Mfantsipim’s 2014 Founders’ Day Marked

A member of the MOBA 1983 Year Group, Rev. Daniel Ogbamey-Tetteh, has said that Ghana as a nation is at crossroads and must take the course of action that will lead it to a desired destination.

Speaking at a Thanksgiving Service to mark the 2014 Founder’s Day Celebration of Mfantsipim School, the Rev. Ogbamey-Tetteh stated that as a nation, “we have every opportunity to progress beyond the crossroads where we have to deal with issues like the economic challenge, educational standards, energy and water supply constraints and social miscreants, among others.

He mentioned as some of the major challenges, the rising inflation and the push effect it has on interest rates that undermine effective planning in the productive sector of the economy, graduate unemployment and the rising incidence of deviant behavior such as the scourge of armed robbery which is rapidly approaching unacceptable levels.

He described as untenable that rather channeling our collective efforts to redressing these ills we should introduce a debate to consider regularizing the use of marijuana, and a related base debate / practice sneaking into our society the need to give consideration for same sex relationships under the guise of human rights.

“What is wrong is wrong, and must not be countenanced in any way”, he stressed and said there must be no equivocation in condemning the practice of same sex relationship. “We must resist any attempt to legalise this abomination with every sinew in us. God loves the sinner but He hates sin”, he added.

To focus attention on the youth especially in revamping the content and quality of education and unleash their potential, the Rev. Ogbamey-Tetteh said our educational systems must go beyond developing the left side of the human brain to unearthing creativity in the right side of the brain, saying “our students must be trained to develop the capacity for critical thinking; their minds must be oriented to think solutions and out-of-the-box. That way, we will be setting the stage for a groundswell of youth productivity in Ghana”.

Exploits of young people in the global business arena is an open secret, stressing that Mfantsipim is about the realization that the African’s brain power has never been racially inferior, but he is intellectually as good as, and even better than the white man, given the same opportunities despite his so-called cephalic index (that in 1935, whilst the pass mark in England at Cambridge was 61 percent, in Mfantsipim it was 85 percent).

One fundamental hurdle we face as a nation which we need to dislodge, if we must progress positively at the crossroads is the issue of entrenched political polarization saying, we can make more progress if we shed this deep polarization in our politics.

He also said one of the highlights of the Mfantsipim heritage is producing individuals who rise above partisanship and who exude selfless leadership to render service to the community, the nation and the continent. “Patriotism and positive nationalism come easy in all things and at all times for the Mfantsipim old boy”, he stated.

The heritage of Mfantsipim further highlights the fact that a group of people who share a common destiny and vision are capable of achieving great things in spite of any constraints they face.

He said the story of Faithful Eight and the Founding Fathers of the School are well documented by Prof. Adu Boahen in his book, “Mfantsipim and the Making of Ghana”. He called on all old boys of Mfantsipim to help the School, to live up to its traditions, its achievements, its reputation and make even greater contributions still to the development of Ghana.

Ghana he finally submits can thus take a leaf from the foundation of Mfantsipim which is the God factor and which is the cornerstone of the Mfantsipim heritage.

The theme of the 2014 Founders’ Day Celebration Speech was “Ghana at Crossroads: Need to Adopt the Ideas of the Mfantsipim Heritage”.