Ms Josephine Nkrumah, the Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) says unity and national cohesion are key ingredients to achieving accelerated and sustainable development in Ghana.

She implored all Ghanaians to work towards creating an atmosphere that bred tolerance, peace, national unity and cohesion to ensure that the commitment to develop the country yielded positive results.

Ms Nkrumah made the call at Gambaga in the North East Region when she interacted with staff and pupils of Zobzia Basic School as part of the 2021 Citizenship Week celebration.

It was on the theme, "We are one, Ghana First."

Ms Nkrumah said political and religious intolerance and ethnocentrism had become a major setback to the country's collective development especially in recent times and there was the need to imbibe in Ghanaians values that fostered peace and unity.

"We know that every time we come out of an election, there is a deepening sense of party lines, we are also aware of the secessionists movement that is growing in some of the regions of Ghana and so it is as a result of some of these things and to entrench our democracy that we intend to promote, foster peace and national cohesion," she said.

She entreated Ghanaians to resonate the spirit of oneness, patriotism and nationalism to accelerate development and entrench the democratic credentials of the country.

"One of the dividends of democracy is development but there can be no development without peace, even if you have all the natural resources in the world and so, we want Ghanaians to appreciate that oneness, togetherness and unity is what will drive us forward," she reiterated.

Ms Nkrumah said the potentials of diversity in political, ethnic and religious beliefs should be harnessed for collective development instead of creating divisions in the country.

She urged the pupils to be patriotic, inculcate the spirit of peaceful coexistence and work hard to contribute to strengthening the harmony in the country.

The Chairman reiterated the Commission's commitment to carrying out its civic education to rally Ghanaians towards promoting peace and national cohesion for collective development.

She encouraged the children to be disciplined and hardworking to build good characters critical for national development.

Mr Wilberforce Zangina, the Acting North East Regional Director of the NCCE urged the pupils to be proud of their country and its values.