Russian trained Ghanaians must use experience towards nation building

Accra, May 25, GNA - Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso, Senior Research Fellow= at Legon Centre of International Affairs, (LECIA) has advised Russian trained Ghanaians to use their experiences to help build Ghana into a haven of technological advancement. He said many Ghanaians had benefited from Russian Education in many fields and were showcasing their experiences in various sectors of the economy: adding, 93Work harder to justify that you had a training useful for the country." Dr Antwi-Danso gave the advice at a symposium on Ghana=96Russia Educat= ion Relations to mark the 50th anniversary of educational relationship between the two countries in Accra. He said all developed countries relied on experiences from other countries to develop and expressed regret that African countries remained the same many years after colonial liberation and called for unity, peace and togetherness to solve issues that reversed the wheel of development in Africa. Dr Antwi-Danso, who was also trained in Russia, said Ghana had the capacity towards technological advancement but the unwillingness to support engineers was the bane of the country's underdevelopment, which needed to= be reversed. He noted that there were perceptions in the country that Russian trained intellectuals were not good and appealed to institutions and corporate bodies to change that perception and cooperate towards the country's development.

Mr Robert Wood, the Crusading Engineer, who spoke on the topic: "Ghana-Russia Educational Relationship @ 50," said it was important for African countries that benefited from Russian training to share scientific and technological knowledge to empower Africans to process their natural resources. He stressed the importance of Russian educational programmes to Africa because it allowed for full acquisition of knowledge that made it possible for beneficiaries to perform well on their return. Mr Wood appealed for machine building capacity by establishing an advanced Machine Tool Centre, equipped with computer aided designing, computer aided manufacturing to facilitate technological development in the country. Mr Vladimir Barbin, Russian Ambassador to Ghana, assured his country= 's continued support for more Ghanaians to gain scholarships to study in Russia. The number of courses offered to Ghanaians has been increased to 40 to attract more beneficiaries.