By Edward Dankwah
Accra, Oct.16, GNA – Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, says there is the need for stakeholders to work together to help develop national leaders.
He said it was vital for every nation to have an agenda helping in its development, stating that a national development vision was critical to the forward moving of the country.
The Speaker was speaking at the 5th Leadership Lecture Series of the Academic City University on the theme: “Building the Next Generation of National Leaders” in Accra.
The Speaker engaged the exuberant and promising young men and women of the University about the next generation leadership for Africa.
The Speaker said, “we must all know where we are going, so that we complement each other and work together in one direction.”
He said there was the need to revisit previous documents of the country, spearheaded by abled men and women to put them together into a national vision document to be submitted to parliament for approval.
“All these nations you see growing and developing, it us because they have a national development vision, but as a country we do not have and it is a serious challenge,” he added.
Mr Bagbin said individuals also needed to know themselves, by exhibiting some levels of vibrance to be able to multiply and aid in self-development.
He said, “for a nation, the individuals have to be able to discover themselves and work on the potential they have to develop and inspire others to follow.”
The Speaker said he would be introducing the Institute of Parliamentary Studies, which would help to build the next generation of national leaders to help promote effective policy making and good governance.
He said the Institute would be led by the School of Business Studies at the University of Ghana, indicating that even at the end of his tenure there would be some external support to enable the sustainability of the Institute.
Professor Fred McBagonluri, President and Provost, Academic City University, said the Leadership Series was a programme they started two years ago, to give the students insights from practical leaders.
He said the Programme targeted influential leaders in society, whether Entrepreneurs, Politicians and Ambassadors, amongst others who had contributed to the development of society.
The Provost said the University also trained students in two modules in a mandatory leadership course, where students were obliged to pass the course to enable them acquire their degree certificates.
“Every student is also obligated to undertake a four-module course in entrepreneurship, with the intent not to make everyone an entrepreneur, but to develop a mindset which allowed the students to see opportunities in their various fields of study.
“So, we think this combination of strong leadership focus and strong entrepreneurship focus will be the additional experiences you can take away from academics,” Prof McBagonluri added.
GNA