By Kofi Thompson
Your average Ghanaian is aspirational. For example, home ownership is a goal that most Ghanaians work towards.
Education is also highly valued by Ghanaians - for the life-changing opportunities and empowerment it provides those who acquire it.
And depending on their religion, Ghanaians, who are invariably well-dressed, wear their very best clothes to church on Sundays, and when celebrating major Islamic festivals.
It is this desire to better themselves that is one of the main reasons why most Ghanaians value the peace and stability their country enjoys.
It is also one of the reasons why the vast majority of Ghanaians have embraced multi-party democracy - which has become an important part of virtually every Ghanaian's life.
Perhaps those who say that the real winners of this year's presidential and parliamentary elections, are the people of Ghana and their nation, do have a point indeed.
And as we enter the new year, one hopes that all the members of our nation's political class will resolve to work more closely together, to help put Ghana on a path that will turn it into an efficiently-run and prosperous nation.
Above all, one wishes the hard-working people of Ghana, their nation and all its leaders a happy holiday season.
And may the year 2013 be yet another peaceful year, for the Ghanaian nation-state and all its citizens. Long may it remain peaceful and stable - and continue to be a shining example to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.
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