The thought by many Ghanaians that success in life depended on going to overseas is just an erroneous impression, Mr. Kwaku Sintim-Missah, a humour therapist said on Friday.
The mentality that one must travel abroad to either Europe or America before one could be wealthy, prosperous and successful resulted from the failure of the individual to identify his or her talent, nurture it to the level of expertise and market appropriately, he said.
Mr.Sintim-Missah who was delivering a talk on irregular migration in Sunyani said; "it can be made in Ghana" provided there were the passion and
self-belief which were the basic and vital ingredients that served as the pedestal for achievers and icons.
The talk, organised by the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the Catholic University College of Ghana (CUCG), in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) formed part of a three- month (May-July 2009) campaign against irregular migration programme launched by the IOM on April 29 at Techiman in Brong Ahafo.
The programme jointly funded by the European Commission (EC) and the Italian Government was under the theme: "facilitating a coherent migration management approach in Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Libya by promoting legal migration and preventing further irregular migration".
It was aimed at sanitizing the participants, mostly students from the CUCG, Saint James Seminary/Senior High School at Abesim near Sunyani, Saint Don Bosco Vocational/Technical Institute at Odumase, also near Sunyani and the general public on the dangers of irregular/illegal migration.
Mr. Sintim-Missah pointed out that; "there was something wrong with our thinking because we are crying that we are broke and it is not possible to make it in Ghana so everyone wants to go abroad but the Indians and Lebanese, so far as the private sector is concerned are controlling the commanding heights of the Ghanaian economy".
"It is no wonder therefore that the Club of 100 successful Ghanaian Businesses" were mostly foreign owned with just a few of them belonging to Ghanaians, he said, stressing that' if it was impossible to be successful in Ghana, non-Ghanaians would not have been able to operate their companies successfully.
Wealth, prosperity and success were not located abroad, they could be found everywhere in the world when with the right mentality, the correct approach devoid of procrastination and laziness was taken, he stressed.
Mr. Sintim-Missah said Ghana was endowed with abundant natural resources ranging from congenial, suitable climatic conditions, fertile soil and all kinds of valuable minerals, including the recently discovered crude oil in commercial quantities.
He added coupled with the dynamic youth, understanding and love for peace, the country only needed to have bold and visionary leaders at the helm of affairs and any Ghanaian with the right thinking and direction could lead worthy life at home.
Mr. Sintim-Missah however, explained that the campaign was not to dissuade anyone from travelling abroad because migration was not a bad thing in itself but it must have to be done in a dignified way.
He added that, through the regular and legal means of migration, the psychological stress as a result of being hunted by immigration authorities was avoided but that was also not necessary a guarantee for wealth and prosperity.
He therefore, urged the people to identify their God-given talents, strengths and capabilities and develop them, saying wealth generally emanates from effective development and application of those innate qualities alongside a great sense of purpose and hard work.
Mr. Sintim-Missah said; "the real tragedy of life is not that each of us does not have enough strength but we fail to use the strengths we have, so the issue of success relies on the application and misapplication of our strengths and talents".