By Alexander Nyarko Yeboah, GNA
Accra, Sept 11, GNA – The Group Chief
Executive, Mikaddo Holdings Limited, has endorsed the punctuality campaign by
urging Ghanaians to be punctual and reliable at all times as a means of
ensuring progress and development in the nation.
Nana Dr. Michael Agyekum Addo is the 25th
person to endorse the campaign which is spearheaded by Punctuality Ghana
Foundation as the Foundation braves itself to spread head the campaign on time
consciousness in all aspects of the Ghanaian national life.
In a key note address on Tuesday at Mikado
Holdings Limited, Labone, Nana Dr. Agyekum Addo, informed that there were
principles governing all aspects of life and that it was these principles that
led one to succeed in life, not supposed spiritual interventions.
“Everything that God has made for mankind is
here in Ghana, fertile land, good weather, minerals, etc. why then should we
still be poor,” Nana Dr. Agyekum Addo wondered, whilst he inspired his
audience.
He identified lack of respect for time as
one major reasons why people failed in life, adding that, “People promise but
often fail to fulfill their promise, they give you time but aren’t sure to go
by it; let it rain and nothing works. Almost everybody in Ghana is guilty of
this.”
The Entrepreneur informed that this
unreliable character by people “has generated some words which have become
normal in our daily conversations. Such words include, I forgot, it was due to
circumstances beyond my control, it was the traffic, beyond the rain I couldn’t
make it, etc.”
Nana Dr. Agyekum Addo stressed that people
gave such excuses in order to avoid being challenged and for people to accept
what they say to be the truth even though it was not.
“We want to avoid guilt therefore find it
difficult to accept our mistakes or failures, but these excuses indicate that
something has not been done well and had led to failure. What follows these
excuses is non-performance that leads subsequently to failure and therefore
poverty,” the Group Chief Executive informed.
He indicated that “wealth creation had a lot
to do with being reliable with no excuses wherever we find ourselves. Be at the
right place at the right time for the right purpose. This is to say you must
make a conscious effort to be punctual for all appointments.”
He advised Ghanaians not to keep people
waiting unnecessarily; “do not follow the crowd and assume that people would be
late because of their adherence to Ghana’s time. When people are able to
identify you as a punctual person, they would ensure that they are punctual
anytime they have to see you. This would save you a lot of time.”
He said first impressions lasted long, and
that people should be punctual to their first engagements, dress well, etc. in
order not to seek for a second chance to make the right impressions when they
had destroyed the first opportunity.
The Lead Campaigner of Punctuality Ghana
Foundation, Mr. Emmanuel Amarquaye, in his remarks, informed that poor
supervision was the cause of the poor attitude to time and work in the civil
and public services.
In that regard, he insisted that there was
the need for persons in the public sector to sit up in order to provide the
needed support for the private sector to grow and contribute to the development
of the nation.
“It is said that attitude is everything and
where your treasure is where your heart is, therefore it’s obvious that our
attitudes tell who we are. And so if we want to build this country and develop
to become like other developed countries, we must get the right attitudes at
all times,” Mr. Amarquaye said.
He insisted that one could not be average
and expect to succeed because, “No matter how rough you think your situation
is, it can be better if you decide not to be average” .
GNA
