Adaklu Kodzobi (V/R)-Ghana, Nov. 14, GNA – Mr Governs Kwame Agbodza, Member of Parliament for Adaklu, has called on the youth to develop entrepreneurial skills to enable them set up their own small scale businesses and not depend on government alone for employment.
He noted that the country had about 30 million people but the number on government’s payroll was less than one million as it could not employ everybody.
Mr. Agbodza made the call when he addressed a grand durbar of chief’s and people of Adaklu Kodzobi in the Adaklu district to climax their 39th weeklong Bliza (Corn Festival) celebration, which was on the theme: ‘youth empowerment through quality education and entrepreneurial skills development.’
He said that there was a lot of work out there for skilled workers but added that everybody wanted nonexistent white colour jobs.
Mr. Agbodza praised the community for their communal spirit, saying “I congratulate you for initiating and completing a number of development projects, including a 20-seater water closet toilet, extension of a pipe borne water and a one storey building information centre without government assistance.
He said while farming was a very lucrative job , the cost of fertilizer and other farming inputs were scaring people away from agribusiness and called on government to make it attractive to lure the youth into farming.
The MP noted that Adaklu had a lot of arable lands, which the experts said was good for rice cultivation but were lying fallow.
He, therefore, called on investors to invest in rice cultivation in the area which he said would also create job opportunities for the youth.
Mr Agbodza said that Adaklu could only develop when the citizenry were well educated and said he was supporting a number of students to complete their courses, adding “my first, second and third priority for Adaklu is education.”
He was full of praise for Pencils of Promise for collaborating with him to eliminate schools under trees in the district.
The MP bemoaned “the pull him down’ syndrome” that was creeping into the area and appealed to the people to unite and assist indegeens of the area who had the welfare and development of the area at heart.
He said the annual ritual of Adaklu Dzakpo being cut off from the rest of the district during the rainy seasons was now a thing of the past as a bridge had been built over river Kalakpa and praised Delovely company, the contractor for doing a good job.
He urged the people to use the occasion as stocktaking of the past year and plan for the future.
Mad. Juliana Kpedekpo, Adaklu District Chief Executive appealed to women form cooperative groups to enable access government grants and that of NGOs to expand their businesses.
She noted that the development of Adaklu should be a shared responsibility and urged all to “shed their political colouration and put their shoulders to the wheel to develop the area to an enviable one.”
Mr Matthew Wormenor told the Ghana News Agency that the festival was instituted in 1983 after that year’s famine which hit the whole country.
He said the aim of the festival was to thank God for delivering them from hunger and also honour corn for being the first crop that was harvested to end the famine.
Mr Wormenor noted that the festival had since been repackaged to serve as a unifying force and also raise money for the community’s development.
Togbe Dzegblade IV, Chief of the community at the durbar grounds, removed his sandals, knelt down and prayed to God for the forgiveness of the sins of the community and also asked for God’s protection and blessings for the people.
