Witty and versatile Radio Presenter cum actor, Gilbert Abeiku Aggrey popularly known as Abeiku Santana of Okay FM has finally seen his life time dream of bearing the title, Doctor, come true.
The �Ekwan so bre bre� host received the highest educational honors in his life on Saturday October 1, 2011 with two others, Maurice Kwabena Ampaw, a lawyer and Rev. Prince Emmanuel Atsu Agbesi, a minister with the Bible Seminary, at the Trans Continental Assemblies of God Church on the Spintex Road in Accra.
Abeiku was honored with Honorary Doctor of Humanities in recognition of his contribution to the Christian Ministry and Leadership. The honor was bestowed on him by the world acclaimed Pan African Clergy Council and Bible Seminary.
Looking rather humbled and overwhelmed as he was being honoured, Abeiku, who was accompanied by members of family, friends and colleagues, was all praise to God.
�I feel so honored. I thank the Almighty God for giving me strength and I thank every human being in every part of this world who has supported me in diverse ways to get this far. I never in my entire life imagined that such a reputable Christian body will take cognizance of what i do. I feel so motivated and encouraged,� an emotional Abeiku Santana told this reporter after the ceremony.
According to him, when he was first informed by the Clergy about the decision to honour him with a doctorate, the significance of the honour did not hit home until the day itself. He further added that he believed he was just a nominee because he actually had to justify why he deserved the honour and was made to go through several hours of questioning and presentations before a high profile panel of six educationalists and religious leaders.
Asked about how the whole thing came about and how he was chosen, Abeiku said he was chosen based on someone�s recommendation for successfully running his own company, Strategic Communications, his humanitarian work and his work in the media.
"I do a lot of humanitarian work on my own, feeding and sheltering children and women, but because it is based on Divine calling, i do want it highlighted by the media, but somehow the clergy saw it all...i was even assigned to write a paper and research on the topic �The Modern Day Clergy And How The Media Handle Religious Issues�, he said.
He disclosed that after his research he had to do a presentation before the six panel members by elaborating on his research after which he was thoroughly questioned.
�I was very surprised because the panel actually played back soundbites on how I treated issues about some pastors on my radio program which means that they have been monitoring me for some time now without my knowledge,� Abeiku said.
He disclosed that the panel of experts also wanted to know why he starts his day on-air by preaching the word of God and being religious but dove-tails into other things that do not conform to the word of God.
�I told them I am not a pastor but a broadcaster and as a professional broadcaster, I owe it a duty to satisfy my listeners from all religious divide even though I am a Christian. My profession is supposed to educate, inform, entertain and hold people in public office accountable,� he added.
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