Tamale, March 6, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Sunday joined pupils, students, teachers and people of Tamale to celebrate the 54t= h Independence Anniversary with a call on Ghanaians to unite and sustain the tempo of progress and development.

"We must remain united and devote our attention and energies on issu= es that promote national cohesion and togetherness than those which divide us,= " he said. Mr Mahama said Ghana was regarded as a beacon of hope not only in Africa but the world at large and called on the citizenry to uphold and justify that status by continuing to carry out positive development plans for the nation.

He inspected a contingent of cadet corps, mounted by students drawn from Tamale Senior High School (SHS), Ghana Secondary School, Tamale Girls SHS, Islamic SHS and Northern Business College (NOBISCO), which was under the command of Cadet Captain Ms Adjei Kyere Matilda, a third Year Business Student of NOBISCO.

In all, 34 schools comprising 14 SHS, 10 junior high schools and 10 primary schools in addition to other professional organizations undertook the match past, which lasted for about an hour and a half with the Vice President taking the salute.

Contrary to threats to boycott the parade, a number of teachers partoo= k in the event with every participating school being led by two teachers to march past the dais.

The celebration was under the theme: 93Discipline and Hard-work; An Essential Pre-requisite for National Development".

The Vice President observed that; 93The country's achievement in democracy and good governance, sports and other areas of human endeavour, make Ghana a shining star in the comity of nations," and that this was indicative of a brighter and prosperous future.

He called on all to work hard to support the development of the countr= y adding; 93We need to develop new attitudes in our workplaces and the way w= e treat one another. We certainly can improve our circumstances by honouring our obligations to the state and our respective communities". Mr Mahama said government recognized the importance of education in national development and had therefore, embarked on massive expansion of infrastructure in almost all senior high schools in the country. He called on students to desist from drugs, alcoholism and other anti-social behaviours that would render the huge education expenditure wasteful.

He appealed to teachers 93to be patient with their legitimate demand to have the distortions in the Single Spine Salary Structure rectified," adding, government was working hard through a Technical Committee to assist the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to rectify the anomaly.

He called on recruitment officers of state security agencies to give priority to all cadets who applied for recruitment into any of the agencies= .. The Vice President gave the assurance that government would continue t= o adopt pragmatic policies and programmes towards galvanizing available human and material resources to improve the social and economic circumstances of all Ghanaians. He implored residents of the Northern Region to rally behind governmen= t and 93avoid tendencies that would draw us back". He commended the teachers and students for their smart turnout for the parade.