Why do we have to depend on politicians for development? – Tangoba Abayage quizzes

The immediate past Upper East Regional Minister, Tangoboa Abayage is wondering why Ghana’s development should be still largely dependent on politicians. In her opinion, the private sector could lead the development and transformation of the country.

Her comments were in furtherance of her earlier point that the presence of academia within a certain defined space does not translate directly into development.

It would be recalled that a former Upper East Regional Minister and Professor of Linguistics at the University of Education Winneba (UEW), Professor Ephraim Avea Nsoh opined that, all things being equal, there should be a direct link between the number of people with Ph.Ds within a defined space and the development in that area.

Professor Avea Nsoh explained that because the attainment of Ph.D is research-driven, in perfect circumstances, the research collected and data analysed should be the basis for decisions taken by political leaders for development.

Unfortunately, Professor Avea Nsoh argues that it is not the case as many developmental decisions are directly taken based on the whims and caprices of political leaders.

He said this when he spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show. His comments were made on the back of a disaggregation of Ph.D holders within the country by region in the 2021 Population Housing Census (PHC) by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).

“One of the major gaps in developing countries and for that matter, Ghana, and even worse in the Upper East Region is the absence of data; more broadly speaking, research. What it means is that a lot of decisions are made on the whims and caprices of policymakers, chiefs and others.”

“What it means is that we have a serious gap in terms of development. This is because we do not have a lot of research information that will guide us in our decision-making. There is nothing that will succeed without it being informed by data; what it is that it is about, what are the causes, and what is likely to be the impact, the result and everything.”

“If you do not have this, it just means that you are groping in the dark,” he said. Madam Abayage shared her opinion on that. “The typical African mindset! Academia =Development! Check the most successful people impacting society’s development and heading the wealth charts and see how many are PHD holders.”

Speaking on the Day Break Upper East Show today, Monday, August 15, 2022, Madam Abayage explained that development in the country should be lead by the private sector.

“Why do we have to depend on politicians for development? Why can’t individuals take these Ph.D holders [and partner with them for development?] Those individuals do not have to be Ph.D holders. Take Donald Trump, he is one of the richest men, what is his educational background? They can now take the Ph.D holders and use them to develop.”

“The Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, they are using the Ph.D holders to develop themselves, develop the society and develop the whole world. The number of Ph.D holders should not transform into development. It is the commitment of the individuals to transform their own areas,” she said.

While admitting that there is a lot of research that has not been used in Ghana, Madam Abayage insisted that te private sector can take advantage of same to develop themselves and in turn, the country.

Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana