Kwabena Amikaketo sat in his favourite chair on his balcony, viewing the dark sky covered with clouds. He was still in a sorrowful mood after the demise of his beautiful wife, and was feeling very lonely. He knew he must sooner than later come out with contemplation over the cost of her death. He still knew he had not got the strength to tell that story, but at the same time he knew that he must tell it to offload what was on his chest and on his mind.
Tonight, he chose to think over a topical issue, and that was about the President and the sod-cutting for the construction of the GH¢5 million Award House.
On Wednesday, April 7, 2021, Kwabena was among some specially invited persons who were to be guests of the Board Chairman of the Head of State Award Scheme, Mr Harry Sintim-Aboagye, to watch H.E. President Nana Akufo-Addo cut the sod for the construction of Award House, to permanently house the administrative offices of the Award Scheme.
On the programme outline, the President was to arrive at 1 pm, and, indeed, he did.
The promptness of the First Gentleman of the Land spoke volumes for discipline, and Kwabena and those seated around him agreed that if all functions were to begin on the time stated in the programme, this “African Time”mentality will be a thing of the past.
The ceremony was committed to the Lord by a Priest of the Roman Catholic Church, Rev. Fr. Bright Fumey. And after a welcome address by the Board Chairman, the President gave the key-note address and spoke about the importance of the Award Scheme and revealed that Ghana was to be the second nation in Africa, after Kenya, to have a permanent office for the Award Scheme.
Kwabena Amikaketo was filled with emotions as Ghana’s Head of State Award Scheme, under the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, was meant to get the best out of the youth. But here in Ghana, the youth are getting out the worst in them, the recent killing of an eleven year old by teenagers still in his mind.
The President promised that his government would make sure that the building is completed on schedule and commissioned before the end of the year. He committed an initial GH¢1 million into the construction, which was to cost GH¢5 million.
Kwabena Amikaketo got to know that the land was donated by H.E. J. A. Kufuor when he was President of the Republic and patron of the Awards Scheme. Two other presidents followed after him, and they also became patrons of the Scheme, but could not even start the construction of the office. Could it mean that to them youth lives do not matter? President Akufo-Addo is leaving a legacy.
Kwabena was expecting the media to highlight the occasion and educate Ghanaians on the importance of such a Scheme, but he got a shock when social media and some print and electronic media condemned the President for cutting the sod, which, to them, was a misplaced priority.
Misplaced priority? What type of journalists is Ghana breeding? A simple research through Google would reveal the importance of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, which the Republic of Ghana has adopted as the Head of State Award Scheme.
The youth, and for that matter children, are full of energy and it is very important for that energy to be channelled into good causes. During Kwabena’s formative years, there were open fields and parks where the children put their energy to good use. They grow up to become healthy adults with sharp brains and effectively take over the leadership of society.
Kwabena lamented that today, that was not the case, most of the fields and parks were all gone. Children grow up indoors in front of televisions and lap tops where they get wrongly indoctrinated with vices that are put on show. For how come two teenagers believe that the only way they can be rich in life was to kill a younger child, and sacrificing him for blood money?
And the media could not go into the exact reasons why our children and youth are going wayward, but, instead, they go about condemning a scheme which is helping to get the best out of our younger generation.
No one is born to be evil, but rather born in the image and likeness of God. However, the environment can turn what is meant to be good into evil. Society and the environment must at all times work out modalities to bring out that good in the child so that when they grows they will not depart from it.
Kwabena Amikaketo knew that this was exactly what the Award Scheme is all about. Something, what formal education in the classroom cannot achieve, the Award Scheme is able. Every human has got a God-given talent in them. Most of the time, such talents are never identified due to the direction society will take that person.
The Award Scheme, on the other hand, which is a non-formal educational system, seeks to provide the necessary practical skills for persons aged 14 to 24. And these skills are the hidden talents in them.
The Scheme is divided into four mandatory stages, community service; physical recreation; adventurous journey, and practical and vocational skills development. This is education beyond the walls of the classroom, and the Scheme does not seek to enrol the academically brilliant ones, but all who volunteer themselves. This is a very laudable investment, since it does not only invest in the youth, it also invests in social inclusion, employability, and poverty reduction among others.
Kwabena Amikaketo reflected on Henry Ayitey, who is a physically challenged person but he successfully completed the Scheme in 2001 winning Bronze, Silver and Gold, and, today, he has built his self-confidence, become a respected member of society because he owns a shoe-making industry.
Regina Addo, a journalist, stated emphatically that there is more in man than he thinks. She was a gold winner under the Awards Scheme, and that had led her to be a very self-confident news caster. And there is also Gold medallist Nana Addo-Dankwa, who made history as the first awardee living with Autism.
Rather than encourage parents to make their wards go through the Scheme and come out better than classroom work can reproduce in them, some media houses and social media practitioners chose to lambast this wonderful Scheme, and took the President of the Republic to the cleaners for what they think is misplaced priority.
Kwabena Amikaketo wished he could reach the ears of the President and all Ghanaians, and request that the administrative blocks for the Award Scheme are constructed in all the sixteen regions, as well as sub offices in all assemblies. He believed that it will serve the nation well, if as many youth as possible are taken through the four priority stages of the Scheme. The positive change in such youth will make them mentors of others, and sooner than later the youth will be guided out of negativity to become positive with well-intended desires to make society a better place than they came to meet it.
Kwabena Amikaketo knew the impact nature has on humans. Spending time in the wilderness, in the bush, in the forest, on the beach, far away from society and rather close to nature as nature truly is, can help build some positive mode and ambition in a person.
The Award Scheme can truly hook the youth onto nature and they will view things differently in a positive light. Locking themselves behind closed doors would always generate in them some vices, like promiscuity after watching porn videos; like robbery after watching such movies, and like seeking help from all the wrong places like occultists and maniacs. Kwabena had read of problems facing the West, where children and youth are led into promiscuity or voluntarily offering themselves for abduction, and even getting killed by ritualists or sick minded serial killers through social media, like Facebook.
Gradually this vice is entering into our society, and fortunately, the Head of States Award Scheme/Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme can effectively halt this. This is what some journalists must learn and educate the public about. When things get out of hand, it is these same journalists who will take the political leaders to task and tell them how ineffective they are. Yet, the solution to our problems lie within us, and if the President goes on to enact one area where such problems can be solved, we have some Ghanaians, especially some journalists, thinking they know it all and come out to blast His Excellency.
The other day, the President was talking about earthquake zones in this country and thinking about how to put ourselves in readiness to minimise the harm it could cause, should the quake erupt, and here too, he was attacked.
After positively conducting himself in the fight against Covid-19, making him rank high among the top three heads of states in the world who are doing a great job in the management of the pandemic, some Ghanaians still do not acknowledge him.
Kwabena Amikaketo concluded that most probably the lack of going through the Award Scheme has made some people to see things negatively at all times. He prayed to God that the time should come, sooner than later, where almost all the youth in the Ghana will go through the Award Scheme.
As he got up to go to bed, he wondered whether it would not be a good idea to have the priorities of the Award Scheme incorporated into academic syllabus as compulsory electives from Junior High Secondary to tertiary level.
He just read that in UK, a new fund is been raised to help million more young people to benefit from the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, in honour of the late Prince Philip. Former Eastenders star, Ross Kemp said, “The DofE has been life changing for so many and I have witnessed first-hand the impact taking part can have on young people.”
If only half a million more youth can benefit from Ghana’s Head of State Award Scheme, this nation will be a great achiever, Kwabena sighed as he got into bed.
Hon Daniel Dugan
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance.
The post Memoires and Lamentations of Kwabena Amikaketo (32) Of An Award House appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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