Enhancing Capacity Building of the citizenry is very vital for the human resource development and the entire progress as a developing nation

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EMPOWERING THE TECHNICAL KNOW-HOW OF THE
CITIZENRY
Introduction
t is an undeniable fact that the Human Resource of a country is the main machinery that
backs and propels the development and progress of the state. In this regard every
country strives hard to put in all measures aimed at propelling the efficient
development and training of its human resource, undoubtedly the greatest asset of every
nation.
It is however unfortunate to note that the average citizen of this country in many cities, towns
and villages are not endowed with the requisite skills if not inadequate, to enable them find a
substantial profession to make ends meet , let alone effectively contributing their quota to the
development of their communities and the nation as a whole. Until we look at this situation
with a renewed eye, we won’t be doing any good to the future of this nation.
We may have all the necessary natural and material resources but you’ll bear with me that
without the collective and sustained management by intellectuals who have the requisite
skills, knowledge and capabilities, the efficient exploration, exploitation and engineering of
these resources geared at sustainable development would be greatly undermined. Under such
situations, the country finds herself being flooded by foreigners who come to reap the
benefits of the resources.
You’ll all agree with me that Ghana, and for that matter many other African nations could
earn almost less than twenty per cent (20%), if not less on most exploited non-renewable
natural resources like gold, crude oil and many others to foreign companies and expertise
just because they possess the required technology and know-how.
Are we going to continue like this for next generations to come?
Are we oblivious (unaware) of the repercussions?
It’s high time we stood up as leaders and prominent engineers, put our heads together and
find a lasting solution to this torn in our flesh. With sacrificial spirit, dedication and love, we
can turn things around to put laughter on the lips of future generation. Let’s pick up the
pieces and build a strong foundation for ourselves.
In as much as ruling governments and stakeholders are trying their best they could to
alleviate this problem, I think we are far from success. Strategic, real and palpable measures
I

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must be instituted, properly implemented however challenging they may be so we can reap
the benefit thereof.
STREET HAWKING :( along Madina-Legon Highway in the Greater Accra Region) (© Citifm
Online News; March 04, 2013)
Consequence of derisive human resource empowerment

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Measures that must be taken to alleviate this problem of
Inadequate Technical Empowerment
A. Promoting the study of Science and Technology; Sponsoring many students to study in
major technologically sound institutions around the globe to come and fortify our
domestic institutions with their knowledge obtained
To set the ball rolling, ruling governments and all stakeholders, through the ministry of
education collaborating with the various universities in the country, must implement a
feasible policy where lots of SSS leavers, undergraduates and graduates pursuing science and
engineering who portray promising performances are given full sponsorship to pursue further
studies in the world-known science and technology institutions around the globe. With
appropriate motivation, they would learn state of the art technological processes which when
harnessed can be geared toward effective infrastructural and environmental development of
the nation.
Continuing rapid development toward becoming a rich country requires skilled
entrepreneurs and workers who can not only utilize and adapt technologies imported from
developed countries, but who can also create and develop their own technologies and
processes.
In order for poorer countries to continue to grow at fast rates, they must move beyond
specialization in goods produced with relatively unskilled labour. They need to upgrade the
goods they produce by utilizing more advanced technologies, and more skilled workers and
entrepreneurs.
At first, most advanced technologies are imported from other countries, but eventually
developing nations need to produce themselves many of the technologies required to
upgrade and expand their production. To accomplish this great stage of economic
development, both public policy and private households and businesses must begin to
emphasize higher education which is technologically oriented, and other ways to greatly
improve the advanced human capital of working men and women.
(©Higher Education and Technological Advances as Countries Develop-Becker;
the Becker Posner Blog)
Japan, after the World War Two, sent many of their eligible students to overseas countries
like USA who were then on the peak of technology to learn from their famous technological
institutions. The government by then gave these citizens the needed support and motivation,
overcoming all constraints, obstacles and hindrances. After learning, the citizens returned to
their country, took charge of their science and engineering fields and trained more people.

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Thus many citizens were trained from time to time, generation to generation until their aim
was perfected. They then made projections to expand capacities aimed at efficient Human
Resource Development regardless of their less endowment in natural resources. This was one
of the roots of Japan’s success in technological breakthrough off late.
The above illustration goes on to solidify the point made earlier. We can emulate the same
principle Japan used to reap the benefits thereafter for years to come.
B. Undertaking Informal Technical Training to aid empower technically the mass of the
citizenry who could not pursue further studies to the Tertiary Level
We would all unanimously accede to the fact that for a particular number of students who
start schooling at the basic level at a particular year, only a handful of that batch are able to
persevere to make it to the Tertiary Institution. It is not uncommon to find the rest straying
along our streets undertaking menial jobs which do them no good as far as financial security
is concerned, not to talk of more underutilized labour force in the state.
The cause of this situation could be due to a number of factors such as: the victimized living
in less endowed communities, inappropriate financial support by guardians to sponsor their
wards education to highly appreciable level and inability of most students to pass well in
their exams after several attempts due low educational standards in most of their
communities, to mention a few.
With Ghana, and for that matter many African countries being contemporary youthfully
populated, we need no oracle to tell us the calamitous repercussions if we do not take a
stringent look at this canker and find immediate remedy. For brighter future of the country in
this era of neck-breaking rate of technological advancement, then I must again reiterate the
need to find real and palpable measures to technically and skillfully empower these less
privileged and perpetually side-lined youthful masses.
How can we alleviate this problem then?
The ministry of Education and all stakeholders (such as the Universities, Polytechnics,
Technical and Vocational Institutions) who have a say in the educational sector of the
country must come together to effectively implement and carry out strategies aimed at
establishing informal indigenous technological centers in the various communities (especially
the rural areas). Trained technical workforce could be adequately employed to train these
youths even if it requires tutoring them in their local language to their utmost assimilation. It
is vibrantly factual that most of these deprived citizens are very talented in application of
technology to build and manufacture gadgets but most are left in their own fate due the

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unfavourable nature of the educational system if I may assume. When well trained, the
Human Resource Base of the nation would be highly empowered to enhance efficacious,
judicious and qualitative exploration and exploitation of our precious natural resources.
In the event of trying to achieve the process of total reformation in the lives of prison mates, I
intuit it will be expedient if we engage prisoners to be beneficiaries of this informal technical
training proposed above. In this respect, no one would be left out in the process of
empowering ourselves and developing our capabilities.