The General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Dr Cyril Fayose, has urged the youth of Africa to show high level of commitment to their nations and be a source of transformation.
He explained that the rate at which the youth of Africa were travelling outside the continent in search of greener pastures despite the natural resources the African continent was endowed with was a major cause of concern.
Rev. Dr Fayose made the call on the side-line of the closing ceremony of the maiden edition of the All African Youth Congress held at the Pentecost Convention Centre in GomoaFetteh, Central Region, on last Friday.
Themed: “Africa: My Home, My Future,” the congress focused on improving the confidence of the youth of Africa, and make them believe they could become successful without travelling outside the continent.
The congress, which was organised by the All African Conference of Churches, with the Christian Council as the host organiser, brought together about 1,000 youth from different African countries featuring both Christian and Non-Christian faith based denominations.
“The youth of Africa have within themselves the opportunity and power to change the cause of Africa. So, I want every youth out there to take a bold step to commit themselves to the continent and their nations and to be a source of transformation”, Rev. (Dr) Fayose said.
He said it was imperative that the African continent encouraged the youth to take up leadership positions to be active citizens and be transformers of society.
Going forward, Rev. DrFayosesaid it was the idea of the organisers to rotate the congress in African countries with focus on the youth as some could not turn up this year due to financial constraints.
A participant from Ghana, Ms Belinda Delali Borbi, asked orgainsers of the programme to consider more networking in subsequent congress as well as the organisation of outdoor events.
Another participant from Zimbabwe, Mr Obart Dube, noted that the youth were the most affected victims of political instability and other social vices, such as human trafficking, drug abuse and unemployment on the continent.
He said there was the need for the youth to stand up and be identified as problem solvers and be given the political space to make decisions.
Mr Dube indicated that he would use social media platform to impact and influence the youth to take part in decision-making.
FROM GOMAH FETTEH, BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
