The Founder and President of the International Leadership Foundation (ILF), Professor Delanyo Adadevoh, has implored Africans to first respect themselves before expecting others to respect them.
For him, whereas Africans on African soil sometimes find it difficult to travel to other African countries without a visa, nationals of European, America and Asian descent freely move without visas on the continent, a situation he described, as worrying.
Citing his personal experience, he explained that, he travelled to an African country with his American friend and when he got to the airport and the immigration officers demanded a visa from him, which he could not provide, he was asked to stand aside.
Prof. Adadevoh however said his American friend who also did not have a visa was allowed entry and it was his American friend who rather pleaded with the immigration officers to allow him to pass.
Speaking at the opening of the Church of Pentecost’s 2023 National Development Conference today, July 26, at the Pentecost Convention Centre at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central Region, Prof. Adadevoh said the time has come for Africa to value itself in the comity of nations.
Speaking on topic: “Moral vision and national development” which was the theme for the programme, he said “self-respect is the first step toward positive self-identity.”
For him, “Africans cannot expect respect from other regions of the world if they do not demonstrate trust and respect toward one another.”
Prof. Adadevoh advanced the argument that self-identity and values were critical elements in nation building.
That, he said, Ghana as a country subscribes to seven values, namely God dependence; positive African identity; integrity; freedom and justice; interdependence; maximisation and excellence, which were important factors that could drive the country’s development should they be respected.
“Ghana’s identity is very much linked with Africa,” he said, adding that “We are first Africans before our tribal considerations.”
He noted that it was time Africans took charge of their identity and stopped playing the second-class role of Europeans and Americans.
Prof. Adadevoh said “When we embrace values, they are supposed to give us new approaches to life and new approaches to governance.”
Source: GraphicOnline
