASAG Entrepreneurship and Leadership (GEL) Summit 2019 held in Accra last Friday.
The summit was organised by the Central University branch of the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG).
Exceptional leaders
Giving the attributes of essential leaders, she said they were vision bearers, creative, result oriented and courageous among others.
She, therefore, advised the youth to inculcate the qualities of exceptionalism since they were future leaders.
Rev. Aryee, who is also a former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, said she believed in the youth of today.
She consequently advised them to embrace challenges of great leadership, acknowledging that the high rate at which technology was evolving gave room for great leaders to emerge.
“As technology continues to evolve at breakneck speed, global trade also continues to expand and social, political and environmental problems threaten stability and safety. Exceptional leaders are needed now more than ever in business, government, education, health and our communities.”
“Will you accept the challenge to grow these six roots of integrity, vision, concern, creativity, results–orientation and courage? Will you do whatever it takes to cause your oak tree of leadership to flourish, offering its shelter and strength to those around you,” she asked.
Call to aspire
The former CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Mines used the California Oak Tree (Odum tree) to urge the undergraduates to aspire to be exceptional leaders in society. “Great leaders grow deep roots,” she said.
For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Quente Africa and the Director of Enterprise Development, Dominion University, Dr Daniel Agbeko underscored the importance of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to the development of the country.
According to him, the only way to resolve the economic challenges that the country was facing was to make TVET a priority in the country’s educational system.
He stressed that it was high time graduates acquired additional knowledge in TVET in order to create more employment opportunities for the next generation.
Dr Agbeko also advised the graduates to make good use of the Minister for Education’s announcement on the establishment of at least 20 technical and vocational institutes before the close of next year to train graduates to feed the industries.
He also urged the youth to be critical thinkers and innovative. “The youth in this country should be critical thinkers and innovative. The world is looking for people who would offer solutions to current challenges confronting it and it would only take people who are critical thinkers and innovative to address such challenges,” he added.
