Abraham Attah (2nd left) in a pose with Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh (left), Richard Adjei Mensah Ofori-Atta and the Deputy Minister of Education in a pose after the unveiling
The government of Ghana and the EOn 3 Multimedia Group have jointly outdoored Ghanaian-born Hollywood movie star, Abraham Attah, as the ambassador for the free senior high school (SHS) project.
The teen actor, who made his feature film debut in ‘Beasts Of No Nation’ in 2015, was unveiled at the Ministry of Education on Thursday in Accra.
He is expected to use his fame to inspire students at the SHS level across the country to aim high and work hard to succeed.
The Executive Director of E On 3 Group, Richard Adjei Mensah Ofori-Atta, formally presented the award-winning young actor to the Minister of Education, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, at a short ceremony sponsored by Rigworld.
In his brief acceptance speech, Abraham Attah, who was awarded the Marcello Mastroianni’s Best Young Actor Award at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival for his leading role as child soldier Agu, pledged to support government’s efforts in making the free SHS project a reality.
“I feel very humbled to be chosen as the ambassador for the free SHS programme,” he said, adding that “I pledge my support for the programme.”
Dr Opoku Prempeh thanked the young actor for accepting the ambassadorial role.
He seized the opportunity to correct the erroneous impression being created by opponents of the free SHS project that it is a misplaced priority by the Akufo-Addo-led government and that it was appropriate to focus on quality education.
“Let nobody think that we don’t know where our priority lies,” he said, adding that government would not be distracted by detractors of the free SHS programme.
For him, it is better for government to borrow or use the country’s oil cash to fund free SHS which stands to benefit the masses, especially the poor than to borrow for so-called capacity building for a few individuals.
“It is only the unwise who wants to live in a town where he is the only rich one and everyone is poor,” he said.
The minister explained that a few ‘privileged’ individuals have for the past 60 years enjoyed free education through the support of the state and thus it was unfair for the country to continue on this path where only a handful of persons benefit from the state to the neglect of the majority.
Meanwhile, as part of his support for the Education Ministry, Abraham Attah, through his Abraham Attah Foundation, has donated some footwear to the ministry to be given out freely to children in deprived homes across the country.
E On 3 is a leading business solutions and digital marketing company and official publisher of Abraham Attah.
By Melvin Tarlue