Excessive intake of alcoholic beverages and marijuana is said to be killing the career of many youth of Sirigu in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region.
Almost every corner in the community which is known for its beautiful pottery and artworks is dotted with drinking joints.
The sale of the hard liquor including pito and akpeteshie is dominating in the farming community and negatively enticing mostly the youth of the area to patronize it.
“I do not have the statistics, but I can tell you, without fear or favor, that every house has a problem. Every house has somebody or the other, who is not maximizing their potentials due largely to their abuse of alcohol and marijuana” a recovered alcoholic and native of Sirigu, Kasisi Ricky Peprah observed.
As a matter of urgency to change the worrying trend of alcoholism, Mr. Kasisi, led the elders and people of Sirigu to recite one ‘Hail Mary’ for God’s intervention.
“On behalf of the chairman and with the permission of all Muslims present, let us all stand and pray to our mother Mary to listen to our cry and salvage us. Mother Mary, your children say they are trying but it is beyond them. Our youth have gone astray. One can no longer boast of being a native of the Sirigu we were proud of because people now mock at us.”
The sorrowful prayer atmosphere was observed during the 15th Anniversary of Sirigu Youth Association (SIYA) and 6th homecoming ceremony for the people of Sirigu.
The once addicted alcoholic prayed and begged Virgin Mary to pray to her son, Jesus Christ, “to come and help our youth. Change for us the Sirigu we had.”
Mr. Kasisi who recovered from the addiction of alcohol admonished youth of Sirigu to eschew alcoholism and drugs in order to achieve their potentials.
The formation of SIYA, 15 years ago, aimed at fostering unity among youth and people of Sirigu. President of SIYA, Mathew Abagna in a welcome address lamented that the population of the community has outnumbered the limited educational facilities in the area. The situation according to Mr. Abagna is affecting the “performance of pupils in the basic schools”
By offering their support to improve the standards of education in the area, SIYA together with its partners initiated a library project for the community. The project which is still at its foundation level when completed will improve the reading abilities of many students in the area.
The president of SIYA also appealed to government to consider extending electricity to schools in the community.
“With this technological era, where computer has become part of the syllabus for basic schools studies, it is sad to note that no single basic school in the Sirigu is connected to the national grid.”
By: Joshua Asaah|A1radioonline.com|Ghana
