Youth Advised Against Get-Rich-Quick Attitude

Daily Graphic

Ghanaian youth have been urged to shun the get-rich quick attitude that has crept into the Ghanaian society and driven many of them into armed robbery and social ills like Internet fraud.

The First Lady, Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, gave the advice at the 20th anniversary celebration of the Global Evangelical Students and Associate Ministry (GESAM) in Accra on Sunday.

Quoting a Daily Graphic publication of December 2, 2010, she said: “It is sad to note that Ghana is ranked among the top 10 countries in the world where the crime popularly known as 419 is most prevalent.”

GESAM is an umbrella body for students of the Global Evangelical Church (GEC) and their associated ministries and currently boasts 2,300 members in 39 educational institutions.

The group has been at the forefront of evangelism in the church, winning souls in addition to leadership training programmes for its members.

The annual event, which was on the theme: “The role of the Christian intellectual in transforming the Nation”, serves as a platform to deliberate on issues affecting the students on their various campuses, their achievements and challenges and to plan the way forward for the ensuing year.

The First Lady, therefore, told the youth to strive to contribute to the ‘Better Ghana’ agenda in their own small way.

“To transform this nation, you must use your energy identify developmental problems in your communities and find ways to solve them.

This is the only way you can add value to all that you are studying in school,” the first lady stated.

She said it was high time the Christian youth rose to the challenge of leading by example, adding that “in Christ, you have been called to a life of integrity, honesty, humility, respect for the elderly and care for the environment.”

Mrs Mills, who donated GH¢5,000 towards the activities of the group, said churches in the country had a crucial role to play in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

She said the MDGs were a call to help reduce poverty, ensure universal primary education, combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases and also sustain the environment.

Mrs Mills urged the media to realise the fact that the youth, who remain the future leaders of the country, were the most vulnerable consumers of negative programmes telecast daily.

She commended the GEC for its role, not only in advancing the welfare of its members but also contributing to the educational and health sectors of the country.

The Chaplain of GESAM, Rev. Dr Nyuieko Avotri, in a welcoming address, said the group achieved its present stature because some people had laid down their lives to support the positive nurturing of the youth so that they (the youth) would grow in the knowledge and fear of God.