Mr. Chairman, Special Guest of Honour, Invited Guests, Ministers of State, Honorable Members of Parliament, Leaders of Civil Organizations, Outgoing National Officers, the Media, Families and Friends, Colleague student Leaders, all Protocol duly observed, Ladies and Gentlemen, I deem it a great honour to stand before you today in fulfillment of article 99, clause (b) of the National Union of Ghana Students Constitution. We would like to use this opportunity to thank the Almighty God for making us see this day and as well thank all Ghanaian students, student leaders across the breath and length of this country and beyond for reposing confidence in us to serve them for the 2014/2015 NUGS year.
Mr. Chairman, to us this is not just one of those handing over ceremonies, it is an occasion to reaffirm our utmost willingness to be there for the youth and students of this country, work for them and ultimately stand for them as we have vouched on our humane and the tenets of our worthy leadership principles to be the best we can be and to stand the test of time even when progress is intercepted.
Our vision as the 2014/2015 National Officers of NUGS is to provide a leadership that will strategically place the National Union of Ghana Students on a higher pedestal both locally and internationally. This we intend to achieve through our policies and programs hinged on three thematic areas.
Good governance, Mr. Chairman, the purpose of leadership in every organization, group, society, company or country is to ensure that there is a coordinated effort towards the attainment of a known objective; it arises because only few people need to be given the mandate to carry the many on their shoulders. It is in line with the above that we seek to harmonize the student system of this country by working closely with all organizations that matter in making decisions that affect the students and the youth of this country, we will also have special interest in the operations of the various blocs under NUGS as mandated by law knowing very well that their success is the success of NUGS. As part of our good governance policy subject to the approval of the central committee of the Union as provided for in article 21 of the NUGS constitution, we intend to work closely with the Auditor General?s department, the audit units of Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service to ensure that the accounts of various blocs as well as that of NUGS? are properly audited annually. We are also declaring our tenure of office as the era of patronization of made in Ghana goods. As you can see, the whole team is in African print, we are making sure that at every local level of the student movement, this project is carried out. This is our contribution towards the building of this economy among other things.
Proactive Leadership and Activism, Mr. Chairman, we are going to be leading the debate in matters that are related to education and youth development in this country, we are constituting a research team that will give us reports in every aspect of our educational system, this is to be done at least once every month, with the report forwarded to the appropriate quarters for the needed attention. Let me hasten to add that we will not just identify challenges, but will advance to propose concrete and well thought out solutions. We will not wait for dates for statutory payments to organizations that man education in this country elapse before we remind government, we shall be part of the process by reminding government constantly on the social contract it has signed with the people of Ghana. Organizations such as Ghana Football Association, Musicians Union of Ghana, National Youth Authority, Youth Entrepreneurship Support Fund, National Service Scheme and many others that are in charge of youth development and nurturing of talents in this country will be approached in order to have them make public the kind of benefit their activities are generating for the youth of this country.
Mr. Chairman, it is also our intention to know the number of students on government?s scholarship in abroad and how their education is funded. This is to a large extent help curb the challenges faced over the years in relation to the release of subventions that take care of their education well as how their welfare issues are looked at.
Welfare Maximization. Mr. Chairman, we will pursue an agenda that demands value for the moneys paid by the students and parents of this country at every level, we will also call for a national debate on how to fund tertiary education in Ghana, this is very necessary at this point in time knowing how education is gradually becoming the preserve of the rich minority. We will also build the capacities of student leaders through educative seminar and symposia, this is targeted at preparing them for the corporate world after school. Mr. Chairman, we also intend to establish an award system that seeks to honour hard working student leaders and students annually.
Mr. Chairman, I have made few observations in this country that I will like to cease this opportunity to speak on. We are all aware that societies or countries are not developed by individual political parties, they can never be developed by individual tribes or regions, neither can they be developed by individual religion, that is the more reason why it is very important for all of us to be watchful of the unnecessary tribalism, religious fanaticism and over politicization of issues of national interest in this country. The way and manner we read tribal and political meanings into every issue in our country is not helping matters, we must know that political parties will come and go but Ghana remains forever subject to divine judgment. You tune in to radio stations everyday and it is like every day is a day for political campaign in this country. We must have time for campaigning and time to concentrate and develop our country collectively. Mr. Chairman, it is sad that we still have heads of institutions that discriminate against students and workers on religious basis, we still have mission schools that will not allow people who share different faith to hold leadership positions in such institutions, we still have institutions in this country who will not admit certain kind of people in their work places or schools because of religious differences, at our level as National Officers of NUGS, we are going to fight against that in every school using the appropriate laid down means. We are also calling on the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service and all civil society organizations to be up in arms against such an archaic practice.
Mr. Chairman, we are prepared to work with the government, and any organization or group of people who will make the progress of the students and the youth of this country a priority. We see every progressive group that has the youth and students of this country at heart as partners on this journey. That should also tell you that we will not take it lightly with any organization who will like to take the students front for granted, certainly not this time around.
Mr. Chairman, Special Guest of Honour, Invited Guests, Ministers of State, Honorable Members of Parliament, Leaders of Civil Society Organizations, Outgoing National Officers, the Media, Families and Friends, Colleague student Leaders, all Protocols duly observed, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the path we have decided to take, this is what we have vowed to stand for, and this cannot be achieved without your support, we need your support at every step of the way in order to make this vision a reality.
God bless NUGS and God bless OUR Homeland Ghana and make OUR NATION Great and Strong.
No comments:
Post a Comment