Ex-President John Mahama
Former President John Mahama has challenged the youth to work towards building a progressive and inclusive Africa.
He has also challenged African youth to display a strong sense of leadership.
He made the call at the maiden edition of the Young African Leaders Summit held in Accra.
According to him, it is terrible for young people in Africa to exclude themselves and look unconcerned about issues affecting their immediate societies and the country as a whole.
In his opinion, it was time for Africa’s youth to contribute their quota to address the continent’s challenges.
“The problem we have in Africa is that when you talk about leadership, it is all about political leadership. We need to create leaders in every facet of our society. Don’t wait for that future that is to come. Wherever you are, start being a leader and make a change,” he challenged the youth.
“I want people to start thinking and believing that they can make a difference no matter how overwhelming the challenges of Africa are,” he said.
The former President further advised the youth to be patriotic and commit to serve others if they wanted Africa to be able to overcome its numerous challenges.
The Young African Leaders Summit was a gathering of young people across the continent aimed at collating ideas from Africa’s finest youth figures that will be aggregated into relevant themes for shaping policies on the continent.
The summit also served as a platform for cross-country idea-sharing and assimilation and an opportunity to bridge identity gap that is often perceived to exist within the youthful population of Africa.
BY Melvin Tarlue