Accra, March 4 GNA - Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak, Minister of Youth and Sports, on Wednesday said the National Youth Council (NYC) had the potential and the personnel to turn itself into a 'Centre of Excellence.'

He said what was needed now was a change in attitude and mindset of employees to do away with tradition and come out with new initiatives, which could generate resources to help develop the Council. Alhaji Mubarak made the comment during a working visit to the National Secretariat of the NYC at the Azumah Nelson Sports Complex in Accra.

The visit afforded the Minister the opportunity to meet employees of the Council and also to learn at first hand some of the problems confronting the institution.

He said looking at other equally important demands on the nation's renounces, government's budgetary support alone would not be enough to support the NYC to run all its programmes.

He urged the officials of the Council to come out with innovative programmes to attract sponsorship from the corporate world to help them carry out their activities.

Alhaji Mubarak also asked the employees to work hard and ensure that the NYC performed its function effectively. He said the employees should not see their work as the usual government job and as such work at their own leisure and time. He gave the assurance that measures had been put in place to ensure that the National Youth Policy bill, which was started by the previous government, was reviewed and passed into law. Mr A.A. Ampong, Chief Director, Ministry of Youth and Sports, said the NYC now had a big challenge to manage and control all the youth groups.

Mr Paa Kwesi Evans, Director of the Afienya Leadership Trading Institute, said the NYC did not lack ideas and personnel. He said a lot of the programmes that the Council ran had to come from its budget, which was very small. He said NYC had gone through a long period of neglect and needed a lot of resources to undertake its programmes.