Book Review: A Practical Guide For A Nation On The Verge Of Greatness

He’s done it again: Professor; Best teacher; Businessman of the year award winner; Visionary.

Yes, Dr. Gabriel Ayisi of New York wants us all to believe that all is not lost with our wonderful country, perhaps a notion that is especially important in these times when the country has a real shot at being on the verge of greatness. And I dare say he’s done a damn good job of rousing the curiosity of the most skeptical to believe again in our ability to find answers to our nation’s seemingly intractable woes.

His new and most ambitious effort to date: “ Higher Education Centered Economic Development and Growth – Ghana as a Case History”, has all the hallmarks of being a runaway bestseller. Like a doctor prescribing an antidote for his sick patients, Ayisi has penned a superb analysis of what ails our country, and leaves the reader wondering why such a common sense approach to guaranteed economic takeoff has not been exploited and implemented. It makes you wonder whether, for once, our policy makers can be awakened from their slumber.

The prognosis is simple: Government, higher education, and private industry linked in a synergic and strategic symbiosis of value creation. The ingredients required are organization, processes, outcomes and measurement. Stripped to its barest minimum, the study implies that government must create the framework that enables the private sector to tap, to its fullest extent, the boundless talent and resources of higher education in meeting the needs of the nation’s manpower and economic needs.

This following is how the editorial review of Amazon.com (where you can grab your copy) puts it….

“This study investigated the expansion of the tertiary education sub-sector and how it could be made developmentally oriented to foster economic growth. The author gathered relevant data by means of personal observation; archival studies and interviews with government officials, academic staff, private industry management, students, as well as, school administrators at private institutions. The study revealed that science and technology education is limited by the lack of resources which prevents most students wishing to pursue these courses from doing so. Ayisi asserts that this impedes economic development in Ghana. Lack of efficient resources such as computers and science equipment impede the production of essential technical, scientific and managerial manpower to lead the economy. The outcome of this study encourages full participation and integration of colleges, universities and professional schools in local, state/regional, and national economic planning.”

Bold, creative, simple, and strategic. Ayisi is a visionary whose full scope and contribution to his country’s developmental needs cannot be overlooked. This is a must read for every policy maker, student, and private sector player. It resonates with the timeless importance of productive team work between three major sectors whose intrinsic interrelationship requires a whole new development paradigm. It would be worth your time and more to explore this practical/intellectually inspired masterpiece. The book was launched in New York on April 25, 2009, and it is scheduled to be launched in Ghana in August, 2009

Writer: Freduah Prempeh New Jersey. USA fprempeh@yahoo.com