Akraba Nana, a 47-year-old individual who is currently in sixth grade, shared his inspiring journey of returning to school after a prolonged period of dropping out.
He explained that he became a father to seven other students, which served as a motivating factor for his decision to resume his education.
In an exclusive interview with Asaase Radio, the 47-year-old recounted his life story.
He revealed that when he was just 14 years old, he was forced to leave school and discontinue his education during his third-grade year due to the unfortunate passing of his parents.
“I was in class three when I lost both parents; then my future ambitions crashed, and I had to leave school,” he said.
According to Akraba Nana, affectionately called Schoolboy, after the demise of his parents, he was forced to move from one place to another in search of greener pastures and finally decided to settle in Akraba, a suburb of Cape Coast in the Central Region.
While in Akraba, he quickly established himself as a head porter at the Kotokoraba Market.
Through it all, Akraba Nana said he took solace in music and realised he has a notch for making music and wanted to make the most of his newly discovered talent.
Unfortunately for him, his inability to read and write made it impossible for him to script his song lyrics. Even more frustrating for him was the inability of paid writers to write his songs without ambiguity.
“All those who wrote my songs for me did not write it exactly the way I wanted to bring out the lyrics,” Akraba said.
It was this challenge—the inability to write his songs—that forced him to go back to school, Akraba revealed.
“The motivation to write my songs forced me to go back to school. After consultation with my wife, I decided to go back to school to be able to read and write.”
Akraba commutes close to a kilometre each day to St. Paul Catholic School. He does that every morning in the company of his seven kids; four of them are his seniors, and two are his classmates.
Unlike other students who were admitted to Nursery One on the first day, Akraba had a waiver to begin his school journey in class three.
“The headmistress was admitting nursery students, as at the time I was also seeking admission. Per the school rules, the window was opened for nursery students, but the headmistress allowed me to start in class three,” he recalled.