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Vocational education key to financial liberation – OBI tells youth
Technical and vocational skills acquisition isa long-term profession to empower the youth who venture into Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
This, according to Mr. Okai Boamah Isaac popularly known as OBI, the Chief Executive Officer of OBI Roofing Systems, would serve as an intervention to bridge the unemployment gap among Ghanaian youth and also act as economic intervention for the nation as a whole since it would generate revenue for the country. 
Mr. Okai said these when The Spectatorinterviewed him on the genesis of his career and personal life in Accra.
The CEO has trained many youth to acquire the skills and knowledge in good and quality roofing installation which has made such individuals become independent workers contributing their quota to national development.
Background
In his quest to make life worth living, and surmount every impediments on his way, Mr. Okai made conscious efforts by rising through the ranks of being a worker at various roofing companies, and now a CEO of his own company.
Mr. Okai who hails from Kwahu-Abetifi, in the Eastern Region and lived in a village called Hweehwee also at Kwahu was brought up by his parents, Madam Adwoa Serwaa Sabina a native of Kwahu-Abetifi and Mr. Philip Havor from Ada in the Greater Accra Region.
He lived with five siblings, a brother and four sisters Mr. Okaiis the first born and lived at Hweehwee from 1994 to 2000.
Education
He had his elementary school education at Hweehwee but the family later moved to Nkawkaw and settled at Atta ne Atta a suburb of Nkwakaw.
He wrote the Basic Education Certificate Examination at Nkawkaw Kuma Anglican Basic School, and enrolled at National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) at Kokomlemle in Accra.
He did extensive courses alongside his practical works in roofing and Construction, Building and Construction Management, Carpentry and Joinery and Electrical Technician or House Wiring.
Vocation
After his technical and vocational training at the institute, Mr. Okai worked with DBS Roofing Ghana Limited from 2013 to 2015 as a roofing installer.
In 2013, he worked with Big Bond Roofing Company at Industrial Area, Accra, till 2015 and moved to work with Tompoo roofing at Kasoa in the Central Region from 2016 to 2018.
Mr. Okai in 2018, established OBI Roofing Systems where he has been managing and operating his own roofing company to meet the needs of the Ghanaian builder in any type of building.
“The Ablekuma Point 5 branch of the OBI roofing systems has an engineer as its manager and because of that it has aided the company to move at a pace which puts it above other companies in terms of value for money work delivery”, Mr. Okai told The Spectator.
Training Centre
In order to increase the interest of more youth in technical and vocational training, Mr. Okai has set up a training centre to help the youth acquire skills better of their lives.
He lamented that there were a lot of people who had been to technical schools for three years to do welding among other courses but when “you ask them to make a table, they are unable to do the practical works”.
“So at OBI Technical Training Centre, we give you the practical aspect of what you did in school as you learn the estimations and do the real work as you are supposed to do in satisfying your clients with the best work they require from you”, he said.
Since his speciality is in roofing, the trainees get the knowledge on how to install any type of roofing sheets at OBI Technical Training located at Ablekuma Bokoboko, in the Greater Accra Region.
“The training centre is open to men for now and as time goes on, we’ll know how to structure things and involve women because we do practical works which need physical strength to carry equipment at the site”, he observed.
Message to the Ghanaian Youth
“My advice to the youth is that they should use their time profitably on valuable things, by investing our time on things that would be of importance to our lives and eschew irrelevant things that would put our lives at stake like bet staking, among others.
“Ghanaian youth should try as much as possible to use their hands to do something because we use our hands and knowledge to do everything here on earth to succeed so if we do not use knowledge, we would later lament that there is no job in the country but there are actually a lot of jobs in the country which require skills and technical know-how, but because we do not have the knowledge about a particular job, we say there is no work”, Mr. Okai said.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
The professor who spends his days exploring the intricacies of African languages found himself at the centre of a different kind of lesson on Friday, October 2, 2026. 
This time, there were no lecture notes, academic arguments or university classrooms. Instead, there was the weight of tradition, the rhythm of a community celebration and the solemnity of an oath at a royal palace.
Professor Ọbádélé Kambon, a full Professor of African Linguistics at the University of Ghana, was enstooled as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene of Akuapem Mampong in the Eastern Region in a ceremony that brought academia and traditional authority together.
For the professor, the occasion was more than a new title. It was a moment that connected his academic interests in African languages and indigenous knowledge with the living traditions of an Akan community.
The day’s events unfolded through a series of customary observances. Kambon was first taken to the compounds of the Ɔkyeamehene and Gyasehene, where the preparations for his installation continued.
Then came the application of hyire, the white kaolin powder associated with traditional rites.
With the customary proceedings underway, the new chief was lifted onto the shoulders of celebrants and carried along the main thoroughfare of Akuapem Mampong.
The procession transformed the streets into a public stage for a ceremony rooted in the community’s traditional institutions.
There was something striking about the image, a university professor, accustomed to the measured language of academic discourse, being carried through the town in a display of traditional recognition.
Yet the celebration was not complete with the procession.
A ram was sacrificed at the Mamponghene’s compound before Kambon was taken to the palace, to swear the oath associated with his new offices.
The ceremony brought him formally into his roles as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene.
Beyond the colourful proceedings, the titles themselves carry layers of historical meaning.
Kambon in his research explores the historical connections between Apagya and Akan political and military organisation.
Accounts cited in his work linked Apagya to an asafo, or military company, while historical writing traces an Apagya stool in Asante to the reign of Opoku Ware I in the eighteenth century.
These historical associations offer a glimpse into the institutions that have shaped Akan society over generations, although they do not automatically define the precise responsibilities of the office in Akuapem Mampong.
Kambon’s own professional life reflects a similar interest in preserving and examining African knowledge.
His work encompasses Akan language structure, naming practices across the Black world, proverbs and indigenous intellectual traditions.
Through Abibitumi, the platform he founded, he also promotes language learning, scholarship and cultural engagement.
But tradition was only one part of the story that day.
When the formal ceremony gave way to a reception, the occasion expanded into a celebration of three milestones: Kambon’s enstoolment, his promotion to full professor and his daughter Ama’s admission to the University of Ghana.
The gathering therefore carried a personal significance that went beyond the honours bestowed on one man. 
It celebrated professional advancement, the continuation of family aspirations and a connection to cultural heritage.
For a father, seeing a daughter gain admission to the same university where he holds a distinguished academic position offered another reason to celebrate.
For the professor, the moment placed family achievement alongside his own professional and traditional milestones.
Kambon had already established a place in the traditional life of Akuapem Mampɔn through an earlier installation as Banmuhene Kyidɔmhene, recorded in 2017.
His latest enstoolment adds another chapter to that relationship.
In Akuapem Mampɔn, the day brought together the university, the palace and the family table in one celebration. And for Kambon, the journey from the lecture room to the traditional procession showed how scholarship, cultural responsibility and family achievement could converge in a single memorable occasion.
By Enoch Ntiamoah Siaw
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Intercity STC Coaches Limited has interdicted a driver captured in a viral video allegedly hitting a Sprinter bus during an overtaking manoeuvre at Pokuase before driving away from the scene.
In a public notice, the company described the driver’s conduct as unacceptable, stressing that it did not reflect the safety standards and professionalism it upholds.
Management said it had commenced an immediate investigation into the incident and identified the driver, who has been interdicted pending the outcome of the disciplinary process.
The company added that it was awaiting an official report from the Pokuase Police Command to help establish the facts surrounding the incident.
STC reaffirmed its commitment to passenger safety and responsible road use, while thanking members of the public for bringing the incident to its attention.
Management assured the public that appropriate action would be taken following the investigation.
By: Jacob Aggrey
