First lady's profile

By Musah Yahaya Jafaru

MRS Ernestina Naadu Mills is the First Lady of Ghana. She is, by extension, the third First Lady of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.
Mrs Mills is an educationist, marriage counsellor and an advocate for youth empowerment. She takes special interest in the education of the youth and the need for them to lead good moral lives.
Mrs Mills attended Aburi Girls’ Secondary School, one of the leading girls’ institutions in Ghana, and later trained for two years as a teacher at the then Specialist Training College, now University of Education, Winneba.
For four years, she trained for a Diploma in Home Economics at the same institution, after which she taught at her alma mater and subsequently at Achimota Secondary School.
To improve her academic credentials, Mrs Mills got enrolled in the University of Ghana, where she obtained a B.A (Honours in Sociology) in 1986. Not satisfied with that, she pursued a postgraduate studies and in 1989, obtained M.Phil degree in Sociology, with emphasis on ‘Deviant Behaviour and Control.’
Her M.Phil thesis topic was on: ‘Social Correlates of the Drug-using Behaviour of Students of Second Cycle Institutions in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.’
Thereafter, she was promoted to the rank of Assistant Director and posted to the Regional Education Office (Greater Accra) as Guidance and Counselling Coordinator.
Also, she received training as a Christian Marriage and Family Counsellor at the Trinity Theological College, Legon, Accra.
Mrs Naadu Mills rose to the rank of District Director of Education and assisted in the administration of educational policies in the Greater Accra Region. She, however, opted for voluntary retirement from the Ghana Education Service in 2003.
The First Lady enjoys doing voluntary Christian missionary work. From 1999-2004, she was the First Vice President of the Bible Society of Ghana. She also participates in other Christian fellowships such as The Scripture Union and the Christian Outreach Fellowship which helps widows, orphans and disadvantaged groups in society.
Mrs Mills is deeply interested in the youth and their education; she also talks to them about their health and professional careers. She devotes her time generally working to issues of epidemiology in medical sociology. The First Lady places emphasis on productive life in society as against the harmful effects of drugs and their implications on HIV and AIDS.
She likes gardening and keeping healthy pet dogs. The First Lady loves clothing and textile design as well as classical and modern gospel music.