A professor of Leadership and Management at the Academic City University College has decried what he describes as the silence of the country's youth on bad leadership in the country.

Prof. Enoch Opoku Antwi says bad governance and leadership are destroying the country but the youth whose future is been jeopardised have been too quiet. He wants them to use non-violent means to get their voices heard.

The Associate Dean of Business Administration and Communication Arts at the University made this call when he spoke to Joy News at the maiden edition of the George Ayittey Memorial Awards organised by the Africa Center for Entrepreneurship and Youth Empowerment (ACEYE).

“When the youth rise up and say that enough is enough, I’m not saying coup d'etat is good but I’m saying the youth must have a say in building for the future because the future belongs to them.

"When we have a quiet youth that is not challenging the status quo and they sit and they are also not doing their part in changing their world, then we have a problem,” he said.

He continued, “So I ask the youth that the future belongs to you and Professor Ayittey saw it and he started engaging the youth. Non-violent demonstration is important.

"We should do non-violent demonstrations. Demonstration is your right and not only demonstrations but open forums at the universities to talk about issues.

"So I expect the youth to talk about issues because the lenses that they use to see things are different from the lenses that the older generation use to see things.”

The George Ayittey Memorial Awards is to celebrate and keep the legacy of the late Ghanaian author and economist, Prof. George Ayittey.

It seeks to honour outstanding individuals who embody the spirit of fighting for economic freedom, individual liberty, and entrepreneurship, the core values championed by Dr. George Ayittey.

Co-founder and CEO of ACEYE, Emmanuel Acquah said the Awards also seek to honour and put the many living George Ayitteys in the spotlight for the youth to learn from them.

“George Ayittey has passed on but his legacy still remains. It is very important for us an organisation, a free market think tank to also identify the many George Ayitteys that we have in the society and bring young people closer to them so that they can also get inspired, learn from them and tap into their knowledge and wisdom.

"It’s not always about attacking people whose actions adversely affect society,” the co-founder and CEO of ACEYE said.

On his part, Programs Director at Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Dr. Joseph Darmoe observed that Ghana has not taken advantage of the many unique economic solutions espoused by the late Prof. George Ayittey and hence continues to wallow in underdevelopment.

He said, “he [Prof. George Ayittey] understands the society. He understood how we can design policies reflecting on the dynamics and expectations of the Africans.

We can use those things to help our continent as a country. These are some of the resources that we should use and he is not the only one.”

Some distinguished personalities who picked various awards at the ceremony include Lawyer Martin Kpebu for his contributions to the justice delivery system in the country.

Former Multimedia journalists, Seth Kwame Boateng and Manasseh Azure Awuni whose works have caused a major shake-up in the areas of corruption and healthcare including others were honoured for their contributions to society.