By Regina Benneh, GNA
Sunyani, Jan. 20, GNA – Mr. Alexander Baah Yeboah, a Director at the Bono
Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), on Friday advised Ghanaians to promote and
protect the nation’s rich culture from foreign influences and adulterations for
holistic national development.
He observed that a number of Ghanaians had
now developed the taste for foreign goods and did not patronise the consumption
of locally-made products to expectation, regretting that downplaying the value
of the nation’s culture by the generation of today was a contributory factor.
Mr Yeboah gave the advice when he deputized
for the Regional Minister, Mrs. Evelyn Kumi-Richardson at the opening of a
three-day national Conference of Directors and Accountants of the Centre for
National Cultural (CNC)-Ghana in Sunyani, under the theme; “Re-affirming the
Roles on Cultural Institutions to Mitigate Youth Unemployment and Alleviate
Poverty”.
He expressed concern that many Ghanaians no
longer ate local foods, saying that had now brought about strange diseases with
no cure, which were leading to the death of many resourceful people who could
have contributed to the nation’s speedy development.
Mr. Yeboah said another disturbing trend
that might make the younger generation and those yet unborn strangers in their
own culture was the inability of many Ghanaian children to speak and understand
the local languages, but could speak foreign languages, particularly English to
the admiration of their parents.
The woes of the nation was all about the
love for the products of foreign cultures by the younger generation, which were
having negative impact on the entire society, the Director said.
He said Ghanaian dances were unique and
there was the need to identify ways to derive economic value from them, instead
the generation of today have branded some of them as fetish to the detriment of
the nation’s socio-economic progress.
Consequently a Ghanaian child now might not
be able to dance either the ‘Adowa’, ‘Kete’ or ‘Kpanlogo’ but could
artistically and skillfully exhibit his/her prowess in a foreign dance which
was unfit for the society’s progress, but only led to the loss of self-esteem
as a people, Mr. Yeboah said.
Barima Asumadu Sakyi, the Dean of Directors
of CNC, said the Centre was a source of skills and skill development that could
impact the unemployed youth to make them employable and entrepreneurs to
contribute immensely to curtail the youth unemployment to lead to the increase
of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
He said most of the performing stars in the
local movies as well as those practicing indigenous technology (arts and
craftworks) were all associated with the Centre in their nurturing stages.
Mr. Sakyi appealed to government to make
culture the foundation for all developmental agenda and added that the current
situation of inadequate funding and infrastructural challenges narrowed the
function and scope of the operation of the National Commission on Culture and
its agencies.
GNA