“He has left a permanent legacy that all of us Ghanaians can truly be proud of."

The above quote is from the conclusion of the Second Annual John Evans Atta Mills lecture delivered by His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas.

He said Professor Mills left Ghanaians “with a heritage of accomplishment and pedigree. He provides a standard against which we must measure anyone who aspires to a high political office in our country. It is my ardent conviction that it is only by imposing these standards that we can make our democracy work in generating “the greatest good for the greatest number” in our beloved Ghana."

Dr. Chambas described what he said was Atta Mills' formula of governing Ghana. For him, the formula is “building national cohesion, promoting inclusiveness in governance and opportunities, reducing regional and individual inequalities, growing the economy, improving economic opportunities for all, particularly the youth and deprived regions, and taking resort to legal and peaceful means to the resolution of any disputes."

He also indicated that, Ghana is not safe from the violence that has characterized the West Africa security landscape if the late Professor’s formula of national cohesion; and policies of improving economic opportunities for all, particularly the youth and deprived regions, and taking resort to legal and peaceful means to the resolution of any disputes are not employed.

“Today, West Africa’s security landscape is characterized by mounting violent extremism from northern Mali to northern Nigeria. Ghana is not immune from this new threat. Indeed, ISIS in Iraq has released a virtual map of the so-called Islamic Caliphate that stretches from the Middle East to much of sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana. The threat to Ghana can only be averted by adopting the Atta Mills formula," Dr. Chambas ingenuously stated.