"YOU only achieve small things if you think and dream about small things but you can achieve big things if you think and dream about big things and put your mind to them.” The above statement was emphatically made by Mahamudu Bawumia, running mate of the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo yesterday. He made this statement to buttress the point that the seemingly big vision of Nana Akufo-Addo which he (Nana) has been explaining throughout his electioneering campaign, is achievable if the nation sets its mind to it. He said once the right mechanisms and reforms are put in place, every thing can be achieved especially, with the right frame of mind. Dr Bawumia made these pronouncements when he paid a courtesy visit to the offices of The Statesman to interact with the staff and familiarise himself with activities that are undertaken there. “We are poised to help Nana to achieve all the great ideas that he has outlined and by God's grace we will achieve them,” he further assured. The NPP Vice Presidential candidate asserted that because a very solid foundation had already been laid by the NPP Government under President Kufuor, Nana Addo's government would put the necessary structures in place to ensure that the youth of this country are well educated and trained to continue to move the nation forward. Dr Bawumia, 44, believes the youth will be major players in the quest to actualize Nana Addo’s vision. “We the youth in the country have a major responsibility to ensure that the confidence Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reposed in us by choosing a youth as his running mate brings greater benefits to this country.” He said all the political parties are preaching development as they campaign for votes at the forthcoming general elections. But there is a crucial difference between Ghana under the P/NDC, and the NPP. “It is a different ball game to have development in freedom as pertains in our country today where a level paying field has been offered to all individuals and entities to operate in, and when every thing, from civil society to the media were kept under tight rein and were not free to develop in freedom, as the NPP believes in.” According to Dr. Bawumia, a renowned economist and until recently, Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, “Every government will want to have development, which is okay, but what we the NPP stand for is not just development, but development in freedom.” The youthful running mate of Nana Addo was delighted about the fact that most of the employees of The Statesman could be classified as part of the youth, and encouraged them to work hard. He indicated that he, and indeed Ghanaians, recognise the contribution of The Statesman towards the entrenchment of freedom of speech in the country and asked the entire staff to keep up the fight to nurture the country’s nascent democracy to maturity. The Editor and the General Manager of The Statesman, Frank Agyei-Twum and Annaliza Agyare respectively, who received Dr. Bawumia and his entourage, and took them round the various departments, expressed their gratitude to the august visitors and wished the running mate success in all his endeavours. Mrs Agyare underscored that as an organization the staff of which are made up of the youth, they were excited that the NPP flagbearer had chosen Dr Bawumia, who is himself young, to partner him to contest the December 7 elections. “We at The Statesman will continue to assist Dr Bawumia’s team, the NPP and the country at large to achieve greater development in freedom”, she added. A member of Dr Bawumia’s team, Yoofi Grant, also urged the paper to continue putting out the right kind of information to make the elections issues-based and not violence or just political talk. He said, “The best message should reach the people and not just the pedestrian political talks.” He said there was the need to deal with the real issues and that accounted for the reason why Nana Akufo-Addo and his campaign team had been focusing on education and also inspiring the youth because “it is very important to have a well educated youth who will rather use their brains than their strength to advance the cause of the country.” “We have the capacity, capability, and power to face our opponents, but we think we should rather deal with the issues at stake and not violence”, he added. Also among Dr Bawumia’s entourage was the NPP National Youth Organiser John Boadu and others.