Mentioning national cohesion and leadership as some of the ways through which the country could be developed, Prof. Akosa, who is also a board member of the Mobilising Old Students for Educational Support (MOSES) Foundation Ghana, said currently, there was no opportunity to build national leadership.

“The lack of transformational leadership is one of the major banes of our society,” he stated.

Prof. Akosa made the remarks at the inauguration of the board of the MOSES Foundation Ghana, a global old students leadership institute that sought to mobilise old students in building national cohesion for educational development.

The five-member board has the Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission, Dr Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, as its Chairman and the other members being Prof. Akosa, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey; an energy expert and Executive Director of the Kumasi Institute of Technology and Environment, Ishmael Agyekumhene and the President of the foundation, Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo.

Schools rivalry

Touching on the relevance of the foundation, Prof. Akosa, who was speaking on behalf of the board chairman said, he had always wondered how the rivalry and banter among schools could be used for real national cohesion and support the educational sector.

Citing the National Science and Maths Quiz competition and the Inter-Colleges sporting events for second cycle schools as programmes that old students of various second cycle schools threw their weight behind their alma maters, he said, such energies from the old students could be harnessed for the advancement of the educational sector and also to build national leadership.

“There are rivalry between schools and it will continue for ages. The old student platform is the only platform that whether you are a muslim or christian, your ethnicity or political affiliation did not matter,” he explained.

He commended the MOSES Foundation Ghana for using the old students platform to harness national cohesion and build up support not only for any individual alma mater but for the educational sector in the country.

Explaining what the foundation was about, Mr Azongo said it was established to provide leadership in building national cohesion based on old students solidarity and advocacy in mobilising old students support for sustainable educational development in the country and to inspire global leadership excellence in schools in the country.