FREDDIE BLAY, a former Deputy Speaker of Parliament in the Kufuor administration, has cautioned students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) against ostentatious habit of spending money, considering the prevailing biting socio-economic conditions in the country.
The astute politician, who is the First Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), advised the students to spend money wisely, learn how to save and invest with the little resources at their disposal for a brighter future.
Mr Blay said these when he chaired the maiden entrepreneurial conference organised by the STEP Foundation, in partnership with the Ghana Engineering Students Association (GESA) at the KNUST in Kumasi recently.
These were contained in a statement issued to the media by the STEP Foundation, an association of young entrepreneurs that is set to bridge the gap between the entrepreneurial world and the students through organisation of conferences and workshops.
In his remarks, Mr Blay implored the students to be passionate about what they do and not for monetary considerations.
He commended the organisers for inviting him to chair the conference.
The former Deputy Speaker urged the students to be vigilant about both the negative and positive things that happen around them and how they can improve or solve them, insisting that the world is now moving in the direction of advanced technology which places responsibility on the students to make very good use of the opportunities it provides.
The maiden conference attracted other influential speakers, including Mr Rashid Bawa, a former Ghana’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Paul Mante, Head of Investment, Ecobank, Samuel Tetteh, Vodafone, Vincent Acquaah, lecturer, KNUST and Michael Osei-Arkomea.
In their contributions, Mr Mante and Mr Osei-Arkomea enlightened the students on how to become entrepreneurs and share their experiences which positively can enhance their knowledge about investments.
In the opinion of the two speakers, wealth creation does not depend on how much one earns but how much one invests. They also encouraged the students to invest in themselves by reading wide.
For his part, Mr Tetteh challenged the students on how to translate what they read from books to practical engineering.
Students, he said, should have love and passion for what they do best and must be diligent in all things, encouraging them to have a more practical approach to problems around them and not to rely only on books.
He gave three students attachment opportunities at his solar energy firm.
Mr Acquah, who also spoke about maximising efforts, mentioned that in life, one has to reach the full potentials of his abilities.
‘As students, we should not relent in our efforts to actualise our ambitions and that we should not let the hardships around us to dictate our pace,” he said.
There was an exhibition by student entrepreneurs who exhibited their products for patronage and asked for support from benevolent and corporate institutions to enable them to organise more of such conferences.
FROM James Quansah, Kumasi
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