Former President John Agyekum Kufuor last Thursday showered praises on Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for joining hands with a fellow academic, Prof. Kwaku Appiah-Adu to compile what he described as a compendium of articles on national development by accomplished personalities from across the world.

The two personalities, he said, have accomplished so much yet remain modest in spite of the achievements adding that Dr. Bawumia as part of his team when he was president did a lot to advance the cause of the country’s progress.

The former President who chaired the impressive launching of the book “Key Determinants of National Development” warned his compatriots to take note that we cannot rely on foreign aid indefinitely without seeking means of standing on our own feet. The generosity of such donors can be inhibited by fatigue. We cannot be part of the modern world if we do not find a way of dealing with our peculiar challenges.

Some European countries, he endorsed what an earlier speaker said, have in spite of their limited resources been able to become economic giants. “We are sitting on gold yet complain about poverty” he said for emphasis adding that Ghana can with good leadership wriggle itself out of the challenges it is enmeshed in.

The Asante Hall of the Alisa Hotel where the book launch took place was filled to capacity with others standing outside, an impression which he said bears testimony to the fact that Ghanaians are yearning to listen to the alternatives which can move them out of the present mess in which they have found themselves.

Former President Kufuor pointed at what he said is the public spiritedness which encouraged the duo to work on the compendium, a publication which he recommended to a broad spectrum of persons in society- businessmen, academics, politicians and students.

He did not forget to touch on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which according to him sought to ensure that in the next fifteen years all human beings enjoy developments. It is the goal of the global programme, he explained, to remove the differences between developing and developed worlds.

To the editors he said, “I give you my blessings.” The book was later auctioned to the public, an exercise which raked in thousands of cedis and even dollars.