Ordinarily,
I shouldn’t be doing this for obvious reasons. However, my conscience would not
forgive me if I do not put something on paper in honour of this young man who
has done so much for me in particular and the good students of Ghana in
general. I therefore wish to proceed on this “slippery tangent” and damn the
consequences; after all, risk-bearing is one of the nuances of life.
Akwesi
Agyemang began his leadership career at the SHS level through the Regional SRC.
He rose through the ranks and became the President of the Regional SRC and for
that matter the leader of all pre-tertiary students in the country; which
invariably, qualified him to be part of the National Executive Committee (NEC)
of NUGS when I was the General Secretary of NUGS. It was a great delight
working with this young chap because of his hard work and unwavering commitment
to duty. His articulation skills and appreciation of the dynamics of student
governance and geopolitics is incredibly soothing.
Having
known how stupendous he was worth, when he gained admission into my former
school, UEW-K, at age 16, I took him as my younger brother, gave him the
necessary support and grooming to make him excel on campus and beyond. In fact,
he never disappointed me. Not only did he take-over from me as the MINORITY
LEADER of Student Parliament, but also proceeded to win the local NUGS
presidency position with a record-breaking endorsement. He discharged his
mandate creditably well and was in fact, adjudged, the finest local NUGS
President in the history of UEW-K.
When
I was contesting for the position of NUGS Secretary in 2014, I couldn’t afford
any “flamboyant campaign”, I could only tour less than 30% of the relevant
institutions under NUGS, I didn’t have the money, I didn’t have any structured
campaign nor campaign manager. All I had, was my famous PEN and Akwasi Agyemang
as well as his brother, Akwasi Boakye. One of my opponents was a business
tycoon, a matured man, quite rich and in fact, run the most expensive campaign
in the buildup the 2014 NUGS congress with his unprecedented electronic
billboards, t-shirts and campaign vehicles. In view of this obvious disparity,
some cynics felt we looked very young and underage until we met and interacted
with them at Senate, GA and CC meetings and of course at the congress ground
because we couldn’t visit them at their respective campuses due to
resource-constraint.
With
these two young chaps, we were able to convince almost everybody that mattered
and eventually won hands-down, notwithstanding the fact that I had only ONE
campaign banner and a few posters. In fact, I got the highest number of votes
at the 2014 NUGS Congress. How incredulous could that be! This, should tell all
aspirants that money doesn’t really win elections. Delegates will “chop your
money” when you bring it. Just focus on the issues that matter to the students
of Ghana, clearly articulate your vision and let the discerning delegates
reason with you and you are good to GO. Akwesi brings so much EXPERIENCE and COMPETENCE
to the table as he vies for the position of NUGS General Secretary and I have
no doubt that he would perform better than I did when he gets your mandate
INSHA ALLAH. Akwesi, I wish you well; you already know how to do it. May Allah
be your GUIDE …
Thank
you.
A
concerned student in the struggle a better student front for God and country.
IDDI
MUHAYU-DEEN
Former NUGS General
Secretary
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