UGBS ’73 Class gives back to alma mater

The 1973 year group of the Business Science Administration graduates of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), have celebrated their 50th anniversary with a donation of library surveillance systems to  the school.

The surveillance systems are to be used to enforce security at the K. E. Adjei Library on main campus and the Tullow Ghana Limited Library at the Graduate Campus of the school.

The gesture, according to the group, who are aged between 70 and 80 years, is their widow’s mite to support their alma mater.

It was also meant to aid the school to easily identify culprits who steal books, laptops and other items from the libraries as well as help to solve various security issues that usually occur in the school.

At a short ceremony held at the office of the Dean of UGBS last Friday to unveil the already fixed CCTV cameras and officially hand over to the school, the group numbering about 10, together with their spouses and nicknamed “Just Us 1973”, expressed satisfaction for adopting the idea to “payback” to the school.

Just Us 1973

The “Just Us 1973”  members present included Arnold Arphul and wife, Reindorf Perbi and his wife, Prof. Alex Dontoh and his wife, Ernest Kwasi Okoh, Raphael Kumah and his wife, Samuel Inkoom and Addai Munukum.

Dean of the UGBS Prof. Justice Bawole and a member of the Just Us 1973, Mr. Arnold Arphul unveiling the surveillance cameras

Speaking on behalf of the group,  Mr Okoh said basically they revered the business school and they still did so and when the idea to give back to the school to mark their 50th anniversary was nurtured, it was received with enthusiasm.

“We cannot overemphasise the point that our tribute, this token, is really to acknowledge the quality that the school endowed us with, which made us what we became and have become,” he said.

“So today, we are proud to say that we have stretched our widow’s mite to cover two libraries, the first choice of the school and the one here in our alma mater. It is important to us that we have made a modicum of payback to the school,” he added.

Tribute

Reminiscing the past, Mr Okoh said they were fortunate to have people like the late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, the then Director of the school, Kwame Adjei, Prof. George Atiase, Patrick Aidan, Prof. Date-Baah, Yaw Adjei and Harry Agyeman among others as faculty.

He paid tribute to their mates who had passed on leaving “Just Us 1973” to continue the good works here on earth.

“Unfortunately, we celebrate this day without several others who have passed on to be with the Lord and may the souls of the departed rest in peace,” he said.

“Additionally, we are always aware that we are nearer where we are going than we have come from so it is left with “JustUs73” to carry the many memories,” Mr Okoh added.

They promised to look for other avenues to aid the school again in the future.

Appreciation

The Dean of the UGBS, Prof. Justice Nyigmah Bawole, led a team made up of  the Head of Department, Public Administration, Prof. Albert Ahenkan, the Assistant Registrar, Marjorie Quist and Yaw T. Yeboah, and the School Librarian, David T. Odjeawo, to receive the benefactors.

Prof. Bawole, expressed gratitude to the group for going the extra mile, even as pensioners, to embark on such an important project for the school.

“I thank God for your lives , that after 50 years you are alive and you are still together as a group. For retirees like you who are no longer working and who are dependent on pension, to set aside money for this project is inspiring and we really appreciate it,” the Dean of the UGBS said.

Prof. Bawole said beyond the challenging job of a Dean, moments such as the donation brought a lot of relief and pride, stressing “I cannot be prouder than I am this morning.”

He recounted that over the years, the students’ population had increased which put a lot of pressure on the facilities with some perpetrators taking advantage of the situation to rob students in the libraries as well as breaking into offices to steal.

Prof. Bawole commended the group for their initiative to fix surveillance systems in and around the libraries, saying it would put a third eye on the facility and help expose those who would want to do anything untoward in the two facilities.