Daily Graphic

The Daily Graphic also carries on its front page a story that the President, Flt-Lt J.J. Rawlings, will be the first to pay the last respect to the late Asantehene, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, today. The paper says the Asantehene, who died on February 25, was laid in state at the executive lodge of the Manhyia Palace at midnight. He was 80, and ruled for 29 years. The Graphic says the President will be followed immediately by paramount chiefs of Ashanti and chiefs of the Kumasi Traditional Council. It says members of parliament will also pay their last respects the same day, after which members of the public will take their turn. The paper quotes a programme released by the burial committee in Kumasi as saying that there will be wake-keeping throughout the four-day burial ceremonies. The Graphic says early yesterday, heavy police and military presence was noticed at the foregrounds of the Manhyia Palace to provide security and order during the ceremonies.

The Daily Graphic also carries on its front page a story that the President, Flt-Lt J.J. Rawlings, will be the first to pay the last respect to the late Asantehene, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, today. The paper says the Asantehene, who died on February 25, was laid in state at the executive lodge of the Manhyia Palace at midnight. He was 80, and ruled for 29 years. The Graphic says the President will be followed immediately by paramount chiefs of Ashanti and chiefs of the Kumasi Traditional Council. It says members of parliament will also pay their last respects the same day, after which members of the public will take their turn. The paper quotes a programme released by the burial committee in Kumasi as saying that there will be wake-keeping throughout the four-day burial ceremonies. The Graphic says early yesterday, heavy police and military presence was noticed at the foregrounds of the Manhyia Palace to provide security and order during the ceremonies. In the main story on the front page, the Graphic reports that the President, Flt-Lt J.J. Rawlings has challenged the country's universities to produce the relevant ideas and human resources that would enable Ghana to cope with global competition in the nation's effort to become a middle-income country by 2020. This, he said, is totally a different mission for the universities from the original one upon which they were founded. president Rawlings is reported as making the call when he addressed the 50th anniversary congregation of the University of Ghana, Legon last Saturday. He said when the university was founded, the major motive of both the colonial administration and the pioneer students was the training of graduates and professionals to fill what were then termed "European" positions, especially as the movement towards independence accelerated. The President is quoted as saying that students who still think that a degree "is an automatic meal ticket", now have to face the hard realities of competitive job market dominated by a cost-efficient, conscious private sector. The Graphic says President Rawlings stressed that marketable skills, initiative and creativity are at a premium, and an entrepreneurial spirit which enables graduates to pioneer new products and services is even more valuable now. "Perceptions of university education, therefore, must be adjusted to keep up with the new realities of today", he is reported as saying. He said:"Globalisation, rapid technological changes, a dynamic private sector drive by research and development, all these factors pose new challenges to universities all over the world".