President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appealed to Ghanaians who get the opportunity to study abroad to return home to place knowledge and experiences at the disposal of their fellow citizens as part of their contribution towards national development.
According him, it was unfortunate that majority of Ghanaians who school abroad most often than not feel reluctant to return home to contribute to national development while those who even return prefer to be in their private space.
President Akufo-Addo who was speaking at the 10th anniversary networking and fundraising dinner of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Society of Ghana (OXCAM) in Accra last Thursday said it was important for all Ghanaians to recognise that nation building was the responsibility of all.
He explained that the task of developing country could not rest on the shoulders of government alone but would require the contributions of corporate entities, individuals and alumnus groups like the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Ghana to ensure the collective development sought.
President Akufo-Addo specifically urged all Ghanaians who schooled in Oxford and Cambridge universities in the United Kingdom who had returned home to use the experience and heritage they had gained in education to help solve challenges facing the country.
President Akufo-Addo, himself an alumnus of Oxford University said his government had made education not just a priority but also the cornerstone due to the belief that education held the key to success.
While commending the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Ghana, he also emphasised the importance and the value that such alumnus networks brought to the country.
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor who is also the patron of OXCAM asked members of the society to let the knowledge acquired through the gates of the two universities reflect on transformation of Ghana and Africa in general.
He said humanity must be the centre of everything that the knowledge acquired helped in doing, stressing that humanity must be above everything that we do.
President Kufuor expressed worry over the troubling times that the world found itself and said if humanity was placed at the centre of everything done, the world would find peace and allow humanity to live in harmony.
The Chairperson, OXCAM, Dr Emefa Takyi Amoako, in her remarks said that Oxford and Cambridge Society of Ghana among other things, encouraged Ghanaian students to seek higher education in prestigious universities in the UK.
This she said would enable them gain the requisite knowledge and exposure to support the development of Ghana.
President Kufuor is one of the few alumnus of Oxford University who has two of his portraits hanged on the walls of the university.
This is in recognition of his sterling contributions to Ghana and also his role in global affairs.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
