Ursula honors her mother with ICT Hub, Library

Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has honored her mother with a beautiful edifice and ultra-modern Information and Communications Technology (ICT) centre in the Akim Oda district in the Eastern Region.

The facility named ‘Christina Akua Brago Diawuo Library and Technology Hub’ was donated by the Ablekuma West lawmaker and commissioned by the Vice President, Dr.  Mahamudu Bawumia.

In a Facebook post after the commissioning, the Minister said, “recounting my past and acknowledging the contributions of my mother, Christina Akua Brago Diawuo, which has propelled me to my current state, I can only be thankful. Thank you, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, for joining me to inaugurate ‘The Christina Akua Brago Diawuo Library and Technology hub’ at Akim Oda, an honour to my mother. The facility resourced by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Huawei Ghana, MTN Ghana and the Ghana Library Authority is equipped with an ICT hub, a robotics centre, a library, and a video conferencing centre.”

She further revealed that the library has been equipped with a robotics lab to help improve the analytical skills of children at Akim Oda. She encouraged the users of the facility to take advantage of the opportunity and enhance their robotics skills.

The Minister lauded Huawei’s contribution to the establishment of the facility. According to her, the donation of the Huawei Idea Hub makes the Christiana Akua Brago Library and Technology Hub, “the first library in Ghana to be equipped with an intelligent AI-driven video conferencing facility.”

Speaking at the commissioning, Vice President Bawumia said the construction of the facility, is aimed at contributing to the educational development of the people for the good of the community and the nation at large.

He added that the Government of President Akufo-Addo takes pride in investing in education because of its enormous impact on the people and the nation, hence the focus on investing massively in various aspects of education to improve access and quality.

“Indeed, education is the backbone of every community and every nation; that is why the NPP Government has made education more accessible, especially to people from underprivileged backgrounds,” Dr. Bawumia said.

He said the introduction of the Free Senior High School (SHS) and Free Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) policies, have provided equal opportunities for both children of the rich and the poor, to attain secondary level education in this country.

“Now as a parent, all you need is to get your child through the Junior High School (JHS) successfully and your child will have access to free secondary education,” the Vice President added, reiterating government’s commitment to the Free SHS project despite the current economic challenges.

He, therefore, urged parents and students “to make the best of it, to change the fortunes of families and communities.”

“For Ghana to sustain growth in its economic performance, the need to build a literate society cannot be underestimated. Children in their formative years require consistent exposure to books and other learning resources to build and sustain interest in reading and also for knowledge, and Ghana cannot be a learning nation if it does not prioritise access to knowledge resources,” Dr. Bawumia noted.

“It is therefore exciting for this community to have this facility built and well-resourced to provide the critical interventions and support required to lift the standard of education in this community.”

The library component of the facility is expected to promote reading and learning among Primary, Junior High and Senior High School students in the Oda township and the surrounding communities.

The ICT Centre is expected to support knowledge and skills development in ICT among the people of this community, while the  robotics centre of the facility is to help improve critical thinking and technology innovation among the youth.

The Vice President commended various agencies which contributed to the facility, such as the Ghana Library Authority, the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), MTN and Huawei Technologies, among others.