Youth urged to acquire skills

Page 29: November 10, 2008.
A SENIOR police officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Felix Mawusi, has urged the youth to acquire skills and academic qualifications to enable them to assume leadership positions in future.
He said leadership positions were bestowed on people who were adequately prepared and capable of holding themselves out to lead and defend their people.
DSP Mawusi was speaking on the topic, "The Youth and Their Calling", at a forum organised by the youth of the Alajo branch of the Church of Christ in Accra on Monday.
It formed part of activities marking the youth week of the church. Other activities outlined for the week include a lecture on dieting, quiz and debates, special youth prayers and football matches.
Using Ezekiel 22:30 as a point of reference, DSP Mawusi said certain conditions needed to be met before one could be entrusted with a leadership position.
Those conditions, he indicated, included academic qualifications and professional skills.
Unfortunately, DSP Mawusi said, instead of concentrating on acquiring the requisite skills, training and academic qualifications, the youth were being bombarded by the increasing impact of modernisation through foreign culture.
He said although the youth were often referred to as future leaders, leadership positions were not automatic when they became adults.
He reminded them of what God said in Ezekiel 22:30, "I looked for someone who could build a wall, who could stand in the places where the walls have crumbled and defend the land when my anger is about to destroy it, but I could find no one."
DSP Mawusi said God did not just look for anybody but one with skill and capability, stressing that "God will not leave the land in the hands of any unskilled person".
He said the youth must always see the problems they faced as challenges and strategise to overcome them.
In that way, DSP Mawusi said, they would become extraordinary and revel in their hard work.