Over Reliance on Gov’t a Threat to Development

A former National Best Farmer, Mr. Ignatius Agbo, has said that over reliance on government for development is a threat to the progress of the country and has called on Ghanaians to rekindle the spirit of communal labour to complement government’s efforts at bringing social development to improve on the living standards of citizens.

“We would not experience any meaningful development in our community if we do not assist government’s efforts by initiating some of the projects we need in our communities and stop asking for the intervention of government” he said.

He said the spirit of unity is equally needed in the national psyche to ensure togetherness among the people of this country irrespective of political affiliation or ethnic background.

Speaking to this reporter in Kumasi, Mr. Agbo who plies his farming trade at Dunkwa, in the Central Region, noted that government alone cannot shoulder the responsibility of developing every corner of the country and therefore the contribution of every citizen and foreigner is needed to move the country forward.

He said the basic needs of several communities can be solved through communal labour and the pooling of local resources instead of communities waiting on government to source of funds, usually through loans to solve such basic needs. Relying on government also delays development.

The award winning farmer has personally constructed a four-bedroom bungalow for teachers, whiles another nine-bedroom flat for teachers is under construction at Zion 1 and 2, all communities in the Dunkwa catchment area.

He lamented that public schools are left in very deplorable state when such schools could easily be rehabilitated by philanthropists and community members. In most cases pupils and students study under trees when there are individual rich men and women who can construct new schools.

Mr. Agbo is however not happy with government for not giving priority to the construction of roads leading to farming communities in the Central Region, especially Dunkwa, where he said roads are left unconstructed.

He appealed to government to invest heavily in the agricultural sector to make it attractive to the youth and other business persons. Boosting agriculture is the only way to stop the importation of food from other countries such as Togo.

Mr Agbo warned that the country’s vast arable land would be sold out to illegal miners (galamsey) by traditional authorities if government does not move in to encourage the use of the lands for agriculture use.

Mr. Ignatius Agbo -2011 National Best Farmer