|
Wenchi Celebrates Dr. Busia's birthday
Wenchi (B/A), July 12, GNA- The 94th birthday celebrations
of the late Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia, former Prime Minister of
Ghana has been commemorated at Wenchi his hometown in the
Brong Ahafo region.
The ceremony for the late Prime Minister in Ghana's second
republic was organized by the Centre for African Art and
Civilization, an NGO in collaboration with the Methodist
Church, District Assembly and the Ghana Education Service.
It was held at the Wenchi Methodist Church where students
and pupils in the district gathered to learn and hear more
about the great man from the area.
A tribute read by Mr S.K. Num, a 90-year-old friend of Dr
Busia described him as a celebrated Ghanaian and African
scholar and politician.
Mr Num also read part of a letter the Premier wrote to him
whilst at the Oxford University which said "Learning without
God is empty and acquiring knowledge is useless unless it
makes you a better servant of humanity".
The advice by the late Premier to his friend set the tone
for other speakers at the ceremony who urged the youth to
eschew unproductive activities that would not allow them to
achieve their aims and objectives in life.
Bishop Charles K. Konadu of the Wenchi Diocese of the
Methodist Church noted that Busia's "encounter" with the
scriptures at his youth made him the best and exposed him to
the world of knowledge and wisdom.
He advised the youth to allow God to influence their lives,
saying the fear of God was very important for them to
progress in life and to pursue their chosen careers.
The Bishop expressed regret that the youth of today were
pre-occupied with armed robbery, occultism, hard drug abuse,
alcoholism and other practices that rather tended to retard
their progress.
"These practices cannot help you to succeed", he told them,
saying that the trend could be reversed, and that as Dr
Busia was being remembered it must dawn on every responsible
Ghanaian to work harder towards this change.
Bishop Konadu suggested the promotion of mission schools to
enable the youth become responsible and God-fearing leaders.
He noted that the modern era had presented many
opportunities to the youth to study and achieve higher
laurels, and urged them to concentrate on their books "since
education is the key to success".
The Methodist priest called on teachers to lead exemplary
lives as role models and give off their best to help mould
the youth to responsibly take up the mantle in future.
Mr. Michael Wiredu-Kusi, Wenchi District Director of
Education expressed his concern about the "unacceptable"
fall in the standard of education in the district, leading
to its abysmal performance in the Basic Education
Certificate Examinations and urged all to help reverse the
situation.
He said the district placed 16th and 17th respectively in
the 2005 and 2006 examinations, out of the 19 districts in
the region.
"The current standard is a disgrace to Professor Busia and
we need to redouble our efforts to change the trend to
honour his name and status", Mr. Wiredu-Kusi added.
Nana Frema, a sister of Professor Busia, urged the youth to
be imbued with the fear of God as his brother exhibited, so
they would achieve their aims and visions.
Ms Felicia Obuobi, Director of Centre for African Art and
Civilization said the celebration of the birthday of
Professor Busia was in line with the sub-theme, "Honouring
Our African Heroes" of the PANAFEST/Emancipation Day/Joseph
Project.
Prizes were presented to deserving students and pupils at
the ceremony.
GNA
|
