Inside page layout May 15

Inside May 15, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 5/14/18 7:14 PM Page 8
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2018 11
Politics
Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about
anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for
yourself —Henry James
We will create assets
from oil revenue – Prez
BY JONATHAN ADJEI
THE PRESIDENT
of the Republic,
Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo, says
his government will
use oil revenues to
create assets for the country, and
not waste it on consumption.
According to President Akufo-
Addo, as a relatively new entrant
in the league of oil-producing
countries, Ghana is not going to
treat her oil like she had done with
gold, and allow it to be exported
in its raw material form as crude.
Ghana’s oil, President Akufo-
Addo explained, presents the
country with the perfect opportunity
to transform the structure of
Ghanaian economy through industrialisation
and value-added
commercial activities.
“Our oilfields provide us with
the perfect opportunity to create a
petrochemical industry in Ghana.
We have begun the processes leading
to the setting up of a gas feedstock
industrial estate in the
Western Region of the country,”
he said.
The President indicated further
that “we intend to convert our
petrochemicals into hundreds of
industrial and consumer products
produced in Ghana, including
plastics, paints, rubber, fertilisers,
detergents, dyes, textiles, solvents
and, hopefully, bitumen for road
construction.”
President Akufo-Addo was
convinced that from the petroleum,
the country could get the
preservatives to can food produced
in Ghana, with the synthetic
by-product from petroleum
serving as raw material for the
manufacturing of different types
of garments and footwear.
The President made this
known on Saturday, May 12, 2018,
when he delivered a speech at the
London Business School’s Africa
Summit, on the theme ‘Scaling for
Impact – the Important Role of
Industrialisation.’
In his remarks, the President
indicated that unless Ghana industrialises
with the goal of adding
value to her primary products, the
country could not create the necessary
numbers of good-paying
jobs that will enhance the living
• President Nana Akufo-Addo speaks at LBS
standards of the mass of the
Ghanaian people.
“Raw material producing
economies do not create prosperity
for the masses. The way to that
goal, the goal of ensuring access
to prosperity, is value addition activities
in a transformed and a diversified
modern economy, with a
modernised agriculture. In other
words, the industrial development
of our economy, which takes on
board the aid of digital technology,”
he added.
Importance of
Education
Industrialisation, the President
said, can only be successful with a
workforce that is equipped and
skilled, and can compete effectively
on the global market.
Any country that aims to transform
itself into a modern productive
player in the global
marketplace must get its educational
policies right, adding that
the countries that have made rapid
progress around the world put education
at the heart of their development.
Citing the example of the
United States of America’s transitioning
to publicly funded high
school education in the mid-19th
century, President Akufo-Addo
stated that the experiment paid
off, and America set herself up
for 20th century success, creating
a workforce fit for rapid economic
development, which has inspired
the emergence of the most powerful
economy so far known to
human history.
“Indeed, other nations, who
began their lives as independent
states at the same time as we did,
like Singapore, Malaysia and
Korea, have emulated a similar
model, and have also achieved
great economic success. In fact, in
their case, they followed Japan’s
excellent example,” he said.
Through the policy of Free
Senior High School education introduced
in September 2017, President
Akufo-Addo told the
gathering that 90,000 more students
gained access to Senior
High School in 2017, than they
did in 2016.
“We are of the firm conviction
also, that we shall be able to transform
Ghana’s economy and reduce
unemployment, when we pay
attention to technical and vocational
training. That is where the
skills needed for the modern
economy can be developed,” the
President added.
Ghana, President Akufo-Addo
stated, has the opportunity to become
a regional centre for light
manufacturing for a market of
some 350 million people in the
ECOWAS Community, projected
to reach 500 million by 2030, “by
weaving together our numerous
natural resources, like food produce,
bauxite, iron ore, oil and gas,
with our talents and energy, to
turn our nation into an economic
powerhouse in West Africa, generating
full employment for our
teeming youth.”
My wife is competent for First Lady job – Alabi
BY KWAME ACHEAMPONG
NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC
Congress (NDC) Presidential
hopeful, Prof Joshua Alabi has
praised his wife’s competencies
which he believes makes her an eligible
First Lady of Ghana.
According to him, Prof. Mrs
Goski Alabi has very impressive academic
and other experiences
which will make her a good partner
if he assumes the presidency.
• Prof. Goski Alabi is the wife of
professor Joshua Alabi
“My wife is also a university
professor, very learned
and experienced. She has
given addresses on various
platforms both on the local
and international levels. I
think my wife has what it
takes to be a First Lady,” the
First Vice Chancellor of the
University of Professional
Studies (UPSA) told Francis
Abban on the Morning Starr
Monday.
Professor Alabi also extolled
his moral virtues saying he
has never cheated on his wife
whom he has been married for 20
years.
“I have been married for the
past 20 years. I have two kids. I am
a very loving father and my wife
and children tell me that all the
time. I will not like to cheat on my
wife and she knows I will not cheat
on her,” he stated.
The former Greater Accra regional
minister who is likely to face
competition from former President
John Mahama and former Trades
Minister, Mr Spio Garbrah for the
NDC ticket said he is not going to
use money to induce delegates of
the NDC.
“When you talk of blueprints,
you are talking about a detailed
plan. It will be worked out between
myself and the NDC party. I have
a general plan which will work. My
team and I do not buy votes. When
you buy votes, you won’t be able to
sustain it.”