A Kasoa-domiciled businessman and philanthropist, Sheikh Ismail Abubakar Baameyi, has been installed Life Patron of the Council of Zongo Chiefs nationwide.
The installation was performed during an elaborate programme at the Nima Police Station grounds, Accra, last Saturday.
Many well-wishers and chiefs making up the council turned up to witness and bless the installation of a man widely recognised as a prominent philanthropist in the Islamic community.
His installation is said to have been the culmination of many philanthropic gestures to both the Council of Zongo Chiefs and brilliant but needy Muslim students in various tertiary institutions across the country.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE after his installation, the Life Patron called on adult Muslims to assist the youth in their various areas countrywide to build confidence in themselves, regardless of ethnocentric considerations. This, he said, would go a long way in changing, as he put it, ‘the current sorry state of our youth in the various Zongos across the country.’
He charged the youth ‘to eschew arrogance and embrace discipline in whatever they do. This is the sure way they can build a better future for themselves.’
He also called on the opinion leaders and Islamic scholars to find out how best to issue recognised certificates to products of Islamic schools, otherwise known as makarantas.
‘The absence of such certificates robs graduates of such schools the recognition needed for them to advance to higher levels in Islamic studies,’ he said.
The Life Patron, who was earlier this year offered an honorary doctorate degree by the University of Lagos, Nigeria, asked Muslim youth to seek knowledge to the highest level, saying, ‘This would make them not only employable, but enable them to establish their own businesses and employ others.’
Chief Baameyi, as he is fondly called, awards 10 scholarships annually to needy but brilliant students and currently funds 20 students at the Islamic University College and nine at the University of Ghana, Legon.
He plans organising a programme for talented young persons who seek to make acting a career. Again, vocational training that can change the lives of girls in the Zongo communities was part of the programmes he announced.
By A.R. Gomda
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