I strongly believe 2010 will be a good year if Ghanaians adopt a positive mental attitude and strive to do the right thing in every sphere of our life at all times.
One of the things I hold strongly is that if others in the developed world, through positive attitude, have made it, we cannot afford to fail to make it too. Anytime I travel outside Ghana what I see and admire is the attitude the people in Britain, US and Singapore.
For instance, where there is positive culture among the people and it is a situation which I consider to have played an immense role in their development aspirations.
In Ghana however, it is the contrary as in many instances our attitude towards projects built by the government is negative as enterprises are left to deteriorate because of our culture of lack of maintenance.
This situation has not only cost the nation millions of money used to rehabilitate such projects but also makes the country lose favour in the eyes of the international community.
If we can change our attitudes, then we can hope to change our nation.
As part of efforts to ensure a positive change in the people’s attitudes, I expect the government, religious bodies, traditional authorities, parents and other stakeholders to focus sustained attention not only on preaching the gospel but also on attitudinal change.
Attitudinal change oriented programmes must be embarked on in our schools, market and public places. If I can put my house in order and my neighbour can do the same, then we can positively hope the entire nation can move in the same direction.
This will put a brake on the practice of spending millions of cedis to keep our environment clean.
Together we can accomplish a lot of things since we are not a poor nation. So long as our attitudes remain negative, we would waste every resource meant for development.
Indeed 2009 saw less government activities in areas such as the holding of conferences and workshops in most of the hotels across the country. This was because the nation had just emerged from elections and past experiences always show that anytime there is a change of government, things move slowly.
However, now that the government has put in place its machinery and appointments, I am hopeful that the economy would see significant growth that will encourage the patronage of various facilities in the hospitality industry in the country.
To ensure that the sector measures up to the expectation of the people,there is the need to give priority to the training of staff in the hospitality industry.
Apart from the infrastructure that is built, the other most important aspect of the industry is the need to allow staff to upgrade themselves to enable them to discharge their duties more professionally.
I believe that when people patronise hotels they should get value for their money since they have reasons for going to such places. Some go for the purpose of business transactions, others to have rest and some for private reasons while others do so to attend conferences. All these people need to be accorded the needed courtesy and good services to make them feel at home.
Hoteliers must remember that it is only when we have repeated visits from satisfied guests that we can be in good business. It is therefore important to ensure a sustained good relations with guests at all times.
Another area that can assure good service delivery is the constant supply of utilities such as electricity, water and good telephone network from the telecommunication services. Guests will feel comfortable when all these are running perfectly.
In a situation where there is power curtailment hotels must have standby generators but this means more cost for the running of such services.
I think there is hope for advancement for the hospitality industry.
I hear people say that 2009 was a very bad year. Yes, it was a very bad year, for him who says that. But it was not a very bad year for me.
For me, it was the best of years and 2010 is going to even surpass 2009 in goodness because that’s what I’m expecting of 2010. That’s what I believe 2010 has in “the bag” for me.
We don’t have to expect others to make things look and taste better for us but must do so for ourselves. It is only the individual who can make his or her own life, that of the family community, country and 2010 look better and become better.
And if I am better, then I can also influence others to be same, resulting in a better world for us all.
Ghanaians should therefore look at 2010 with hope for better results. Challenges are to be expected at every stage of life – but no challenge is going to make 2010 bad. Every challenge is to make the individual a better person.
We will cry, we will laugh and continue believing we are beautiful and handsome in 2010 because that’s who we are.
The figure 10 may stand for a number of things. 2010 as I figure, should be considered as a year of wholeness and fullness for Ghanaians. We only have to be prepared to receive. All we need is to be still and know that our God is good.
After the tension associated with the 2008 elections died down, Ghanaians were looking forward to some calm but there has been agitations all over.
It is either one pastor against the other, or a pastor against a traditional leader, or two politicians inciting their followers against each other, sometimes, even within the same political party.
This year, I pray that Ghanaians will push all such differences down the drains so that together we can put ideas together on how to build the country especially at this time that the country has found oil.
I also hope that the “give it to God” attitude will be made more manifest in our daily activities so that in forgiving ourselves love will abound.
My joy will know no bounds if at the end of the year, the MTTU of the Ghana Police Service reports that there was less or no road accidents this year.
My greatest wish is that God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong.
I had always viewed 2009 as a great year, but I think this year would be more promising. I hope to see significant progress in every sphere of my life — from developing a stronger personal relationship with God, excelling in my academic work to building better relationships with my colleagues, lecturers and parents.
Moreover, unlike the previous year, I am very optimistic that 2010 will offer me so many opportunities to enable me to be of assistance to others in society.
For this reason, I hope that society in general including churches, community, well-to-do individuals and corporate bodies will cultivate the habit of giving back to society as part of their social contributions in support of the needy and the under-privileged.
This, I hope will help create a better future for such people to develop themselves too.
As a midwifery student, I expect to see less maternal deaths in our health facilities. To this end, I look up to the government to resource the hospitals and clinics to enable health personnel discharge their duties more professionally.
After all, it will be in support of the nation’s developmental aspiration to achieve the third and fourth Millennium Development Goals which call for a reduction in infant mortality and an improvement in maternal health. Besides, the government should also ensure that roads in the remote areas of the country are improved to ensure safe transportation of pregnant women to health delivery centres.
In addition as a student leader, I pray that this year will also see the youth exhibiting greater commitment and determination in all aspects of their lives and avoid seeking shortcuts to attain material wealth.
It is said that shortcut to greatness is shortcut to one’s downfall. The youth must therefore desire to develop themselves academically to empower them to become responsible adults and refrain from lifestyles that could predispose them to diseases, particularly HIV and AIDS which will destroy their future ambitions in the long run.
The previous year saw the media playing its role very well in the Eastern Region. Nonetheless, there were incidents where for example an impostor who claimed to be a journalist had a brush with the law and was jailed.
I want to see more improvements in the functions of the media this year. It is therefore my hope that political parties, representatives of the government in the region and other players in the economy will accord media practitioners the needed support to enable them live up to expectation.
From December last year to January this year, journalists in the Eastern Region have been entertained by corporate organisations, political parties and individuals, making it one of the biggest receptions ever given to the media recently in appreciation of the good work done last year.
As a result, I expect the media to perform better than it did the previous year and hope that media employers will institute better conditions of service for their reporters since this will encourage them to be more professional and also prevent them from becoming susceptible to manipulation.
The media must focus more attention on development challenges particularly in the area of agriculture, which engages over 70 per cent of the population in the country. Tourism must also be highlighted.
I see 2010 to be a good year and hope Ghanaians will work hard to push the economy forward.
After the change of government in 2008, it is important that Ghanaians endeavour to get along with the government and focus on rebuilding the country to make it great in spite of the global recession.
There is too much talk on politics in this country, a situation that has seen precious times being wasted on air.
Instead of wasting precious time, we must all put our shoulders to the wheel of development.
It is my wish that the country would have a new direction which will require civil servants, teachers, doctors, nurses, journalists and other professionals to close the door on politics and attend to serious work.
Besides, I also expect the youth to yearn to develop themselves by reading wide and to become responsible adults. They must refrain from negative lifestyles that can make them vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV and AIDS.
It is my hope that the old generation will put up positive attitudes to enable the young ones to emulate them.
With regard to health, I expect the public health division of the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Services to be up and doing and address the various diseases such as malaria and other preventable sanitation-related diseases.
We have done well but there is more room for improvement.
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