KNUST: Former Trotro Mate Becomes Valedictorian, Speaks On Free SHS In Video

• Bansi Eliasu Yahaya, a 2024 graduate of KNUST, emerged as the valedictorian of the College of Arts and Built Environment
• He opened up on his struggle and the hurdles he overcame in his quest to pursue a university education
• Ghanaians congratulated Bansi Eliasu Yahaya for his achievement and wished him well in future endeavours

Bansi Eliasu Yahaya has inspired many people after he rose from a bus conductor popularly known in local parlance as trotro mate to a Valedictorian at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

His crowning moment came at the 58th congregation of KNUST, where he was adjudged the best-graduating student at the College of Arts and Built Environment with a Cumulative Weighted Average (CWA) of 81.04 in BSc. Real Estate.

In a video sighted by YEN.com.gh on the YouTube page of Voice Of KNUST, the Bawku SHS alumnus reminisced on his humble beginnings in a village in Tampane District in the Upper East Region and explained that he remains the only person in his family to attain a university education.

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He explained that due to financial constraints, financing his education became a challenge, a move that forced him to take up jobs such as selling second-hand clothes during his basic school days.

"In my second and third years at Bawku SHS, I was not able to pay fees, so it was after I completed school and came to the southern sector to work in 2019 that I gained money to pay for my fees and take school results. I didn't enjoy the free education system. It was two years after I went to school that they introduced the free education policy."

Despite excelling in the WASSCE, Bansi Elias Yahaya found raising money to pay his fees a challenge, so he needed to find alternative ways of survival.

"At a point, I came to the South to work. I was involved in Galamsey, but along the way, I stopped. I then worked as a trotro mate, and that is how I was able to raise money to pay for my admission."

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He appreciated some lecturers and students who supported him immensely in completing his university education.

After bagging a first degree, Bansi Eliasu Yahaya is poised to further his education and would relish the opportunity to study abroad.

Ghanaians celebrate Bansi Eliasu Yahaya

Social media users took to social media to celebrate Bansi Eliasu Yahaya's academic success.

@afsts_knust indicated:

"Very inspiring!"

@CccorpLib added:

"Congratulations well deserved."

@GrahamJunior599 reacted:

"From Galamsey boy to Valedictorian. Incredible, this is fairy tale stuff!"

Young man emerges valedictorian at KNUST

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that Laurent Sessi graduated as the 2024 best student of KNUST's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

He was the valedictorian with an impressive CWA of 82.14.

Several social media users congratulated Laurent Sessi on his achievement at KNUST and wished him well in future endeavours.

Source: YEN.com.gh