Ho, Jan. 14, GNA - The Minister for Health, Major Courage Quarshigah (rtd), on Saturday urged Ghanaians to resolve to make the next 50 years of nationhood more fruitful.

He said Ghanaians should be comparing the achievements of the country to countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Cuba and Israel, which were Ghana's political contemporaries and not nations south of the Sahara.

Major Quarshigah said regrettably Ghana's contemporaries at independence have worked over the years to attain monumental economic and developmental successes to eclipse Ghana whose per capita income and resources at independence was the envy of those nations. The Minister of Health was speaking at a choral music festival in Ho as part of the Ghana at 50 under the theme "reflections".

"Golden jubilee brings tears to my eyes when I compare Ghana to our classmates", Major Quarshigah said in reference to those countries. "We can only jubilate because God has given us life to this time", he said.

Major Quarshigah said having known the pitfalls Ghanaians should resolve to 93turn everything they do from now as an act of worship". "Money should not be the first object of what we do, so that in the next 50 years we will count positive and concrete things", he stated. He said the present state of the country reflects the sum total of what each citizen had put in and proposed that the jubilee song of exhortation should be "Tso nawor dor" meaning get up and work.

Some other songs rendered were "Ghana Nyigba", the land of Ghana, "wor nu tefe Ghana viwo", make marks citizens of Ghana and "Volta viwo Agudze mitso".

Some highlights of the festival included a brief political history of Ghana, outline of jubilee projects in the Volta region, programmes for the yearlong celebration and prayers of gratitude.

The festival nearly ended in an anti-climax when at 1800 hours lights in the Dela Cathedral, Ho Kpodzi, venue for the festival went off when the Choir from the Global Evangelical Church was about to render its song having waited patiently due to some amendments to the programme. That Choir, however stole the show when it eventually rendered "this is the day the Lord has made" in the darkness and drew a standing ovation. As it rendered other songs the lights came on.

Other choirs, which performed were the E P Church, Catholic and Presbyterian Church and the Akan Gospel Singers.

Present were the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Kofi Dzamesi, the Deputy Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Kwaku Nayan, the Ho Metropolitan Chief Executive and the Synod Clerk of the E.P. Church, Reverend Frank Anku and some Pastors in the municipality.