How adversity turned his life around

Many average television viewers often become attracted to various personalities. This is simply because familiarity breeds affection. With this affection in place, it is sometimes difficult to believe that such TV hosts, presenters and anchors who look bubbly on the screen can be confronted with problems which drive them to the point of contemplating suicide.

Yes, this man had survived three suicide attempts because he felt life was not treating him well as compared to his contemporaries. However, with a reformed mind, perseverance and the determination to put life challenges behind him and shine, he is now a professionally certified motivational speaker and entrepreneur.

Ebenezer Okrah was one of the popular faces that graced the national screen, Ghana Television (GTV) between the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was then the interviewer for a youth magazine programme called Youth Quake.

Having done so well with the Youth Quake, he subsequently auditioned for another programme called Music for You and became a co-host with Nana Yaw-Tenkorang and Genevieve Moro who were notable faces at the time on GTV.

In fact, Music for You is the premier programme that gave birth to other musical request programmes that we see today on various TV channels. He also acted briefly in the popular 90s’ TV series Ultimate Paradise.

Currently, Mr Okrah is based in the USA with his family where he motivates people with his own ghastly life experiences. He is presently on a business tour across Ghana to counsel, mentor and inspire people who are undergoing various challenges in their social lives, businesses, marriages, among others.

He is touring schools and churches in the country to motivate people. For instance, from March 22 to 23, he will be among the guest speakers for the Youth Conference which would be held at the ICGC Praise Sanctuary. The theme for the programme is: ‘’Understanding life each night.’’

“I actually came into the country specifically on the invitation of Empower EKE Africa, a Financial Empowerment consultancy-based in Dansoman, a suburb of Accra, to organise free financial empowerment seminars for churches and the general public across the country for free.

“As part of the seminars, we will also be launching a global business venture for Ghanaians to enable them to use their smartphones and work as business owners with a minimal capital investment.”
Apart from this, he is a prolific writer, creator, certified Sports Management Worldwide (SMWW) soccer agent and an event organiser.

The Mirror caught up with him to find out what motivated him to go against the odds to become a winner instead of a loser. Mr Okrah was quick to shower praise on God who brought him back on track, as well as his godparents who took him in as their biological child.

Okrah’s story

According to Mr Okrah, he grew up with his single mother and late brother without any father figure most of his life.

“My home was not the type where you have both mother and father together working to make ends meet for their children.

“Growing up with a brother and a poor single mother in a village was very challenging and pitiful. There were days we had to sleep on an empty stomach because my mother did not have enough,” he recalled.

Having experienced poverty at first hand from childhood, Mr Okrah said he vowed to work hard so as to break the chain of poverty that had engulfed his family for generations. For him, poverty is the reason why he lost his 24-year-old brother, Francis Okrah.

“At a prime age, Francis was struck by a mysterious ailment which made him vomit blood incessantly. He had to continually receive blood transfusions. At a point, my mum, Deaconess Comfort Okrah, had to sell everything she practically owned just to pay for his medical bills at Korle Bu which virtually became our first home,” he narrated with a tearful voice.

“I started making critical decisions that impacted on my destiny at a tender age. It is one of such decisions that led me into dropping out of the university. You know, I gained admission to the University of Cape Coast and managed to pay my fees. Little did I know that I was supposed to equally pay for other things like hall of residence, registration fee, hall dues among others,” he narrated.

Unfortunately, after two days wondering on campus without raising any funds to pay those outstanding fees, he gave up and packed his belongings in a ‘Ghana must go’ bag and left campus amid tears.

“I became a historical statistic of university dropouts,” he lamented.

Mr Okrah worked as the Client Service Executive at Nash Advertising Limited. It was the advertising agency that produced many award-winning Fan Milk Limited‘s Radio and Television commercials.

“They included Abedi Pele’s Fanice TV commercial, Tampico and Fanyogo TV adverts which I worked on most.”

Educational journey

Mr Okrah started school at the Ted Preparatory School and later moved to the Most Holy Heart Preparatory School.

He had his secondary education at the Accra Academy and later went to the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) to pursue a Diploma in Public Relations and Advertising.
He majored in Interdisciplinary Studies with Communication Minor at the Governors State University in Illinois, USA for his Bachelor’s degree.

In his quest to move further on the academic ladder, he gained admission to the Northwestern University, Illinois, to pursue an Executive Master’s programme in Communication. Haplessly, he had to call it quits just after a week into the programme simply because his student loan application was declined.

While in Ghana, he participated in various debate contests, quiz competitions, such as the What Do You Know, which is a constant feature on GTV till date and won many laurels.

Passion for football

Mr Okrah had always wanted to play as a professional footballer. However, his guardian, the late Elder G.K Adjei, was afraid he might get seriously hurt and that may end his career.

According to his guardian, “you can never play soccer and receive pension pay. But this did not deter my cousin, Plamahi. We sneaked from home to play for the Sony Halifax which was then one of the top colts,” he said with a smile.

His passion in football led him to play as a goalkeeper for the Accra Academy school team, GIJ, Media 11 which was a football team for journalists and other media professionals.

He played for the Pegasus, a 30D soccer team that plays in the North Texas Primer Soccer Association (NTPSA). “Even though I’m over the age bracket, I signed up to play with them because it is more competitive,’’ he said.

Mr Okrah was appointed the National Sports Coordinator for the Church of Pentecost (COP), USA. “No church has a sports project like we do. It is a unique and brilliant innovation by the church under the leadership of Apostle Michael Agyeman Amoako, the National Head of COP, USA.”

His first book

Presently, Mr Okrah is busily putting together his first book entitled ‘You Shall Not Die’ for publishing. The book will touch on how he was deported from the United Kingdom to Ghana, his three-time suicide attempts, broken hearts, challenges and victories.

Touching on the issue of suicide, he explained that suicide was a desperate attempt to escape suffering that had become unbearable.

“Just like me, I was blinded by feelings of self-loathing, hopelessness and isolation. A suicidal person can't see any way of finding relief except through death. But despite their desire for the pain to stop, most suicidal people are deeply conflicted about ending their own lives. They wish there was an alternative to suicide, but they just can't see one.

“For me each time I tried to take my life, something miraculously happens; that is either someone accidently chances on me or it backfires. In all these my in-laws have been very instrumental in giving me hope.”

He hinted that in order to save people from suicide attempts it was good to be proactive.

“Those contemplating suicide often don't believe they can be helped, so you may have to be more proactive at offering assistance.

“Call me if you need anything,” is too vague. Don’t wait for the person to call you or even to return your calls. Drop by, call again, invite the person out, just to give the person renewed energy to live.