I'm ready for the task -Akufo-Addo

The 2008 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party says the task ahead is to wage a "relentless war against poverty? and that he is prepared and ready to take up the task of ?transformational leadership? with ?buoyancy and hope.?

In a speech described as ?most inspirational?, he challenged Ghanaians to ?infuse more urgency into redefining our sense of national responsibility in order to make this 21st century the age that removes all doubt about our ability to manage our own affairs and more.?

Delivering the second of the Ferdinand O Ayim Annual Memorial Lectures in Accra last Friday, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said his late cousin's short but packed life represented the courage and hope that must drive Ghana from leaping the gap between Third World subsistence to First World satisfaction.

In his view one important missing ingredient in Ghana's quest for development and prosperity is 'Self-confidence.?

He encouraged Ghanaians to show more courage in obeying the country?s rules and regulations, stating, ?No society can be truly free unless its citizens feel the need to embrace both liberty and duty.?

He also challenged ?those in authority? to ?lead by example,? while asking Ghanaians to shun ?skin pain? and celebrate success.

In his address to a packed auditorium at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Ridge, Accra, Nana Akufo-Addo told his audience, ?The future belongs to people who believe in Ghana. This is an age of re-discovery. We need to reconnect with the courage and hope that made Ghana the first black African country to achieve independence. We need to claim for ourselves a new passion and culture of excellence.?

Urging all Ghanaians to approach the future with buoyancy and hope, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo declared, ?For, now, our task is pure and simple: it is to wage a relentless war against poverty. We should wage this war in our minds, we must wage against the mentality of impoverishment, wage against our negative attitudes, our fears, our fatigue.?

This is because, ?To believe in Ghana is to believe in ourselves, to accept that we are more than capable.?

Tracing Ghana?s history from slavery to date, he observed that "The road to victory has been long and hard. But winning this final battle against mental and material impoverishment is the only way we can survive."

Ghana today has returned to normal economic health, without which our political stability and personal security are threatened, he said. "But, we must be modest enough to admit that we have but only laid a solid foundation for that all-inclusive, broad-based economic lift-off.

"The impulse of the New Patriotic Party is to give every Ghanaian access to the ladder of prosperity. People are not asking for handouts. They are striving for the tools to work and earn a decent living," he said to loud applause from his audience, which included politicians, university students, academics, corporate executives and traders.

"We have much to be proud of, in our past and our present and much to hope for in our futures. Abroad, we are continuously held up high as the shining light of Africa - our achievements, culturally and historically, are lauded. And yet, when we look to ourselves, there seems to be a kind of self-doubt insipid in our societies. How is this expressed? By ineffectuality. By unpunctuality. By failing to be the best of all our possible selves," the NPP Presidential Candidate said.

Nana Akufo-Addo used the memorial lecture to define his motto, ?I believe in Ghana.? "To believe in Ghana is to be a responsible citizen," he said. "To believe in Ghana is to believe in yourself as a Ghanaian, as someone capable of contributing to the building of a successful, modern African state, operating on the principles of democratic accountability, respect for human rights and the rule of law. To believe in Ghana is to believe in a state where fairness and social justice are essential attributes of its body politic. To believe in Ghana is to make Ghana by our own efforts what it should be: one of the greatest places on earth."

Nana Akufo-Addo said the theme of the lecture, "Why We Must Believe in Ghana," was selected for two reasons: "because Freddie believed in Ghana and because the man giving today?s lecture also believes in Ghana."

Defining it, Nana Akufo-Addo said, "To believe in Ghana is to defend, support and be prepared to serve free Ghana. To believe in Ghana is not to allow your energies to be sapped away by either the failures of the past or the challenges of today. To believe in Ghana is to embrace today?s challenges as opportunities for a better tomorrow."

He continued, "To believe in Ghana is to be proud of Ghana?s rich diverse culture, customs, traditions and history. To believe in Ghana is to be devoted to her welfare and freedom. It is to stand up in defence of the state even if, in dissenting, you offend the temporary custodians of the state."

Believing in Ghana means "believing in her economic capacity; it means knowing that such belief is not futile, for, clearly, the Ghanaian has the entrepreneurial capacity to create a prosperous society for the great majority."

Recalling the names of heroes such as Naa Gbewaa, the founder of the Mole-Dagbani Kingdom, Osei Tutu, the founder of the Asante Kingdom, Yaa Asantewaa, Tetteh Quarshie, Kwegyir Aggrey, Joseph Casely Hayford, Joseph Boakye Danquah, Kwame Nkrumah, Ephraim Amu, King Bruce, Esther Ocloo, Leticia Obeng, Ama Ata Aidoo, Kofi Annan, Azumah Nelson and Michael Essien, Nana Akufo-Addo stated, "We have every reason to believe in the potential for greatness of a nation that has produced such great people in all spheres of human endeavour."

He has urged Ghanaians to join him in moving "forward with confidence that our potential lies within us and that it is bigger than the problems which stifled our efforts in the past. Our potential far outweighs the obstacles that lie before us."

He added, "We must build a society that is not only nurturing, but also self-critical. Not critical in a way that is destructive, but constructive. Critical in a way that fosters growth. Critical in a way that engenders impassioned action, not empty rhetoric."

Dedicating much of his lecture to the late ace journalist, politician and royalist, Nana Akufo-Addo described Ferdinand Ayim as "among the few patriots who were never afflicted by the moral cowardice that kept some of our intelligentsia from speaking their minds in the face of tyranny. Such moral cowardice, dare I say, is as dangerous as irresponsible talk."

He said Freddie?s passing has "left a huge, yawning hole in the structure of my life. Younger brother and friend, he was the best counsellor any ambitious politician could find." Freddie, the NPP Presidential candidate observed, "was one of those who toiled selflessly for our party, our country and our common ideas without reward."

Nana Akufo-Addo appealed to Ghanaians to contribute their widow?s mite to the Ferdinand O Ayim Memorial Foundation, which has taken on the responsibility to support the upkeep of the widow and Freddie?s four children.

To believe in Ghana is to believe that for those who lost their lives for the good of this country, their sacrifices were not in vain; that indeed, Ghana is a country worth dying for. The MP for Abuakwa South and NPP flagbearer urged Ghanaians to see patriotism as "constructively self-serving," and self-preserving. He posed the question, "Would you stand by and watch your country to become impoverished by bad governance, greed, corruption, inefficiency and ineptitude?"

Nana Akufo-Addo, who for the last three decades has fought from the frontline for freedom, democracy and prosperity for the people said, Ghana has had a chequered history but has since made a significant break with the past. "Our people have overcome several trials and tribulations: slavery, imperialism, colonialism, tyranny and dictatorship. Undoubtedly, we will have many more challenges to overcome: poverty, apathy and a lack of belief in ourselves." Ghanaians are forgiving, he said, "but we don?t want the generosity of our hearts to be taken for granted," he said to loud cheers.

"Actions that turn brother against brother, friend into foe, must no longer be allowed to dictate the pace of our development. Now is the time to draw a line between that painful past and the exciting future ahead of us. Whether it is, for example, in Dagbon, Sefwi-Wiawso, or Alavanyo-Nkonya, there is today a growing recognition that we may seek lasting justice for old disputes by not necessarily recounting our steps in a complex effort to undo some of the old ills afflicted on either side of the conflict."

The speech was described by the chairperson of the occasion, Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, member of the Council of State and former President of the Ghana Journalists Association, as "most inspiring."