Professor John Atta Mills, sworn into office in Accra last Wednesday, repeated in Lagos on Sunday his promise to use his country's resources, among them newly discovered crude oil, for the benefit of the citizens. He reiterated that the foundation for the stable political and economic growth now enjoyed by Ghana was laid more than two decades ago by former President Jerry Rawlings, a member of his National Democratic Congress (NDC). Atta Mills spoke to reporters at the Synagogue Church for all Nations in Ikotun, Lagos (Pastored by Temitope B. Joshua) where he went for a thanksgiving service over his electoral victory in which he trumped the candidate of the ruling party, a rare occurrence on the African continent. He acknowledged that Ghana, which returned to democratic governance in 1992, was in dire condition which made its nationals to flee to other countries, including Nigeria, before its steady rise. He applauded the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), led by Rawlings, for the turn of events. Said he: "Credit must be given to the PNDC at the time, which took over from the Liman government, for the foundation it laid - the economic recovery programmes. There were other initiatives that were taken in order to lay a solid foundation for a strong and robust economy. "In the early 80s, we were recording negative growth. Inflation was more than 100 per cent. But at the time the NDC was leaving office, we were recording between four and five per cent economic growth and inflation had been brought down to 40 and 30 per cent. "A number of initiatives had been taken. So, when the (John) Kufuor government came, it was a much stronger economy. I must confess that they have improved on what we met." Atta Mills argued that every election should produce leaders through a credible process, and that problems arise only when the reverse is the case. "Very often, we speak of free, fair and transparent elections. But some people just say it. They rarely mean it. If elections are free and fair, I don't see why you cannot accept it if you are declared the loser; because when you go to such a contest, you are either a winner or a loser. "And when you are a winner you must be magnanimous in victory and when you are a loser, you take it as a brave person." He said African leaders must learn to put the interest of the people first so that other things would naturally fall in place. "This is my third time of contesting. The first time I conceded, the second time I did, even though there were serious problems. I found out at the time that if I hadn't conceded defeat, we could have had some problems in the country. "I would like to be remembered as a President who used the resources of his country for the benefit of the people of the country and who provided equal opportunities for all irrespective of political affiliations or their ethnic backgrounds." Atta Mills later told reporters at the Murtala International Airport, Lagos on his way back to Ghana that "Africa has taken a stand against coups, so the one in Guinea is strongly condemned, but there are mitigating factors and because the conditions were such that we think there is a need for us to help the Guinean people come back to normalcy, democracy. "ECOWAS is going to have those in authority to go back to democracy. It appeared that the Head of State who died and the institution in existence were not strong enough to ensure continuity." Source: Vanguard Nigeria