Kumasi, April 28, GNA - Mr Kofi Opoku-Manu, Ashanti Regional Minister, has called on Ghanaian workers to put in their best to increase productivity towards national development. He asked them to be inspired by the sacrifices and patriotism of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's First President, and to serve the nation with dedication.

Mr Opoku-Manu was speaking at a symposium, held by organised labour, on the theme "Consolidating Workers, Solidarity and the Legacy of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah", in Kumasi on Tuesday. The event was dedicated to the centenary celebration of the birth of Ghana's First President.

Mr Opoku-Manu said the ideas and programmes of Dr Nkrumah remained relevant to the country's development and cited the seven-year development plan that aimed at ensuring a balanced development for the country. "Even after his overthrow, his ideas and visions that were condemned by his antagonists continued to be the basis for the development agenda of successive governments", he said. Mr Amakye Boateng, Lecturer, Department of History and Political Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), said Ghana, which attained nationhood more than 50 years ago, remained underdeveloped because of the inability to effectively exploit its rich resources.

He said the situation in which the people appeared to have recoiled into their "ethnic shells" was not helpful and must be stopped. Dr George Oheneba Mainoo, Lecturer, Sociology Department of the KNUST, called on the country's authorities to move away from "ad-hoc and stop-gap" measures and to adopt long-term planning towards national development. He appealed to the Leadership of the Ghana Trades Union Congress to help to improve the country's work culture and to prevent waste. 28 April 10