By Godwill Arthur-Mensah
Accra, Sept. 10, GNA – Mr Alexander Afenyo- Markin, the Minority Leader, has encouraged students from the Volta Region with his personal life experience to inspire them to achieve greater heights in education.
“We have seen life a bit and so, if people talk about poverty, I know what it is…
“I have seen poverty before, but here I am. So, please don’t give up. God has many ways of opening doors for everyone. Never give up on yourself,” he emphasized.
Mr Afenyo-Markin, also the Member of Parliament for Effutu in the Central Region, gave the advice when he presented GHS 105,000 to 33 university students from the Volta Region to pay their tuition fees.
“I’m offering a helping hand, so take advantage of it. learn, build capacity and move on…Life has never been easy, it’s rough but with your faith in God, trust me, no danger can befall you…
Out of you, there will be MPs, ministers, president, great businessmen and women someday.
“It’s a great pride for me to support one of my own,” the legislator stated.
“Each day has its own promises. Difficult times will come. At 47, I know what I am talking about…Life is like that. Take it easy, go through difficult times and it shall be well,” he stated.
The Effutu legislator continued his narration: “Recently I was telling some kids that when I started life some of my mates I had wanted to marry and their parents said “no, today, they regret it.
“My daughter told me that she went to a very prominent person’s home and the person said: “Oooh, your dad is very intelligent”… and I said: “Don’t mind her. At one time, if she knew how my future would be, she would have allowed me to take her daughter. I was then skinny, and she couldn’t see the blessing ahead,” Mr Afenyo-Markin recalled, amid laughter from the audience.
The Effutu legislator said it took the benevolence of his friends’ parents to gain admission to secondary school.
Additionally, he said, it was Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom’s Bursary that enabled him to pay his final year and SSSCE registration fees.
The legislator indicated that his biological father who was an Agric officer lost his job at age 39 and his mum, a “Pupil teacher” did not have enough money to provide all his basic needs, hence he hassled to take care of himself through undertaking menial jobs to pay his university fees.
Mr Gideon Senator Xorvi, the President of Volta Students Association, University of Ghana, on behalf of his colleagues, expressed gratitude to Mr Afenyo-Markin and pledged to study hard to justify the investment made in their education.
Mr Afenyo-Markin’s biological father, Moses Apetogou Kofi, hails from Tsiame in the Keta Municipality of the Volta Region while his mother is a Fante from Winneba in the Central Region.
Mr Afenyo-Markin has quite an impressive educational background despite challenges in the formative years.
He studied law at Buckingham University and later pursued a master’s degree in international politics and security studies at Bradford University.
His commitment to education and youth development is evident in his initiatives, such as the “One Teacher, One Laptop” programme and the construction of 14 libraries in his constituency.
GNA
Edited by George-Ramsey Benamba