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Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic �I Have a Dream Speech� which brought together approximately over 250,000 Black Americans to demonstration against segregation from the Whites. 50 years after the famous speech, former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Adenta constituency, Kojo Adu-Asare says his version of the �I Have a Dream� speech to Ghanaians is to see a �Better Ghana Development�. He bemoaned that, �his heart bleeds to watch Ghana and its industrial opportunities collapse� under politicians who only seek power but do not focus on Ghana�s development. According to him, Ghana is the beacon of HOPE of the reemergence of the renaissance of the African Identity through sound Socio-Economic developmental agenda. Below is the full unedited script of Kojo Adu Asare's version of �I Have a Dream� speech on his Facebook. I HAVE A DREAM I have a dream of a Country called Ghana, situated within three Francophone Countries and the Gulf of Guinea, the brightest Star of the West Coast of Africa and the Beacon of HOPE of the re- emergence of the renaissance of the African Identity through sound Socio-Economic developmental agenda. I dream of a Country that has its Leaders (at all levels) believing in the collective responsibilities of all successes and failures since all experiments are bound to experience some successes and failures. A country that will continue to sacrifice it's luxury to build a formidable educational systems that will not only reward academic achievements but will also give attention to educating its people to be Patriotic and Civil, imbued with Positive Societal norms, Cultures and Traditions which underpin the very fabric of our nation. Without which a nation will be on Cruise Control. I dream of a nation that has the issue Housing it's people as its priority, since in my opinion that is the basis of all the Corrupt practices in our Nation, where every Tom, Dick and Harry is finding 'ways and means' to purchase a land to build a house whether or not they have the legitimate means so to do. If we had a law that bestows the right to land ownership to our traditional councils but administered by a government agency with proper layouts and planned with the future in mind where population growth-rate statistics will be factored in the design of roads and other infrastructural facilities. (The Tema Development Company example). Where new Communities are well designed and built with considerable levels of social amenities in place whereas old Communities are upgraded with amenities that befits the status of a country with plight of THE PEOPLE at heart and educating people in such communities on how to manage sanitation issues. A country where simple and affordable one/two bed-room houses, like the ones in Soweto, South-Africa, with Bore-holes and Solar-powered Electricity on top of each house, and a community bio-gas facility generated from human waste used for cooking and other things, which will effectively reduce pressure from the national grid and free some energy for Industrial uses, are built to house rural folks. Which will in turn reduce the rural/urban migration that puts a strain on our economy. I dream of a country where the design and construction of roads will not end after spreading Laterite on it, without a drainage system in place, but will end with a well done bitumen/ granite surface with about ten to fifteen year life span, which will not require a yearly re-graveling and re-surfacing after each rainy season. Where this will apply to most urban communities in the country. I dream of a Country whose Youth will be the focus of attention in finding solutions to challenges that confront us now, and the solutions to the future of our Nation. I dream of the days that governments will pay attention to Project works and Theses that are gathering dust on the shelves of Research Institutes, where employment generation will not only be focused on government creating jobs, but rather supporting Ideas that can be translated into lucrative self-employment businesses. The youth possess the ideas that can help make the future of our Nation great and I believe they should be given the opportunity to revive the own future. With a little training and start-up capital, some youth may be attracted to take on Agriculture, be it Livestock, poultry, cash crop or crop farming, others may go into food processing, packaging, distribution etc. others could be assisted to write textbooks, teaching materials and cartoon softwares that apply to our own cultures and traditions instead of the foreign ones, some of which carry influences that we may not subscribe to. I have a dream that hopes to see the revival of our one-time very buoyant FURNITURE industry that use to employ a substantial number of Ghanaians, which we have slowly MURDERED as a nation in favor of Cheap Imported Foreign Furniture. My million dollar question to my fellow Nationals is, if the countries we import these furniture from, had chosen to import their furniture instead of the technology, could they have been able to develop the industry that makes their finishing look so good even though not as durable as ours since we have quality wood than them. My heart bleeds to watch this industry collapse folks, because this is an industry that use to employ several hundreds of thousands of people some of whom are now competing for security jobs with all the skills they have acquired, a revival of this industry will generate more revenue for the Country, right from the purchase of wood and accessories like nails, hinges, glue, sandpaper, screws, door locks, leather, drawer railings, upholstery fabrics, lacquers, thinners, etc. just to mention a few, plus the services of drivers and truck owners, to the loaders not to mention the providers of food service to this industry, the rippling effect is so huge. Today, if government decides that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies including MMDA's should purchase only made in Ghana furniture, (except swivel chairs which we can develop over a period if we start now), we will be on our way to the recovery of this extinct industry. Why should we be exporting the best species of our Timber abroad and spend twice that amount to import Furniture from the same people, Even the law that bans our chain saw operators from felling wood but gives way to timber-jacks to drag a log of timber from a distance of 2-3 kilometers destroying every seedling of timber on its way to the roadside before transportation is preferred to the chain saw operator who will fell the timber, slice it into beams, carry them one by one, select his steps before getting to the roadside. Folks tell me which one among these two scenarios is depleting the forest, but the former is rather the legitimate license holders to market wood to buyers which they don't, because the export market is bigger and more lucrative so they don't service the local market with quality wood species as the requires of them. The few Carpenters we have around still end up buying 'smuggled' wood from the same 'banned' chain saw operators. What an irony! I also have a dream of a moment in Ghana where all or most of the denims (jeans) we wear in Ghana are made here in Ghana from our own grown cotton plantations. Go to our university campuses, social gatherings, stadia, shopping malls, even Churches and u find about two-thirds of the people in jeans, a lot of foreign exchange going out to purchase them, is anybody listening, food for thought for our youth. We have abundance of tracts of lands up north that is good for the cultivation of cotton, even if not for export, at least we can use it locally to boost our own industry in the fabric and textile sector. Nigeria for instance has banned the importation of used clothing and also some types of clothing with a view to revamp their own textile and tailoring industry. That agenda is paying of a lot as we can all witness how they are preserving their tradition through legislations. Our Ghanaian politicians have started copying the style of dressing of their Senators and Governors. Oh Ghana! To the extent that we send our measurements all the way to Nigeria and have these clothes made and sent to us? (Job creation on my mind). Growing up as a boy in Kotobabi, and carrying my shoeshine box around in search of whoever will call me to polish their shoes for some coins, I came across a few garment factories around town who made uniform for our various Corporations, Companies etc. that alone created jobs for our youth then. these Companies are now defunct, but if government again decides to re-introduce uniforms for our Ministries, Department and Agencies, the Military, Police, Customs, Immigration, Prisons, Fire Service etc, and decide to sew them here in Ghana, one can imagine how much foreign exchange we will be saving and the jobs we will be creating for our youth. To the extent that today, Ghanaians even import Burglar proof and weak Staircase railing s into this Country beats my imagination, where did this Locally Acquired Foreign Taste (LAFT) come from, any way this is the first part of my series, I HAVE A DREAM. May the Good Lord shower his blessing on this dream as we hope for a dream come true. I wish all my Moslem friends an Eid Mubarak and a big Barka Da Sallah. Cheers!