Akufo-Addo’s tenacity has been a great lesson to me – Kojo Oppong Nkrumah

The Minister of Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has disclosed that among the many lessons he has learnt throughout his career, one of the greatest of them all is President Akufo-Addo’s tenacity and strength to deal with difficult situations and go through difficult times.

Speaking in an interview on Asaase 99.5 Accra’s flagship programme Sunday Night, Oppong Nkrumah told the show host Kwaku Nhyira Addo that throughout the period he has worked with President Akufo-Addo, he has seen him deal with challenging national issues tenaciously, refusing to give up despite the odds.

In answering a question posed by Nhyira Addo on what lessons he has learned throughout his career, Oppong Nkrumah said the first lesson he learned is that one must always be curious about learning new skills. The second is the tenacity of President Akufo-Addo, and the third thing he has learned is how to reflect.

Trained mind

“I had not done anything in marketing or communication when I was given the opportunity to work at Joy FM, I decided to go to Legon to study for a Master’s degree in marketing so that I could do that job well, and it came in handy to help me with all the work I did at Joy FM.

“Then I got challenged by Yonny Kulendi who was my pupil master that I should go study the law. This was the case of the Republic versus Kwadwo Mpiani and Charles Wereko Brobbey, where I just moderated the show, and when we went on break, he asked me, ‘Have you studied the law before?’ I said, ‘No,’” Oppong Nkrumah told Nhyira Addo.

“He [Kulendi] said, ‘You’ll do yourself and this country a disservice if you don’t study the law.’ He said, ‘The way you think through things is remarkable. The law will help you.’ And I went to law school and today when I am on my feet in Parliament, having a debate, or we are doing legislation, or I am in a committee meeting and we are discussing something, and I go through the legal rubrics … I could have imagined that it will come in handy,” Oppong Nkrumah said.

“So, one of the first lessons for me is that, be curious to acquire more skills; it will come in handy for you.

“Another lesson – and I always tell my kids that one of the biggest lessons I have learned from President Akufo-Addo – is tenacity. No matter the odds, no matter the difficulties, be tenacious and have that clarity in your head that you are going to fight through this and get to the end,” the Works and Housing Minister said.

Push it through

Throwing more light on the lesson of tenacity he learned from Akufo-Addo, Oppong Nkrumah said he remembers the COVID era, when, “There were times that he [President Akufo-Addo] would be deep in thought for about five minutes and the room would be silent.

“All the advisors are sometimes disagreeing among themselves. And he [President Akufo-Addo] will sit there and he will make a decision and he will say, ‘We are not too clear if this is the right decision but with all the information available, this where we are going to go and we have to stick it through and push it through till we get the results.’

“I have seen [President Akufo-Addo] in very difficult situations. When the economic crisis started, you could tell the pressure on him but he would tell you, ‘Oppong Nkrumah, we got to go through it, go through it.’

“That tenacity is a lesson that I think a lot of young people need to learn. No matter the odds, you have to be tenacious and focused, knowing that you are going to push through this, until you get to the very end,” the minister said.

Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra

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