The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister,Mr. Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, has called on Ghanaians to believe in themselves and avoid unnecessary selfcriticism.

He said though criticism is important, it must be constructive to ensure accelerated development in all sectors of the economy, especially in our year of jubilee.

Mr. Baffour-Awuah pointed out that "if a nation does not appreciate development initiatives by their leaders, it suffers, adding that even God would not be pleased with Ghanaians if we do not show some sorts of gratitude for what He has done for us in our social, political, economical lives over the past 50 years". The minister also urged the nation to honour its heroes while they are alive to motivate the youth to faithfully serve the nation.

Mr Baffour Awuah, who was speaking to Space FM in Sunyani, commended the private media for their contributions towards the development of multiparty democracy and urged them to do more in terms of keeping government on its toes so that by the time Ghana celebrates 100 years, there would be enough positive things to talk about.

The Regional Minister noted that the nation has witnessed many positive developments over the past 50 years alongside negative ones and as such "even if we are to talk about the negative developments, it should not be in the manner that the bad ones would over shadow the good ones".

Mr. Baffour-Awuah bemoaned laziness among the society, particularly the youth and charged them to be responsible youth in whom the nation could rely for total development. He noted that "almost every body in the society wants to have some form of pleasure at the expense of hard work and commitment, which are the tools for societal progress".

The Minister said the western world have developed to where they are now because they have over the years worked around the clock and continue to do so, no wonder we all want to enjoy from their toil by chasing greener pastures oversees.

“The pastures could be greener in Ghana if only our young men and women who the nation has invested so much in could use their skills and knowledge acquired in implementing developmental programmes and policies of the government”, he said.

He called for strict supervision for all public projects and urged project executors to be committed to the development agenda of the nation.

“Strict supervision for public projects saves time and resources and ensure quality work for the benefit of all”, he said.

Mr. Baffour-Awuah also called for attitudinal change in the society as we celebrate our 50th independence anniversary since through that we can have a better focus to move the nation forward. “The way we did things 50 years ago should be change for a more proactive position and with that the Heavens would be the limit”, he stressed.

The Regional Minister said "Ghana’s jubilee should be used as a time for deeper reflection and not for mere merry making".

He expressed regret about Ghanaians poor attitudes towards time management saying, time lost could not be regain and the consequences are sometimes unbearable, he therefore called on society to respect time.

Mr. Baffour-Awuah noted that "it is a serious sin for workers who do not work for the full month and yet take their full month salary, describing the situation further as a white crime". He expressed worry about pockets of conflicts in certain parts of the region though the region is generally known to be peaceful.

The Regional Minister therefore charged on religious leaders to use their pulpits to preach unity and love to ensure peace which is a prerequisite for development.

He called on chiefs to use the word of God in settling disputes among themselves, since most of them are now known to be Christians.

Mr. Baffour-Awuah noted chieftaincy, politics and tribalism as some causes of disunity among the society and called on chiefs, religious leaders, politicians, opinion leaders, civil society and the media to assist in promoting sense of unity and nationalism at all times.

He called on the people of the region to see themselves as one family with the same ambition of developing the region and the nation as a whole.

The Regional Minister urged the people to ensure that children are adequately educated to enable the region have a fair representation at the national decision making level.