A Lecturer of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Reverend Professor Augustine Abasi, has stated that unless Africans change their attitudes by exploring and working hard to become self-reliant, they would continue to beg from foreigners. He said this when he delivered a public lecture on the topic:"Emancipation" on Thursday, June 28, 2007 in Bolgatanga organised by the Ghana Tourist Board to highlight some of the activities planned for the celebration of this year's Emancipation Day scheduled to be launched in July this year. The lecturer said that there were a lot of untapped resources on the African continent and suggested that Africans in the Diaspora and Africans who were rich in the continent could contribute to the tapping of these resources for their own development instead of relying on foreigners. Mentioning Joseph in the Scriptures who was sold by his brothers, Professor Abasi said, he had to forgive and help them when they were in dire need. He therefore urged Africans living in the Diaspora to emulate Joseph by contributing to the development of Ghana and the entire continent. In her welcoming address, the Upper East Regional Manager of the Tourist Board, Mary Agangmikre, said the celebration of the event this year under the theme; "Emancipation, Our Heritage, Our Strength and Honoring Our African Heroes" was aimed at consistently developing a unique sense of unity, cooperation and understanding among Africans on the continent and the Diaspora. Ms. Agangmikre announced that unlike previous celebrations, which were only marked in Assin Manso and Cape Coast, this year, there would be a pilgrimage on slave routes, starting from Northern Ghana down to the South as a prelude to the main celebration. She explained that the extension of the pilgrimage to the north was considered paramount because that was where most of the slaves were captured from and sent to the south in transit. She pointed out that there were a lot of landmarks and relics, including the Gwollu Defence Wall in the Upper West, the Pikworo slave camp and Fiisa Shrine in the Upper East, the Nalerigu Defense Wall, the Sakpuli and the Salaga Slave Markets all in the Northern Region. Participants at the forum called for the need to build monuments in the villages where slaves were captured and name them after them to serve as history to posterity. They appealed to parents to use traditional folktale in teaching their children at their leisure time instead of allowing them to watch indecent foreign cultures on television and the Internet. Source: GNA