He said the country had had laudable policies and plans over the years, which could propel even development but leaders’ inability to be consistent in implementation retarded development.

He said, “Before the economic recovery programme, Ghana was referred to as an advanced nation having industries and manufacturing goods, but discontinuity of ideas creates the gap.”

Prof. Al-hassan was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 17th edition of the two-day Harmattan School organised by the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research (IIR) of the UDS in Tamale.

The Harmattan School is an annual event that mobilises stakeholders to discuss the challenges of the northern part of the country as well as the way forward.

This year’s event was on the theme: “Bridging the Development Gap: Prospects and Challenges of the Northern Development Authority.”

Prof. Al-hassan said the absence of goals also accounted for the development gap in the country saying, unlike the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there were no goals targeted at bridging Ghana’s development gaps.

He added that, “The challenges of Northern Ghana have been identified, discussed, described qualitatively and we know those affected but we do not set targets.”

He observed that the country’s leaders endeavoured to block feedback channels thereby, resisting criticism that could enhance changes that would lead to development.

He described them as sad challenges that hindered development and made it difficult for the north to match up the development of the south.