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A renowned businessman and an entrepreneur, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom has outlined three points he wants past students of St. Augustine’s College, Cape Coast, (APSUNIANS) everywhere to remember.
These, Dr Nduom mentioned included, not giving up, no matter the odds or who or what is against you, persevering with your talent, truth and discipline and you will come out ahead, eventually and giving back to those who have given you a hand to push you along the way when you make it and have something you call success.
The business magnate made these observations at the APSU-USA Congress/Gala held on Saturday May 28, 2023, at the College Park Marriott Hotel in Maryland.
Dr. Nduom , the President and Chairman of GN Bank in Chicago quoted Jeremiah 29: 11 which reads; “For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
He explained that it was a personal prayer and a Groupe Nduom prayer as well. He offered it to everyone, “…because it fits our theme for this Congress in many ways. I particularly love its focus on “hope”, positivity and “ a future”, longevity.”
According to Dr. Nduom, “…for St. Augustine’s to have a future, those who have passed through it and benefited in one way or the other need to look back, recognize the gifts we have acquired and give something back to prolong the college’s ability to have a very long future and push others along the way to success.”
Dr. Nduom asked everyone, “…young and old, to “never give up”. And when you meet your goals, look back, go back and lift up others to go up higher than you have been able to accomplish.”
He cited a couple of personal examples where he had to persevere in line with “… the Augusco ideal of perseverance conquers all”.
He added: “In1966 two important events happened in my life. – On February 24th, the Nkrumah CPP administration was overthrown. My father was one of the people near the bottom of that ladder. He was a school teacher, a head teacher but at the time of the coup, he was a regional organizer of the Young Pioneers Association. He lost his job, his salary, his car and was put in preventive detention. – It was that same year that I passed the common entrance examination and entered Augusco. What’s my point? No matter how many times I was asked to go home and bring back the money to pay the fees, I kept returning and sitting there until after 6th Form when I needed my transcripts to get credits towards a degree in the USA that I paid up all the arrears from the part time jobs I did at parking lots and factories.
In 1997, I applied for a license from the Bank of Ghana to start a savings and loans company called First National Savings & Loans. It took going back again and again until the license was given in 2005.”
Dr. Nduom said that Africans everywhere must support other Africans to succeed and even when problems arise to help overcome them. He added, “I saw future years ago. It was not a Ghanaian future. It was an African future. I realized that until the word African is associated with success, excellence, prosperity, whatever I would do wouldn’t matter. An African can always be destroyed in one country, or in one community. But if Africa became strong enough, the African will always persevere like St. Augustine’s.”
Present at the Gala were: Ghana’s Ambassador to the USA, Hajia Alima Mahama. She promised to keep up with the association’s activities and support them whenever help and support were needed; Augustine Abotsi APSU USA President; Dr. Anthony Osei APSU Global President; Dr. Michael Buadoo, Global Platform Founding Member; Mr. Peter Akwaboah COO of Morgan Stanley; Professor Charles Appeadu; Ben Brako, the Guest Artiste; Albert Gyan, Past President; HOPSAN executives; and many others.
