One of my favourite stories is about a little boy whose father trained horses for a living. Because of his father's job, the boy's family travelled from town to town, working with different horse owners, never for longer than a year.

This meant that the young boy kept being moved from school to school year after year. One day, in yet another high school in yet another town, the boy's teacher gave him an assignment to write about the job he is most likely to have when he grows up.

The boy spent ages writing a loving description of his dream horse ranch. He described the rolling fields, the apple orchard, the hay barns and stables, the big trucks and strong, gallant, well trained horses. He even described the people who would work for him, giving them imaginary names and job titles. Finally, he drew a picture to illustrate the three dimensions of his big dream.

His teacher gave him a C-minus and added a short note: "I'll give you an A tomorrow if you write a more realistic report".

The next day, the boy brought back the same report with no changes, except for a short note of his own: "Keep your aid and I'll keep my dream".

Today, that boy is the owner of one of the biggest ranches in the world, with over 500 horses and 10,000 cows. The ranch spans about 20,000 acres, and has over 1000 oil producing wells. In 2001, the ranch was listed on the real estate market with a value of over 700 million dollars.

My friends, dreams are as precious as diamonds and as delicate as eggs. They need careful handling and protection from those who seek to crush them. And believe me, there are many of such people in your life. Those who have no dream of their own, those whose dream is for your dream to be shattered, and - the most dangerous of all - those whose own dreams have been shattered.

I remember when I used to travel on "Temporary Boggaship" to England during University long vacations. My host was a "permanent Bogga" with 20 years on the clock. He had spent all those years as a cleaner, so when I told him I was applying for a job as an assistant manager in a shopping centre, he collapsed with laughter. He stopped laughing when I got the job. In fact, he was so un-amused that he threw me out after my first day at work. "Now you are a big man, you can rent your own place", he said.

Please remember your unique value and protect yourself from dream vultures who are just out to kill your vision. Let them say what they will. The one way to silence them is to achieve it, so you have no choice but to succeed.

My name is Kojo Yankson, and my dream is growing too fast and too strong for anyone to kill it.

GOOD MORNING, GHANAFO!