The former First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Freddie Blay, has observed that the loss of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the 2008 general elections was a blessing in disguise which he predicted will strengthen the party to win future polls. The NPP’s painful defeat during the runoff, he noted, offered Ghanaians the opportunity to differentiate between a bad and good government. The development, he noted, presented the current flag-bearer of the party the chance to appreciate more the challenges confronting persons at the grassroots in order to formulate good policies and programmes to address their concerns upon assumption of power. Hon. Blay, who was addressing tertiary students of the University of Development Studies (UDS), Nyankpala Campus, Tamale, over the weekend, urged them to stand firm and fight for the party as he lauded Nana Akufo Addo for embarking on the nationwide listening tour. The nationwide tour, he explained, would enable the flag-bearer to input the concerns and contributions of the ordinary citizenry into his plan of action. Hon. Blay, a lawyer of several years standing, paid tribute to the largest opposition party, describing it as a political grouping whose eight years at the helm was exceptional. The party’s performance during its two terms in power was of sterling quality as the volume of the country’s economy was moved from 3,000 to over 18 billion dollars. Hon. Blay pointed out that during the aforementioned period, the NPP rolled out policies whose positive repercussions cut across the length and breadth of the country. Ghana, he observed, was at a crossroads, a position which he added meant a lot for the country’s youth and those of the next generation as Nana Akufo Addo readied himself to take over the mantle of leadership. Nana’s clear vision, he described, called for the support of the youth and students as a matter of necessity as according to him, this would move the country forward faster through sound and well considered policies in education, industrialization, job creation and unity among Ghanaians. Associating with the vision of Nana should not be done as a matter of convenience but more of patriotism and national necessity, he said. He urged the youth to die a little, go the extra mile and be determined to ensure that nobody took away from them their future by betting right for better living conditions for all Ghanaians, regardless of where they came from. Nana’s victory for 2012, he said, was an idea whose time had come and the realization of which could not be stopped by political intrigues. The three years of the lethargy which had characterized the tenure of President Mills so far, he said, should be stopped in 2012 because Ghana deserved far better than the country has had so far. The regional secretary of the NPP, Dr. Braimah Clifford, accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of skewing the formation of the new districts in its favour, but indicated that they were bound to fail. Dr. Braimah further challenged the NDC government to show records indicating that it had secured funding from the African Development Bank (ADB) for the construction of the Sawla-Damongo-Fufulso road, as professed. The party’s scribe noted that the 2012 elections were very critical to the NPP and warned activists against complacency even though it was clear the NPP was in the lead. He appealed to the rank and file of the party to police ballot boxes very well, emphasizing that Nana Addo would win the elections and it behoved them to be part of the winning team. Hon. Blay, who was guest of honour at the event, also took time to interact with the Western Region Students Association of the UDS. Ogbamey Selby, TESCON President for UDS, Nyankpala Campus, commended Hon. Blay for making time to interact with students, describing the feat as worth emulating by other leaders.