Member of Parliament for Cape Coast South George Kwaku Ricketts-Hagan, has pointed out that the youth population is growing so rapidly in the country that if care is not taken to provide adequate jobs to keep them productive, their situation will be like a time bomb that will eventually explode.
He said the youth population in the country has skyrocketed, which must be a good thing for the country because that means a strong and productive workforce for the country in terms of being productive for the development of the country.
Mr Ricketts-Hagan said if on the other hand, the government is not able to provide adequate jobs for its growing youth population, they will become unproductive to the system and when that happens, the youth becomes a time bomb ready to detonate in the faces of everybody.
He sounded a biblical warning to the government, saying “the devil finds work for the idle hands” if the youth are not provided adequate employment to be productive to the country.
Mr Ricketts-Hagan said what makes him happy for the future is that the youth themselves have realized that where the older generation is taking them is very steep and tunneled with no bright future in sight for them.
He hinted that the government initiative of ‘Planting For Food And Jobs’ should have been an avenue for the youth to venture into agriculture to provide jobs but assessing the progress of the initiative for the past five years, there is nothing to write home about.
The former Deputy Minister of Finance pointed out that judging the amount of money purported to have been injected into the program, it should have provided jobs, revenue and sustainability year on year but that is not the case in the country.
He said according to the government’s own data on the ‘Planting For Food And Jobs’ initiative it has been a failure and a waste of taxpayer’s money.
Mr Ricketts-Hagan said this in an interview with Kwame Tutu on the 100 Degrees program on Onua TV, Monday, August 9.
He was reacting on the back of the recent #FixTheCountry demonstration by the country’s teeming youth who are angry with the government for the direction the country is heading and the unfazed stance of government not to be in tune with the ordinary citizen of Ghana. And the promise by the Minister of Finance to create a youth bank to create employment for the youth in the country.
“Population growth has been so rapid and that is a good thing. The youth population has skyrocketed, if you go to any country now, the youth is more than the older generation, that is a good thing because that is the workforce right there for you. People who would continue to work to keep this country moving forward but if you are not giving them the tools to work then the youth are being unproductive. When the youth becomes unproductive that becomes a time bomb for the country because as they say ‘the devil finds work for the idle hands’, the Cape Coast South legislator posited on the 100 Degrees program.
By Barima Kwabena Yeboah|3news.com|Ghana
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