A former National Security Advisor, Brigadier General (Rtd) Nunoo Mensah has warned that Ghana risks becoming like Burkina Faso or Northern Nigeria if the living conditions of the poor in the country are not improved.
He pointed out that the root cause of the Boko Haram menace in Northern Nigeria and recent political upheavals in Burkina Faso is poverty which also seems pervasive in Ghana.
Some security experts have also hinted of the possibility of some Ghanaian youth joining the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram because of their poverty situation.
[contextly_sidebar id=”JbFomYFNCjsMqap0WAwbIQCrumqnBe3F”]In an interview with Citi News, the two-time Chief of Defense Staff was of the opinion that Ghana seems not to have learnt anything from the June 4 uprising; an event he condemned.
He recalled that the day before the June 4 uprising was very peaceful, “I went to bed and then June 4 there was mayhem. There will be no sign that something is going to happen.”
He warned that despite the existing peace in the country, a possible uprising could be in the offing and will take the nation by surprise.
Nunoo Mensah said the existence of an Unemployed Graduates Association in Ghana is very dangerous because over time, the frustrations of the unemployed graduates will be heightened which will lead to anger and a possible violence.
“Why should you be unemployed when you are a graduate?” he asked, adding that, “can you remain unemployed all your life? It will make you angry.”
He therefore, admonished government and community leaders to “work to make people feel that they are also Ghanaians and they are part of Ghana.”
“We don’t need to have some Ghanaians who are very rich and some very poor. That is very dangerous,” he advised.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana