Accra, July 01, GNA— A Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr Emmanuel Adumua-Bossman, has emphasised the need for the State to invest more in the youth to positively impact society in future.
He said investing more in the youth would also help protect them from negative influences, especially from insurgency groups.
Mr Adumua-Bossman made the call at the commemoration of the 62nd Republic Day parade in Accra, on Friday.
The event organized by the National Cadet Corp under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service was to instil in the youth a sense of national belongingness and the spirit of voluntarism.
More than 10,000 cadet officers from selected Senior High Schools and some basic schools from the 16 regions of the country participated in this year’s parade.
In attendance were members of the diplomatic corps, servicemen, and traditional leaders, among others.
Mr Adumua-Bossman explained that, with about 60 per cent of the Ghanaian population being youthful and the emergence of terrorist groups within the West Africa sub-region, the youth were more susceptible to negative influences.
He said investing in them would positively impact the society in future and protect them from negative influences.
“It is indisputable fact that the youth of this country constitute about 60 per cent of our population and any investment given to them today is a positive investment for the future of our society.”
The Deputy Chief of Staff added: “Let’s invest in the youth in various meaningful ways, that’s through music, camping and other educational competitions that engage them so that no individual, group of persons or terrorist entity could influence them negatively.”
This year’s event was marked under the theme: “Working Together Through Voluntarism: Bouncing Back Together.”
Mr Adumua-Bossman also emphasised the need for voluntarism if the country were to realise its development agenda.
He noted that most advanced countries had built their countries successfully by encouraging voluntary work and services among youth and leadership.
He said: “I must challenge our leaders of today to do more by encouraging the youth in voluntary work as our action and inaction will tell the story of whether it is good to do voluntary work.
“Let us unite as one people to build a better future for this generation and the youth of tomorrow,” he added.
The security services, Mr Adumua-Bossman urged, must consider unearthing talents among the cadet and voluntary youth groups when it came to enlistment and recruitment into the Services.
He commended the National Cadet Corp for consistently marking the Day even without the central government’s support.
He assured of the government’s support, including the construction of the National Cadet Headquarters office complex, among others.
Mr Nicholas Nii Tettey Amarteifio, National Cadet Coordinator, National Cadet Corps, said the essence of the commemoration was to drum home the importance of voluntarism.
He said to hold the parade despite the lack of financial support indicated their commitment and spirit of voluntarism in the youth.
He commended participating schools for their commitment to the cause despite the financial constraints.
Mr Amarteifio appealed to corporate Ghana to commit some resources to the National Cadet Corp to enable it to provide the needed training and support for the cadet officers.
GNA