Oil Agreement Must Be Reviewed – Kofi Adams

by: Clement Boateng

THE Deputy National Youth Organiser of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Kofi Adams, who is also spokesperson for ex-President Rawlings, has stressed the need for President Mills’ administration to critically review the oil agreement made by the previous government, to ensure that Ghana becomes the ultimate beneficiary of the resource, and not otherwise.

Even though Mr. Adams did not categorically state portions or issues in the agreement he deemed inappropriate that warrants a review, he insisted that Ghana would be the ultimate loser, should the agreement be allowed to exist as it stands now.

Speaking at the inaugural and induction ceremony of the new executives, and freshers of Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) of the NDC, University for Development Studies (UDS) Wa Campus branch recently, Mr. Adams indicated that in signing such agreements, the interests of the local people and the nation as a whole must be paramount, to forestall the unhealthy incidents happening in some oil producing countries.

He also cautioned the nation against any attempts to despise both the agricultural and other non-agricultural sectors, which had nurtured and sustained the economy over the past years, before the discovery of the oil, noting, "We must not go the Nigerian way."

Mr. Adams indicated that the NDC government had started delivering, and was hopeful that it would deliver on all its promises.

The Spokesperson of former President Rawlings, admitted that perhaps where they had failed, was not putting some well-experienced people who had been around for the past eight years and were much abreast of the trends in the country at certain critical positions in government, so that they could arrest the deteriorating situation in an accelerated manner.

He believes that such experienced people, could also dig out the unscrupulous deals of the erstwhile New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, and best tell the story to the Ghanaian populace and the world at large.

"The NPP never weaned Ghana off the IMF," he said, adding that the NPP administration was rather successful in mismanaging the economy for eight years, and left a budget deficit of 20.4%, compared to the 9% deficit they inherited from the NDC in 2001, which they declared as unprecedented.

Mr. Adams maintained that the NDC government would never use the NPP’s standard, because their record was bad.

He alleged that the NPP administration intentionally collapsed several interventions initiated by the NDC government, just to create opportunities for their business tycoons to take undue advantage of the poor masses.

Citing the Aveyime Rice Project as an example, Mr. Adams alleged that the previous government collapsed it, so as to pave way for "NPP rice importers" to have a field day at the detriment of the country’s local rice producers, and the people of Ghana in general.

He reiterated the NDC government’s commitment to expand the school feeding programme, alongside other laudable programmes such as youth in agriculture, where much resources would be invested from farming through processing to marketing levels, to ensure that the toil of the beneficiary youth do not go waste.

The Deputy National Youth Organiser emphasised on the urgent need to build a better Ghana that could provide a predictable future for the youth, to replace the current situation where the youth have to gamble with their lives in their quest for personal development.

He however entreated the youth, particularly TEIN members, to rally behind the Mills’ administration so that the party’s vision of building a better Ghana comes to fruition.

He commended TEIN for the role it played by policing the electoral process during the elections

The Majority Leader in Parliament, Mr. Alban Bagbin, who is also the MP for Nadowli West, expressed the need to amend the party’s constitution, to enable TEIN have the equal rights being enjoyed by other wings of the party.

He was of the view that TEIN should be given the opportunity in the national leadership of the party, and also be allowed to vote at congress.

The seasoned politician said, "Life is not about academic execellence; life is all about politics," admonishing the students not to disassociate themselves from politics, both in school and at the national level.

On his part, the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Mr. Ceaser Kale, who chaired the function, also underscored the important role being played by TEIN in the political discourse in the country.

He gladly noted that despite the numerous challenges it faced, especially while in opposition, TEIN was growing from strength to strength.

He urged the members to remain focused, honest and actively participate in the activities of the party, in order to shape and nurture their future political careers, while they emulate the examples of the seasoned politicians in the country.

Mr. Kale admitted that TEIN, being the intellectual wing of the party that was supposed to carryout research and advocate for the government, had been poorly resourced, and entreated the mother party to do its best to ensure that TEIN received, not only necessary, but also the sufficient support to make it vibrant.