Youth urged to take active part in decision making

Mr Michael Ohene Effah, Co-Founder of Lead Africa International, a leadership organisation, has called for the need for young people to take active part in decision making in all disciplines to enhance national development.

“Children must be given the opportunity to take active part in the governance of schools, not just in the universities but at all levels of educational system. They must contribute to the drawing of timetable, keeping order, canteen services, organisation of school events and sit on academic board,” he said.

He was speaking at the opening session of a Leadership and Soft Skills Vacation Camp 2015 for Young people in Accra.

Mr Effah said opportunities for sharpening leadership skills are very few and there are no deliberate and strategic national effort to groom and prepare young people and yet society complains when they fail.

He said the strong sense of belief held by American children was something they achieved not on a silver platter but through a culmination of processes- parents, schools, government and religious organisations to give hope to the young ones.

Mr Kennedy Okosun, Executive Chairman of Krif Ghana, urged the children to go beyond solutions for their communities to that of the global stage.

“To say young people are future leaders limits their present potential and postpones their creative abilities.”

He said there is the need for all to change their attitudes toward the youth and called for corporate Ghana to offer leadership development opportunities for young people through job fairs, internship, and vacation placement.

Mr Okosun called on government to make leadership grooming a matter of national priority, while efforts must be put in place to properly and strategically prepare people for national office.

He called on the churches and other faith-based organisations to make young people part and parcel of the decision making process and avoid confining them to the children service.

"We must all start preparing young people to be the kind of leaders Ghana required now. Let us all get involved and offer opportunities for young people to lead and guarantee a more orderly disciplined and prosperous future,” he said.