Urgent! A generation of character, purpose needed
In a society obsessed with credentials, titles and material wealth, Sir Sam Jonah's stirring address at the maiden commencement ceremony of Academic City University last Saturday could not have come at a more appropriate moment.
Delivered with the authority of a person with experience and the wisdom of a statesman, his message resonated the fact that the future belonged not to the most connected, the most eloquent or persons with the most credentials but to those with unshakable character and clear purpose.
Character, as Sir Sam reminded the graduates, was the currency that never lost its value.
Yet in our contemporary society, we are witnessing a crisis of values.
Corruption festers in both the public and private sectors.
Dishonesty is rewarded while integrity is dismissed as naïveté.
We must face the truth that degrees without character are hollow, and connections without ethics are corrosive.
Academic City University represents a bold new frontier in higher education.
As a purely STEM-focused university, it is reimagining the very foundation of our academic and developmental priorities.
But the institution cannot carry the weight of national transformation alone.
For the values of integrity, discipline, service and innovation to take root and flourish, there must be a united front in the sphere of responsibility, one that includes the government, families, the church, schools and the broader society.
It is high time the government recognised that sustainable national development depended as much on the ethical disposition of our citizens as it does on our infrastructural investments.
The Daily Graphic urges policymakers to implement a national character education framework that starts from basic schools and continues to tertiary institutions. Furthermore, STEM education must not remain a rhetorical priority.
It must be matched with aggressive funding, scholarships and tax incentives to ensure that our brightest minds — regardless of socio-economic background — are encouraged to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Ghana must reward academic excellence in STEM and ethics with the same fervour it rewards political loyalty.
Character is not formed in lecture halls alone; it is nurtured in the home.
Parents must take their role as the first moral educators of their children seriously.
In a digital age where values can be eroded in an instant, families must anchor young people in truth, discipline, empathy and service.
Let us raise children who understand that success without integrity is failure in disguise.
Let us raise children who choose purpose over popularity, service over status.
The Church has historically been the moral compass of society but the Daily Graphic will not mince words that in recent times some religious leaders have become complicit in materialism and the glorification of shortcuts.
This must end.
The pulpit must return to its role as a platform for truth, righteousness and national transformation.
The clergy must preach more about character than cars, more about purpose than prosperity.
They must call out corruption, even when it thrives within their congregations, and celebrate integrity even when it walks quietly.
Academic City University has set an example worth emulating. It emphasises a STEAM-based (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) education with entrepreneurial and ethical leadership at its core.
This is what Ghana needs—a new generation of graduates not just skilled in code and circuitry, but grounded in conscience.
Sir Sam’s life story, from a labourer in a gold mine to CEO of a multinational and statesman, stands as a testament to the transformative power of purpose.
His challenge to graduates to avoid the seduction of titles and to pursue lasting purpose instead must echo beyond the walls of the university.
Young people across the nation must hear about it. Purpose-driven leadership is not a luxury; it is a necessity.
In the face of global challenges and national disillusionment, we need young people who will not only make a living but make a difference.
The future of our country rests not merely in political reforms or foreign investments, but in the character and purpose of its youth.
All must decisively, collectively and urgently contribute their quota to raising a generation of leaders who are not only intelligent, but incorruptible; not only skilled, but sacrificial and not only driven, but deeply anchored in purpose.
