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Abubakar Zico Newton changing educational narrative in Madina Zongo
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Chancing on a report indicating that people with pre-school experience were likely to be in school far more than those without pre-school education was the spark Ishaq Abubakar Zico Newton needed to turn around the fortunes of young people in Madina Zongo.
Growing up in the same community where pre-school was not valued as he himself was not a beneficiary, Ishaq Abubakar Zico Newton decided to change the narrative of the children with the help of his mother’s already established foundation.
The foundation started on the compound of his home as an afternoon classes for children in the community.
“It was the brainchild of my aunt who never had the opportunity to go to school but always felt that education was going to be the game-changer in the near future.”
With this in mind, his aunt started a free after school classes in the afternoon.
The classes helped children with their home works as their parents could neither read nor write. This single act by his aunt really impacted the lives of most children in the community.
“My mother took over after the death of my aunty when she returned from Germany and thought it wise to create a foundation around it. She named it ‘Mother for all Foundation.’’’
She later took the foundation to another level by supporting the foundation with books for the children and paying the teacher to continue the afternoon classes.
In 2010, King Zico, as he is affectionately called in the community, felt the need to support his mother’s idea and take the foundation a notch higher.
With his educational background, he turned it into a pre-school for children in Madina Zongo where children from the ages of two to five years have access to free pre-school education.
Currently, there are about 250 children in the school which initially started with only two children.
“The goal of the foundation is to educate and also help improve on the educational standard of the people within Madina Zongo,” he said.
According to Mr Newton, most of the people supporting the foundation were beneficiaries of the afternoon classes started by his aunt.
He said the foundation embarked on several projects including a ‘Readcamp’ aimed at enhancing the literacy skills of school pupils, a play-based training programme for educators and facilitators with innovative tools to transform classrooms.
“Other projects included mask up and sanitise campaign and covid-19 food relief project,” he stated.
He said that over the period of eight years, close to thousand youths and children have had their lives transformed through the foundation.
Background
Zico loves to describe himself as Zongo boy who at a point realised that actors of change are community people who wish to see the change in their communities.
He grew up from a very deprived family where he and his siblings as well as friends had to go look for mangoes in the bush and sell.
At other times “we looked for ‘alumi’ in the gutters and in people’s homes and at times we have just pick peoples cooking utensils at their blind side, crash them and sell,” adding that “that was how we survived.”
Education
King Zico never had a pre-school experience. He started school at Gospel International School in Madina Estates. After owing so much in terms of fees, he secured a scholarship from the school.
This followed the headmaster’s decision to allow him attend the school for free because it was obvious he couldn’t pay.
He move from there to the Faith Community Baptist School where he had my Junior High School (JHS) education
King Zico continued to the West African Secondary School (WASS) but could not write the final examination because “my name was synonymous to school fees arrears.”
King Zico later registered for Nov/ Dec and continued to the Institute of Professional Studies (IPS) now University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) where he studied Diploma in Business Studies (DBS) with accounting option.
“I was of the hope that I will be able to secure a job with the certificate, but unfortunately, I did not, so I ended up on the streets again and did some basic jobs and finally enrolled myself into the African University College of Communication.’’
Hobby
At his spare time, King Zico loves to listen to music and enjoys rice and stew at any given time.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
In other jurisdictions, the commencement of a new football season was one soccer fans would party about.
Having endured about a three-month period without action, fans become anxious about what the new season brings and how their respective teams would perform.
But that is not the case in Ghana, especially where the current Ghana Premier League (GPL) football season is expected to get underway today.
Unlike other places where fans would be fantasising and visualising about the new players and what they bring on board, Ghanaian fans have been occupied with discussions about the present state of infrastructure.
Obviously, the game thrives when stadia appear in good condition. When the pitches are in perfect shapes, it enhances play and brings out the best from the players.
Sadly, the state of the pitches in the country have left many questioning the preparedness for the season that also coincides with the start of AFCON qualifiers.
Currently, the pitch at the Accra Sports Stadium is closed for Premier League matches in readiness for the qualifiers.
Alternative ones like the University of Ghana Stadium is also not in the best of shape.
The Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi is also a concern despite hosting the Democracy Cup. As a result, teams to be affected in the southern and northern sectors would turn their attention to the Abramkese and UG stadia, a situation that would take a toll on the surfaces.
The situation, therefore, raises questions over the country’s direction regarding the provision of sports infrastructure.
Apart from the Borteyman Sports Complex, which was constructed for the Africa Games, none of the facilities scattered across the country can be said to be in good shape to host local games; not to talk about high profile competitions.
This should be a wakeup call on the government to start initiating processes to ensure modern infrastructure were erected to put Ghana in a good position to host games without the unwarranted scrutiny of CAF.
This would come at a huge cost to the taxpayer but when the business aspect of that expenditure in considered, it should be a worthy outlay.
But the infrastructure challenges notwithstanding, the competition will kick start at Tema where Vision FC engages Young Apostles FC.
The Hearts of Oak versus Berekum Chelsea clash will lead tomorrow’s games pack that also sees debutants Debibi United and Port City FC engaged in battles against Asante Kotoko and FC Ashantigold, respectively.
In other games, Basake Holy Stars will welcome Swedru All Blacks; FC Samartex against Karela United; Heart of Lions versus Aduana FC and Bechem United against Goldstars.
Dreams FC will face Medeama SC at the Tuba astro turf on Monday.
By Andrew Nortey
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The 2026 Idea Challenge Pitch and media launch was held last Saturday at the Pentecost University in Accra.
It brought together innovators, entrepreneurs and stakeholders to promote creative ideas and solutions aimed at addressing societal challenges.
The initiative, organised by the Visionary Organisation Development and Entrepreneurial Club (VODEC) and National Emerging Leaders Economic Forum (NELEF) provided a platform for participants to showcase their ideas and highlight how innovation and creativity could be transformed into practical solutions.
The programme also sought to encourage young people to develop ideas that could contribute to national development and create opportunities for entrepreneurship.
Held on the theme: ‘building Africa’s future, emerging leaders driving inclusive growth and regional transformation,’ the event sought to serve as a strategic platform to transition youth talent from mere concepts into investable enterprises.
During the pitch session, shortlisted entrepreneurs presented viable business ideas which spanned critical sectors, including climate-smart agribusiness, sustainable waste management, digital technology, and assistive tech for persons with disabilities.
A member of the judging panel, Mr Blessed Amonoo, an Investment Analyst at the Ghana Amalgamated Trust Plc., praised the technical depth of the presentations.
“We are looking for scalability, market readiness, and projects that directly answer local problems,“ Mr Amonoo noted during the evaluation.
“The level of innovation displayed here proves that African youth possesses the answers to the continent’s economic riddles, provided they receive the right structural refinement.”
Finalists selected from this rigorous process will be officially announced and paired with corporate mentors at the flagship forum in September.
Speaking at the event, the Founder and Chief Executive of VODEC Africa, Mr. Daniel Asomani, urged African governments and financial institutions to systematically secure capital for youth-led startups.
Mr Asomani emphasised that Africa’s persistent brain drain can only be reversed if young minds find fertile ground to scale their enterprises locally.
“Our brilliant minds are leaving the shores of Africa not because they want to, but because the local ecosystem suffocates their dreams.”
“The Idea Challenge is our contribution to keeping this talent home but VODEC cannot do it alone. We need policy interventions, tax incentives for startups, and deliberate venture funding to turn these ideas into multi-million-dollarcorporations,” Mr Asomani stated.
By Desmond Aidoo
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