OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND IN GHANA — BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER (PAGE 11, NOV 6)

THE British High Commissioner to Ghana, Dr Nicholas Wescott, has observed that there are more opportunities in the country for Ghanaians to utilise for their development.
He said it was better to do so than migrating to Europe through unapproved routes, often resulting in undesirable consequences.
Dr Wescott was delivering a lecture at the Wa campus of the University for Development Studies (US) on the topic: ‘Economic growth and migration in Ghana: Lessons from Britain in the past”.
He said some Ghanaians, and for that matter, Africans gave huge sums of money to unscrupulous people in the desert to help them to undertake dangerous journeys, and most often they did not get to their final destinations.
“Take your chances here as there are more opportunities in Ghana which would enable you to succeed in life,” he added.
He debunked claims that people could only make it in Europe just because they perceived those places as rich and prosperous.
He said although migration was a good thing and inevitable, the right procedure should be adopted in order to avoid tension and conflict.
The British High Commissioner said it was in that regard that the commission had adopted a transparent and strict process for the acquisition of visas.
He, therefore, advised Ghanaians to pass through the necessary channels in their visa acquisition process, adding that the British High Commission in Ghana was collaborating with the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to check fake documents of applicants.
Dr Wescott expressed happiness that the UDS was building linkages and partnership with the University of Lancashire, and expreessed the hope that the move would go a long way to strengthen the bond of friendship between the two countries.
Touching on trade, he expressed the view that liberalisation was not to make Africa poor, and cited the case of Mexico, India and China, whose economies had improved through liberalisation.
The acting Vice Chancellor of the UDS, Professor Ken Nokoe, enumerated a number of challenges facing the university.
These included inadequate staffing, housing and accommodation.
He stressed the need for the staff of the UDS to be trained further, and said with the reduced Faculty Development Fund ‘we need more support from the Government and our partners for training scholarships, attachment and exchange programmes for the staff and students.
He commended Dr Wescott for his decision to share his experience with members of the university, as that would place the UDS at the next level.