The founder of the Progressive People�s Party (PPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, has urged fishermen to encourage their children to go to school.
�Where would I have been if I had not gone to school?. We must all talk about education to our children so that they will be motivated to go to school,�� he stated.
Dr Nduom was speaking at the inauguration of a community centre and a toilet facility worth GH�200,000 for the people of Ekumfi Otuam in the Central Region, in honour of President John Evans Atta Mills.
He said many a time, most fishermen preferred that their children joined them to fish at the expense of their education.
According to him, although fishing is not a bad venture, educating the children on fishing as a profession would help them appreciate the industry better.
�It is not bad to be a fisherman and if we want our children to join the fishing profession, let us educate them so that they will not be doing the kind of fishing we are doing now in the small boats and canoes,� he advised.
He advised parents, particularly those in the fishing business, to strive to educate their children, saying, �We must endeavour to educate our children so that we will have people to succeed us when we grow old.�
The project
Ekumfi Otuam, a populated fishing community in the Ekumfi District, is the home town of President Atta Mills.
According to Dr Nduom, when the president passed on and he visited the town to mourn with the family, he realised the community lacked a proper community centre, hence his decision to construct the facility to immortalise the name of the late president.
�I was worried why a town like Ekumfi Otuam did not have a place of meeting. That is why I decided to undertake this project,� he said.
He said he constructed the community centre as a result of the love he had for President Atta Mills and the people of Otuam.
Selfish attitude
According to Dr Nduom, �the selfish attitude some Ghanaians have developed is causing more harm than good.� He said if such attitude was not flushed out of our social fibre, it would continue to torment the progress of the country.
�We should stop the attitude of sitting down unconcerned to let things go to waste with the perception that when it grows, it becomes someone�s profit and not ours,� he stressed, adding that �when a business grows, the benefit comes to everyone�.
Otuam Chief
The Tufohen of Ekumfi Otuam, Nana Obrasi VI, said Otuam was blessed with many young talents who could not progress academically because they lacked financial assistance.
He, therefore, appealed to Dr Nduom to also consider setting up an educational trust fund to support brilliant needy students to further their education.
Nana Obrasi commended Dr Nduom for his initiatives towards assisting the less privileged and encouraged him to continue doing good even to those who did not share in his vision.
Source: Daily Graphic
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