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African Students’ Union in Ohio University has announced Former President of Ghanaian Students’ in Hungary Gabriel Asante as Winner of the 2023 African Hero’s Award.

His award according to the organizers was based on his hard work, advocacy initiatives and passion in fighting for cost -elimination in upper secondary level in Sub Saharan Africa as well as his contribution to the achievement of Goal 4 of Agenda 2030 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations which according to them speaks volumes of his Pan Africanism.

Mr. Gabriel Asante giving his Key note address at event under the theme “The Rebirth of African Heroism “ revealed that about 60% of youth of upper secondary school age, that is, level 3 of educational level classifications, are not in school in Africa.

He said these statistics are unacceptable and expect to achieve about 90 to 100% enrollment rate to meet Sustainable Development Goal 4.1 in 2030 adding that in the United States, for example, when we are talking about access to Education, we are talking about the tertiary level, not the high school.

“What is Africa doing, and what can Africa do to change this? We all have a role to play to change things, to solve this problem, and uniting for a common purpose is an essential component” he quizzes.

He recounted how through hardworking and zeal way back at his Hometown, Behenase, a community in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti Region, he formed CONCERNED YOUTH ASSOCIATION OF BEHENASE in 2011 aimed at prioritizing education within the community.

“Our impact is that today, many youths in my Behenase Village have completed and attending Senior High School, thanks also to the free Senior High School policy in Ghana” he added.

He believed the youth can do much better with or without support to help with the growth of the education sector when they join forces.

Garbriel Asante recalled that during the Ukrain –Russian War with teamwork and unity, they managed to recue some Ghnaiam students who were affected by the war
“I realized my teamwork spirit was activated. UNITY. My mobile number was released out there by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that all those fleeing to Hungary can call for assistance. The first batch of students fleeing the War, numbering 26, were arriving on February 27, and about 200 more were on their way coming, per the information we had from them. In fact, it was a difficult moment” he hinted.

Ending his speech he implored African students all over the world, to start exploring and look at the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) describing it as a great vision from forebearers. Let’s look at how we can utilize that great idea and the potential of AfCFTA in our respective small ways, in our communities and our countries. Let’s trade among ourselves; let’s do things in common. That’s the surest way to prosper and become a hero.

“To our traditional and political leaders, let us continue to prioritize Education. We should aim to educate the younger generations, at least to the upper secondary level. Primary and lower secondary school as the terminal point for compulsory schooling in many African countries must be re-looked at. We need to redefine compulsory basic Education to capture the upper secondary level. As Prof Putnam of Harvard University said, America is America today because of the provision of access to Education through free public senior high school to everyone as far back as the 1900s” he said.

AFRICAN HERO’S AWARD

The African Hero’s Award was created to mark and celebrate the release of the former and the late President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, from prison. As such, President Mandela became the first award recipient in 1991. Since then, the African Community at Ohio University has been nominating, voting, and giving the award every spring semester to an African or Africanist who is contributing to the development and advancement of the African continent and people of African descent on the continent or in the diaspora.

Previous winners of this award included Her Excellency Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao, former Permanent Representative of the African Union Mission to the USA and Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of African Diaspora Development Initiative; Dr. Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, former Director of Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and current Director of The Kenya School of Law; Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Ghanaian undercover investigative journalist; Dr. Ibrahim Soce Faal, Regional Emergencies
Director of the Health Emergencies Program of the World Health Organization; Physician Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the founder of National Cardiothoracic Center and the Ghana Heart Foundation among others.