21-Word salute for Nana Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng
If you were a soldier, I would have asked for a 21-Gun salute, or a 21-Dance salute, if you were a dancer like the late Professor Nii Yartey, but you were none of the two.
You were a wordsmith and, therefore, I will ask for a 21-Word Salute, definitely appropriate for one who produced captivating articles on any topic for the advancement of all, especially Ghanaians.
Salute
I offer the 21-Word Salute.
Prolific writer, extraordinary mentor, teacher, top cultural advocate, universal communicator, editor in chief, kindhearted, selfless, traditional leader, cultural initiator, champion presbyter!
Nana Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng was my brother, friend, colleague, boss and confidant, and we grew closer and bonded firmly when we learnt that we had both been mentored by the same Angel, the late Edward Ameyibor, aka Oga of blessed memory.
I met Oga, then the Ghana News Agency (GNA) Correspondent in Lagos, Nigeria, while working with the Daily Times of Nigeria. Nana, on the other hand, met him in Tamale, and so was Mohammed Awal, former MD of Graphic Communications Group Ltd, and a former Minister. We were bonded by Oga’s legacy.
The trio of Nana, Awal and me knew instinctively that we had imbibed the good nature of Oga; his willingness to share knowledge and mentor others. As a young Public Relations Manager of the then Arts Council of Ghana, I received a lot of support from Nana while he edited The Mirror, and he ensured that the Council’s activities always had a place in the mirror.
Much later, he invited me to join him in reorganising the Ghana Association of Writers as the Public Relations Adviser.
When the Executive President of the Centre of Awareness (COA) and CEO of COA Healthcare Centres contacted him to join COA as the communications head, Nana recommended me, and I became COA’s Communications Director.
Getting on the boards of some organisations was through the recommendations of Nana, whose trust, brotherly love, and friendship kept us inseparable.
After I reviewed a couple of books in the Daily Graphic, he encouraged me to do more and passed on some books to be reviewed for others, especially GAW members.
Purpose
Nana, as we have discussed on several occasions, we are all here for a purpose, and when we are done, we have to move on as others before us have done.
The trick, though, as you put it with your usual smile, was to move on the narrow path, holding love as the master key that unlocks the doors to the Almighty, and prayer an essential action of love, that enables communication with the Father.
Our spiritual conversations are guides I will continue to hold dearly on to.
You lived purposefully, loved deeply and served selflessly.
We thank the Almighty for your life and for enabling you to touch our lives in ways that have benefitted us and others to His glory.
Go on, dear friend and brother.
You have paid your dues, and those before you will be waiting to welcome you into their merry fold.
Now take the lead, and we will join you when we are done here and have acquired the needed knowledge to be able to join you in the great beyond.
Fare thee well, Mbra!
Nana nante yie!
Yaa wor odzogbann
