More often that not, Ghanaians compare the state of their nation to those surrounding it when it comes to making them feel good about themselves. The major triumphs we seem to be celebrating include a peaceful nation and one devoid of civil wars and deadly disease eating at the social fibre and a fledging democracy. This is where I feel Ghana falls short. We must not measure our national success by using neighbours as benchmarks; we must ensure the collective well-being of our people. All Ghanaians should be comfortable with our situation as a country and happy with the strides it makes day in, day out, year in, and year out.

The height of patriotism and unity amongst Ghanaians is seen during sports successes, such as that of the Black Stars, national holidays and major accomplishments of Ghanaians. Ghana's 50th anniversary of independence couldn't come at a better time after the euphoria generated by the Black Stars' showing at the 2006 World cup, which had been dying slowly. With Africa's footballing fiesta billed to take place in Ghana in early 2008, it will ensure that national goodwill and unity does not backpedal after the jubilee year. Aside these bouts of patriotism, there is still a big political gap and Ghana is divided along political lines (NPP and NDC). It is sad that Jerry John Rawlings, immediate past president of Ghana, refused an invitation to the independence celebration and for a long time, we were not sure whether the NDC was going to show up. This should not be happening. It is my wish that our governments would be able to push national agendas that will involve and work in the best interest of all Ghanaians. The onus falls on the shoulders of the NPP to rally the nation, spearhead a national vision and enable Ghanaians to fully jump on the bandwagon. People criticize Dr. Kwame Nkrumah for pushing for a one-nation state during his presidency, but I feel he was trying to rally the nation into its destiny (and not his followers). Democracy should not stand in the way of unity and order.

Mediocrity plagues our nation. We have grown accustomed to some levels of comfort that we do not really earn for excellence. For instance, Ghanaians are very wary of change and innovation. We grow comfortable in certain situations and we don't really see the need to improve upon them. I wish for people to travel abroad to see what is different in other countries, so as to realize how much better our institutions back home can be and what levels of socio-economic development are attainable. And equally as important is the ability to discern what is working in Ghana, what we have that we must cherish and take pride in. Weighing options A and B allow us to determine the strengths we must build on and the weaknesses we must improve upon.

I am concerned about the relative inconspicuousness of Ghanaian role models. Most youth in Ghana and Africa (for the most part) look up to foreign idols and are much more aware of the success stories of famous people in the West. Ghana does not have a shortage of role models and entrepreneurs; the problem is that we have not been celebrating them. It makes me wonder what celebrating African excellence means in the motto of Ghana's golden jubilee celebration. There is the societal ill of celebrating our guests much better than we celebrate ourselves, which comes directly from the proverbial Ghanaian hospitality. This is, we understand, the importance of the private sector. Ghanaians should not be dependent on the government for everything, we need philanthropists, entrepreneurs, businessmen who represent and embody Ghana that we can celebrate and look up to. If our role models are outside of Ghana or do not identify with our cultural neighbourhood, our youth will aim to follow these role models to wherever they are, and we will lose their abilities and connection to the common Ghanaian. We must educate ourselves about what we have achieved as individuals and as a nation. I believe we should also tweak our educational systems to enable our youth see the applicability of what they are learning to their communities and retain their knowledge to Ghana.

Kwame Nkrumah began the development agenda for Ghana in earnest at the onset of independence. He built a university of science and technology, which is now named after him as well as another in Cape Coast. He is credited with the creation of Tema as an industrial city and the construction of the Akosombo dam. Frankly, Ghana has not seen the same level of infrastructure development it enjoyed in its early years. The uncertainty of military rule may have contributed to this together with the changing of governments and changing priorities. I think the Ghanaian government should dedicate itself towards improving infrastructure in various industries to appreciable levels to allow the private sector to boom. Better transport and communication infrastructure should ease the pressure on Accra and open up the rest of the country for economic prosperity. We need to make other parts of Ghana attractive to the middle class in order to improve the standards of living there as well as improving healthcare across the country and better educational institutions.

I have spoken at length about Ghana but Ghana is not very different from other African countries. Then again, even though some of the points, recommendations and issues that I raise are the same, it is those who identify closest to various African countries who are best qualified to reflect, discuss, recommend and work for the greater good of these nations. To the youth, the destiny of a nation at any given time depends on the opinions (and actions) of its young men and women. We have to reconcile with our homes and its issues and tailor homegrown solutions towards acting now and leading in the future.