Emulate selfless patriots of February 28 - Erskine

Ghanaians, especially students, have been urged to emulate the gallant soldiers, who were shot at during the February 28, 1948 Christianborg Crossroads Shooting incident for their sacrifice and determination.

A former Commander of the United Nations International Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL), General Emmanuel Alexander Erskine, made the call at the 5th annual 28 February, Lectures at the Akim Swedru Secondary School on Saturday.

He said he was not happy that in spite of the fact that government spent huge sums of money to train medical doctors, the country was still forced to depend on Cuban doctors to provide health services because "our young and newly-qualified doctors cannot make sacrifices for the nation."

General Erskine, who is also a member of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), suggested that the youth should be made to undergo military training in the course of their national service to help to instil a sense of discipline in them.

He recalled that formerly, the best institutions suited for imparting and maintaining discipline were the Boys Scouts and Girls Guide Movements and called for their reactivation to instil discipline into the society.

General Erskine said since the youth were the future leaders of the society, there was the need for them to demonstrate a high sense of discipline.

The Headmaster of the School, Mr Solomon Djaba-Mensah advised the students to identify what they want to do in life and to have the strong determination to pursue it.

He said Ghana had to move forward. "The challenges facing us in our forward march are enormous but with everybody making some sacrifices in his or her own little way we will get there".

Mr Djaba-Mensah told the students that as future leaders, they must remain committed to selfless leadership, to enable them to lead others.