THE Deputy Registrar in charge of Academic Affairs of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Dr Adam B. T. Zakariah, has suggested to the government to set aside a greater percentage of the oil revenue as a special education fund.
Such a fund, he said, could be used to provide educational facilities and infrastructure in deprived regions, districts and local communities in order to ensure equitable distribution of educational opportunities.
Delivering a paper on the topic: “Overview of Ghana’s draft oil and gas revenue bill: Issues and challenges for policy advocacy,” Dr Zakariah noted that the fund could be run separately or as part of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETfund) with the aim of ensuring the overall quality of life of the people.
The deputy registrar stated this during a multi-stakeholder youth forum in Tamale on oil and gas policy advocacy and governance programme in Ghana.
It was on the theme: “Promoting citizens-government engagement for good governance in the management of Ghana’s oil and gas resources for sustainable national development; the role of civil society.”
The forum was organised by the Youth Action on Reproductive Order (YARO), a non-governmental organisation.
Dr Zakariah stressed the need for research and advocacy as a strategy to mount surveillance on the oil and gas industry to ensure that the required structures, including legal and financial regulations, were rigidly adhered to.
“I advocate for a strong oil watch that should include research into operations, gains and disbursement of the oil funds and the effect of the oil revenue on the quality of life of the citizenry,” he pointed out.
According to him, there was the need to work out strategies and mutually acceptable relationships and agreements between the government and the people within the geographical locations in Ghana where oil production was to take place.
“Where there is corruption, the gains of the oil revenue do not benefit the people and the national economy; the attraction to oil production by corruption is a very disturbing phenomenon,” Dr Zakariah observed.
The Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Mr San Nasamu Asabigi, called on the youth in northern Ghana to pursue oil and gas courses in order to take advantage of the oil and gas opportunities.
“The government is committed to ensuring that the youth benefit from activities in the oil and gas industry through participation, ownership, operations, control and management of the oil sector,” Mr Asabigi stated.
The Executive Director of YARO, Mr Hajei Benin, announced that the organisation and the Ghana Research and Advocacy Programme had embarked on a series of policy education and advocacy programmes for the three northern regions.
He explained that the fora sought to create a platform for the youth and civil society groups to participate in the ongoing discussions on the emerging oil and gas industry by articulating the views of the youth.
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