2011 — A YEAR OF HOPE (JAN 1, 2011)

AS the clock struck midnight on December 31, 2010, celebrations began all over the world in different forms and shapes to usher in the year 2011.
Although the new year comes with both hope and uncertainties over what the future holds, it offers mankind the opportunity to cherish the memories of the previous year, learn from its mistakes and make resolutions to make life better.
For us in Ghana, 2010 went down as one of the most exciting and challenging years. It was the year in which the country witnessed the commercial production of oil, in which the senior national team became the third African country to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup, in which the Black Satellites won the FIFA-under 20 World Cup and in which the attainment of a middle-income status became a reality.
Also, the managers of the economy succeeded in stabilising the cedi, reducing inflation to a single digit and reducing the lending rate. The nation also witnessed an impressive food production and set in motion a number of initiatives to deal with the myriad of problems in the health, education, housing and road sectors.
Ghanaians ended the year united as a people with a common destiny, upholding the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance to the admiration of the watching world.
Notwithstanding the successes, challenges of poverty, unemployment, hunger and squalor continue to confront us as a nation.
As we welcome the new year, the DAILY GRAPHIC looks forward to good things happening all over the world and, particularly, to Ghana. We expect to see a marked reduction in all troubles in the world — natural disasters, terrorism, hunger and famine.
We look forward with hope that our development engagement in the country will be fast-tracked on all fronts.
President John Evans Atta Mills has already given the signals that the year 2011 will be full of action. In his New Year message, the President was very optimistic and confident that there would be massive improvement in the country’s development.
It is instructive to add that the vision and purposefulness of the government to build a strong, united nation, and improve the lives of Ghanaians could only manifest if we spend a lot more time looking for things that unite us than those which divide us.
If we devote much attention to things that unite us than those which separate us from one another, we would appreciate that Ghana is a blessed country.
Indeed our enemies are not the people with different ideologies or views but rather the poverty, squalor, hunger, diseases and general under-development that manifest themselves in many parts of the country.
We are hopeful Ghanaians will witness unstoppable favour in the year 2011. As we welcome the year, we urge all Ghanaians to continue to work hard for prosperity, since no nation has failed from working hard but many nations have collapsed because of laziness.
The DAILY GRAPHIC also hopes that the resources which would be made available from the commercial production of oil and other economic activities will be managed well for the common good of the people.
Even as we wish all Ghanaians a Happy and Prosperous New Year, we ask every Tom, Dick and Harry to put all hands on deck to build a prosperous nation. For, together we swim or sink.