I dream of a nation where everyone can freely participate in the social and economic developments disregard of who you are, what you do and what you stand for. Together we can go far!. I look forward to a Ghanaian generation where politics will only be a battle of policy rather than personality, where politics will be a profession rather than a retirement pastime, when ideologies will determine who to associate with rather than from where is the one I'm associating with. When we achieve that, I can see myself providing transport to an opposition candidate on his way to a development engagement in his Constituency, I can see other political party Senior Official giving a Democracy talk at a ruling party Youth's Gathering, I can see a smaller party Director of Policy& Strategy giving a lecture on Economic Policy at a ruling party Policy Gathering, I can see Hon. member of oppositon being a Guest of Honour at a ruling party Young Politicians Forum, I can see my President, appointing a Young Intellectual from oppostion without anybody saying, "he has been bought", all we will see is, what is Ghana going to benefit from this Young Intellectual? Yes, it is going to happen, this generation will surprise many!!!. My late grandfather,Adam Sabaah once said,the country will have nothing to offer by next coming years when it clocks 60 years of self leadership.

As we are going to clock 60 years of self rule, we have to think as to what have been achieved so far. For the past years, we have tried but all we put in place has not worked. We need to find something new,a new model that can create jobs for the young people regardless of where one comes from. Some people have been calling for the president to have a smaller convoy, but it is not the convoy that can help us to develop no matter how big or small it is, but what is very important is what the president does. We need to have a national endeavor, a national vision that any president can follow.

The youth need to organize and develop coherent demands with way how they can be achieved and when, for the leadership to adopt.

I think we should bring together youth movement,individual youths, student unions, young professionals,youth organizations, networks, coalitions, young women movements and other actors in youth work set to promote meaningful youth participation in development through the strengthening of collective youth voice and action focusing on youth development, citizen empowerment and policy dialogue in Ghana. Long live Ghana!!

Ibrahim Hardi 0208235615.