The Osu Mantse, Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, has called on the government and other stakeholders committed to halting cyber fraud in the country to find innovative ways to redirect the energies and talents of the youth involved in the Internet fraud, which is also known as “Sakawa’ into profitable ventures.
He said it was evident that the youth involved in this cyber fraud had become acquainted with the Internet and its use, hence the need to ensure that their talents were put to productive use through proper direction.
Nii Dowuona was speaking to the Daily Graphic on the vision he has for the people of Osu, especially the youth and women. He said: “We must capture their interests very early, develop them to become the Bill Gates of Ghana.
We are in the era of information and communication technology and the nation must ensure that its youth are placed at a vantage position to be able to compete with their counterparts in India and the developed world.“
This will bring an unimaginable foreign exchange to supplement what the fast depleting natural resources such as gold,timber,among others, were yielding for the economy,” he added.
In recent times many youth have been arrested for practising cyber fraud. Some of these youth resort to the use of magical powers to lure their culprits to send huge sums of money to them.
The situation has culminated in the ministries of Education and Communications, some parents and the Association of Internet Service Providers endeavouring to find a lasting solution to the problem.
At the same time, in their bid to provide exemplary leadership, some youthful ministers of state have urged the youth to emulate the young ministers and refrain from such negative acts.
Nii Dowuona suggested that instead of allowing the youth to enter Internet cafes for such bad practices, the government could build huge Internet cafes, employ experts who would identify the talents of such youth and nurture them for the benefit of the society.
He said this, together with other measures being proposed or being implemented, would in the long run turn the ‘Sakawa’ business, which was tarnishing the country’s hard won reputation, and place it on the world radar as one of the high risk countries in cyber fraud.
On his plans for the community, he said his vision was to make Osu’s contribution to the national economy to be recognised.
Nii Dowuona said as a first step, he was working to ensure that the meagre royalties that accrued to the Osu stool was computerised and managed properly for the benefit of the stool and its people.
He said plans were afoot to establish a long term educational and vocational training complex to educate the youth, including the females who drop out of school, and equip them with employable skills.
He said at the same centre, those who had developed keen interest in sports, particularly football, would be encouraged to form football clubs and with support from other stakeholders assist them to manage such clubs.
This, Nii Dowuona said, would enable them to refrain from participating in other anti-social activities while at the same time acquiring employable skills to take care of themselves.
“This would be like killing two birds with one stone; encouraging them to develop their sporting talents and be productive citizens at the same time,” Nii Dowuona said.
He expressed worry that although women in the area were hardworking in nature and had over the years shown great zeal to expand their trades, all their efforts had come to naught due to lack of capital and management skills.
He said his plan was to encourage the women to form co-operatives in order to to be offered credit facilities in the form of soft loans, and educated on how to manage the resources, save and repay in time while making some profits.
“I still do not understand why at this time of our development, mothers would lose their lives when they are giving birth,” he added.
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