About 300 selected students in Zabzugu have each received GH$1,000 each from their MP, Alhaji Alhassan Umar, to ease educational burdens on families.
Beyond the cash, he challenged learners to embrace technology, think beyond textbooks, create their own jobs – and stay firmly away from drug abuse.
“Do not go to school and only expect things to come from textbooks,” he told the students.
For many parents already stretched by fees, books, transport and daily household costs, the intervention has come as a timely relief.
“The support will ease the burden on my mom, who is struggling to arrange money for my return to school,” says Abdul Rahaman Hamdu, a student beneficiary.
“With this 1,000 cedis, I can add to what I have and pay part of my fees. Our school’s new rule is that we must pay 50% before we can take part in practicals.”
For families like his, the difference between staying in class and being held back can come down to a few hundred cedis.
After acknowledging the immediate relief the fund brings, the MP shifted to a wider vision for Zabzugu’s youth, touching on industrialization, technology and artificial intelligence.
“Our talk on industrialization will mean nothing if we do not evolve with the world,” he said. “Other nations have evolved and developed and they are now using Al. A few years ago, we were not using these touch phones as we are using them today.”
He warned that students’ peers elsewhere are already leveraging new tools and opportunities.
“Your same people, your colleagues, students, they follow them,” he said. “So do not go to school and only expect things to come from textbooks.” The MP also spelled out the kind of ambition he wants to see from the constituency.
“I want to see in my lifetime that an astronaut comes from Zabzugu,” he declared. “The best computer engineer comes from Zabzugu. And the best agriculturist, because we are farmers here, comes from Zabzugu.”
He used the occasion to issue a strong warning against drug abuse, which he said is on the rise and threatening the future of many young people.
“To my students and my recipients, please, there is abuse of drugs now on the rise and I want to urge you not to get involved in drug abuse,” he said. “Zabzugu loves you, Zabzugu needs you. We are investing in your education to return to Zabzugu and serve the good people of Zabzugu to the best of your ability.”
He painted a stark picture of where drug abuse can lead one to.
“As for drugs, there’s no way drug use will end you any better. The last mile of a drug abuser is madness,” he warned. “We don’t want each and every one of you to ever become a political imbalance. Please, do not get yourself into drug abuse, else your journey will end nowhere.”
Many of the beneficiaries are preparing to leave home for the first time, with some heading to Tamale and others as far as Koforidua and beyond. The MP urged them not to forget their roots or their purpose.
“Your parents are proud of you. Do not follow your peers who are drug users. Do not go there and test anything that you haven’t tested. Don’t allow anyone to fool you.”
He challenged them to use education as a ladder not just for personal gain, but for community service.
“Your objective is to go to school and become a better person than your parent, than your family member, than the MP, than the DCE, so that tomorrow you will be able to serve the good people of Zabzugu.”
For now, the 300,000-cedis disbursement is easing immediate educational burdens for 300 families in Zabzugu.
But the MP’s larger hope is that this support becomes a seed: not just for better grades, but for innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders who will put Zabzugu on the map in fields from agriculture to technology – and, as he put it, even space.
Dream bigger,” he told them. “Make the sky the limit.”
“Please, please, stay away from drugs. Your journey must not end nowhere.”
