President John Dramani Mahama has counseled Ghanaians to eschew pessimism and rather embrace singleness of purpose, unity of mind and be one at heart in order to move the nation forward.

He said the country has witnessed a lot of successes that must be talked about instead of the daily talks about “everything that is wrong with our nation”.

President Mahama made these remarks on Sunday, July 6 when he joined the Holy Spirit Cathedral Catholic Church in Accra to mark the National Prayer and Thanksgiving Service as part of the 54th Republic Day anniversary.

The Service was held on the theme: “Bind us together, oh LORD” taken from John 17:21.

The host, Archbishop Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra for the Roman Catholic Church, in his sermon, asked all to put their shoulder’s to the wheel in building the nation.

“Ghana is good. Ghana is beautiful. That God loves Ghana. That God has endowed all of us with what it takes. We can make it work.”

He called for unity and prayers for Ghana to be spared of the consequence of political polarization.

“We seem to be politically so polarized and divided that we really need to pray to god to bind us together lest the worst happen.”

President Mahama expressed gratitude to Archbishop Palmer-Buckle for his sermon, remarking that: “God spoke through you this morning”.

National psyche

But he emphasized that the daily talk about the ills of the Ghanaian society does not augur well for a good national psyche.

“It creates a national psyche that believes that no matter how we try or whatever we do, we cannot make our lives better,” President Mahama said.,

“[And] that we are consigned to poverty and misery,” he added.

He said there are success stories which must be told.

Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, the Chairman of the National Peace Council, in his benediction, stressed that it was for the unity and development of the nation that the Service was held.

Present during the service were Vice President Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, Chief of Staff Prosper Bani, 2012 President Candidates Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr Abu Sakara Forster and a host of ministers of state