Nima, a suburb of Accra, is arguably the largest of the over three thousand Zongo communities in the country.
Someone even described it as the largest of the Zongos although it is not the maiden of such settlements.
It is a part of Accra which has been stereotyped and bastardised over many years because of the instances of indiscipline recorded here.
The bad image has eclipsed the many responsible personalities which the suburb has produced over the years, and who are holding important positions in the country and beyond.
A group of good sons of Nima, powered by education and enlightenment, yesterday flagged off a project to change the narrative through a social transformation initiative, the like of which the suburb has never witnessed before.
We think that the resource centre established by the Cingaban Nima or the Nima Progress Initiative requires a push from the relevant entities in the country.
While we commend the brains behind the initiative whose core objectives are providing education to especially the girl-child in the Zongo ambience, mental health support among others, we demand of the community leaders to seize the opportunity and run with it.
An initiative which holds the key to the constraints holding back the development of a part of the country such as Nima should not be marginalised.
We see in this initiative which when harnessed properly and sincerely, will go a long way in altering positively the story of not only Nima but the Zongo community in general, across the country.
Even before this initiative, President Akufo-Addo thought about the need to launch a state department to address the shortcomings among Zongo residents across the country.
For those responsible for the policy segment of the government response to the Zongo malaise, the initiative under review should be studied and supported to flourish.
Replicating it across the country has the unmistakable potential of altering the Zongo narrative in all its ramifications.
The importance of education and how it can alter a negative narrative into a positive one was glaringly on display during the launch of the initiative.
One of the initiators of the programme, a certain Dr. Faisal Garba, a Nima indigene a resident of Germany, is an instant role model for Zongo youth.
He has proven beyond dispute the fact that education is a stoic tool for social transformation of the individual as well as a community, and the country.
He and his colleagues who fashioned out the project deserve plaudits.
It is our expectation that the initiative will in the few years make Nima a no-go area for politicians seeking bad guys to go and do their dirty bidding because the youth would have been sufficiently educated and amply empowered.