Until he took the Challenge, Joseph Opoku was just another Ghanaian University graduate on the market to see what fate had in store for him.
Coming from a family of limited means, though not poor, and with younger siblings still in school, intelligent and ambitious Joseph had only two roads ahead of him.
The hard and almost impossible one to higher education and the equally difficult one to finding a job in an economy that breeds unemployed graduates.
Like many, Joseph had almost resigned to fate when on one of those nights while enthusiastically perusing the black and white pages of the Ghanaian dailies replete with stories of corruption, political repartees and irrationalities, saw the call for participants for the Challenge Season 2.
“I almost overlooked it…I mean, who gives a full board postgraduate scholarship worth over thirty five thousand British pounds…? I smiled and turned the page” Joseph with a quirky smile.
Could you blame him? Reality TV shows in these parts have earned themselves the notoriety of not delivering on prize promises over the years so why should he not the page?
He indicated, “But after seeing the ads in two other papers that same evening, hearing about it on radio days after and seeing it all over the internet, I thought I should just give it a try…after all, what did I have to lose?”
“I also thought it was genuinely the only platform at the time that offered me a clear blueprint to my career and professional development. So I took the Challenge and here we are today,” he added.
In April 2009, 27 year old Joseph Opoku entered the challenge educational reality TV show as a Telecom Engineering graduate from the Tarkwa based the University of Mines and Technology.
Today, he travels all over the world as the Senior Services Engineer for Ericsson Ghana with a lot of growths ahead of him.
“The role technically involves design, configuration and integration of 3G in all the major TELCOS within the sub-Saharan region… Oh, trust me, it’s a very exciting career” Joseph said.
He is only one of many bright and ambitious Ghanaian University graduates whose lives have been changed for the best by the challenge. Joseph Opoku’s story could easily be your story.
The sixth season of The Challenge Season was launched last Friday, 10th October at the head office of headline Sponsors, TIGO.
Speaking at the launch, Mr. Jesse Agyepong, head of marketing at TIGO said, “Through our sponsorship, we have contributed to create a pool of future leaders and professionals in Ghana who are passionate, innovative and determined to succeed.”
He added, “Our decision to sponsor the Challenge is based on our commitment to enabling brilliant young Ghanaians access world-class education and contribute meaningfully to Ghana’s development.”
He further indicated, “Over the years, we have had great winners who are performing well in diverse roles in telecommunications, law and banking sectors, as well as sharing knowledge to their peer-group, children in communities.”
The prize package of the Challenge season 6, like the previous seasons, is life changing.
3 Full board postgraduate scholarships from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen Scotland, the University of Northumbria and the University of Salford in Manchester all totaling over GHs600,000.00 at stake.
Visit www.tigo.com.gh to register for a shot at what has now come to be known as Ghana’s biggest prize on TV and do well to catch the search team on Saturday 18th October at the British Council.
The Challenge is a British Council Ghana initiative supported by the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen Scotland, the University of Northumbria, the University of Salford, Beige Capital, Vita milk and Universal Merchant Bank.
The Challenge is produced by GHOne and proudly sponsored by Ghana’s coolest and most socially responsible mobile telecommunications network, TIGO.